An interview with Andrea Simmons (MBA 2016), CEO of Palais des Thés USA

Andrea Simmons is a graduate of the EDHEC Global MBA programme. Tea became her core focus after more than 5 years at Palais des Thés in New York City. She is now the CEO of the US subsidiary and here she shares with EDHEC Alumni the new challenges of this industry and proves wrong some of the stereotypes she is faced with every day. The tea revolution has begun!

How would you summarise your current position and responsibilities?

I am the Head of the US subsidiary of Palais des Thés, including minor operations, in Canada, Mexico and part of the Caribbean. I oversee three different business channels: our e-commerce website, our wholesale foodservice – restaurants, cafés, hotels, mostly luxury hospitality –, and our B2B retail such as department stores. I am in charge of growing the brand in the US, raising awareness, expanding our team and sales.

What are the main consumption habits in the area you cover?

People in the Northeast and Northwest consume a bit more than in Southern States. Mexico is very much into herbal and fruity teas (tisanas). I think that Americans generally prefer on-the-go breakfast coffee or tea, in comparison with Europe. The pandemic changed habits somewhat, with people consuming more gourmet products in general, and drinking a lot more tea at home. Over the last few years, we have definitely seen more people consuming better quality tea.

Have there been any changes in the way consumers consider products’ health-related aspects?

In the last five years, people have focused more on healthier lifestyles and products. The pandemic brought about a bigger shift. People spent more money on home consumption products, but they also focused more on things that are good for them, and our tea has no added sugar, free from GMO and is naturally great for you as all tea is naturally rich in antioxidants. There has been an increasing demand in the market for natural products that are healthy, and the trends are interesting: people keen to drink tea versus coffee, or even tea versus alcohol at times, with tea-based cocktails, tea mocktails, sparkling tea... Our tea is definitely a great alternative to sugary drink products as it is naturally flavoured with fruits, herbs and spices. It is a nice alternative with many different tastes. The whole California area and the major cities of the East Coast are very focused on wellness, fitness and lifestyle in general, especially among the younger population segments. Everywhere you go, people are most focused on things that are organic or non-GMO, they really want to know where their ingredients come from. Most buyers of tea are actually in their twenties and thirties.

Can tea be linked to gentrification?

Tea could be said to be a big city thing, it’s about gastronomy. We have a lot of esteemed chefs in the country that work with our teas, and there is more and more creativity around tea, cooking with tea or pairing food with tea. As a brand we are always working to extend the experience and introduce as many people as possible to the best of tea, we are truly passionate about educating and sharing knowledge, whether through a gastronomic experience, afternoon tea, tea at home, or just for the wellness aspect. We have seen even more interest from five-star hotels that have started (or restarted) afternoon tea programs due to the growing interest from consumers. We have seen trendy specialized tea salons popping up in New York City, Los Angeles, and even Miami now as well. There is definitely a shift taking place.

How is the Palais des Thés offer organized in the USA? 

We actually do distribution ourselves. Our great added value is that we work directly with hotels, we train staff, teach them everything about tea and how to serve it, a bit like consultants. It is really interesting for us as a brand to work with managers and Food & Beverage Directors, to be a real partner, which allows us to be involved in the long term, organizing events and ensuring everyone is on board. It’s about teaching the benefits of tea, the differences in terms of caffeine, colours and flavours. It’s more of a tailored customer experience. You’re not getting something generic that everybody else has, but essentially the highest quality teas but also solutions catered to each customers’ property. 

What is the consumers’ focus at the moment? 

At the moment there is definitely a big focus on adaptogenics. There are always new flavours coming out, the kind of trend we are seeing is definitely health focused, using ingredients that are naturally beneficial (i.e. turmeric for digestion).

Are there any stereotypes about tea that you might have to fight against?

When people tell me that they don’t like tea, I feel that they just haven’t tried or found the right one because there’s such a wide variety, you are bound to like at least one. There is also a misconception about tea not waking you up the way coffee does, the idea that you need your caffeine in the morning or whenever you need energy. The great benefit of tea is that you still get the caffeine, but unlike coffee, where you get this big rush of energy, and then crash, it is not all at once, it is more of an awakening curve. You don’t get palpitations and since it has theanine, it provides a calming effect, leaving you clear-minded and energized, something people usually aren’t aware of.

Is the infusion market growing?

Definitely. There is more and more focus on herbal teas and caffeine-free products. That’s another stereotype that we have seen in the US, where people ask for decaffeinated tea. We try to explain that tea – camellia sinensis – the plant itself, naturally has caffeine. Any product that is decaffeinated has been through a chemical process to extract that caffeine. That process is not great for you and we don’t do that as a brand. The great thing is that we have a lot of natural products that are herbal and just naturally caffeine-free. That’s something else we have seen more and more people taking an interest in, whether older people, pregnant women, or those who are more sensitive to caffeine.

How do you match brand development with the image of French products in the US?

The fact that there is a thirty-year history behind the brand is obviously key to our positioning. The brand is really well known in France, and the objective is to utilize that as an asset in the US, where people see French products almost immediately as gourmet. One of the great challenges we have as well is to adapt the content in an American way or more precisely capture that story in a way that can resonate with Americans and make it more engaging and tailored to consumers. Americans love stories, so they want to know more, we really use storytelling and content as a driver for the brand.

At Palais des Thés how do you relate the collection of emotions and experiences to the concept of travel?

Our founder actually travels across the world to find the best teas, every tea could be a travel inspiration if you follow his blog. But the brand is not so much about the travel aspect as it is about direct sourcing. We like to educate our customers on where the tea is from and the work behind it, and we try to make that a differentiating factor in the market, by being a sustainable brand and strengthening relationships with our farmers. There is quite a lot of work and passion that goes into growing tea, in Japan, China, Sri Lanka, India and many other parts. We really make an effort in that regard, to talk about the origins and the faces behind the work. 

We actually have a wonderful gift-set that captures that idea of tea and traveling quite well. The set includes 10 different teas from 10 different plantations, and there is a small book to learn about tea-tasting, how to prepare, where it comes from and taste profiles of each. I love this product because it’s so representative of the fact that we are so interested and passionate about sharing our knowledge with people and you feel like you are “traveling through tea”.

How difficult is it to keep up with the market while staying mainly focused on a very specialized product?

I think it’s an asset. The great thing about being a focused company is also that it is very broad, we have over two hundred different teas, so there is a tea for everyone and different markets according to what is consumed and sold. Even though it is ‘just technically’ tea, we have within our business a lot of growth opportunities, given the growing market as well. But it’s great that we are coming at it as a specialized brand that knows and is passionate about tea, and that goes in one single direction for one product that can taste a million different ways. Our non-negotiable standard for quality and our passion for tea and sharing our knowledge with others, sets us apart in the market.