T2 (company) facts for kids
T2, officially known as Tea Too, is a popular chain of shops that sells special teas. It has stores in Australia, Singapore, and New Zealand. The company started in Melbourne, Australia, in 1996. Later, in 2013, a big company called Unilever (which is now Lipton Teas and Infusions) bought T2.
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Trade name
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T2 |
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| Privately held company | |
| Industry | Tea products |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Headquarters |
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Australia
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Number of locations
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70 (2024) |
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Area served
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Key people
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Derek Muirhead (managing director) |
| Revenue | A$57 million (2012–13 FY) |
| Owner | Lipton Teas and Infusions |
Contents
How T2 Started
T2 was created by two friends, Maryanne Shearer and Jan O'Connor. They first thought about starting a homewares company. But then they saw that there weren't many special tea shops around. So, they decided to focus on tea instead! They named their company "Tea Too" (T2), which was a clever way to show there were "two" founders.
Who Owns T2?
Early Days
In 1996, Maryanne Shearer and Jan O'Connor each put in money to start T2. They were equal partners in the business. Later, Jan O'Connor left the company, and Maryanne Shearer's partner, Bruce Crome, bought her share.
New Investors
In 2007, Maryanne Shearer and Bruce Crome sold half of T2 to some other business people, Jonathan Dan and Phillip Blanco. After a while, they bought some of it back from Blanco, but Dan continued to be an investor.
Bought by Unilever
In 2013, a huge global company called Unilever bought T2. Maryanne Shearer stayed with T2 as the Creative Director for a few years. She was happy that Unilever cared about using sustainable (earth-friendly) ways to grow tea. T2 had already been working with Fairtrade since 2009 for some of its teas. The price Unilever paid for T2 was about $60 million.
T2 Shops and Sales
Where T2 Shops Opened
The very first T2 shop opened in Melbourne, Australia, on July 1, 1996. They tried opening a second shop, but it closed after a year because not many people visited it. However, sales at the first shop grew a lot, which encouraged them to open more stores.
In 1999, a T2 shop opened in a big shopping center in Melbourne. This shop was very successful and helped T2 make over $1 million in sales!
By 2002, T2 expanded to Sydney. By 2005, they had eight stores and made $4.4 million in sales. T2 kept growing, and in 2012, they opened their first store in Tasmania.
T2 also started opening stores in other countries. In 2014, they opened shops in London and even New York City. By 2015, T2 had over 70 stores in four different countries and about 1,000 team members.
In 2017, T2 opened its first stores in Scotland and Singapore. By November 2017, there were over 96 stores across Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and Asia.
However, in 2023, T2 announced that they would close all their stores in the Northern Hemisphere (like the US and UK). They decided to focus on countries closer to home, such as Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore.
Selling to Other Businesses
Besides their own shops, T2 also started selling tea to restaurants and cafes. This is called "wholesale." In the mid-2000s, T2 was supplying tea to 300 cafes and restaurants in Australia. This number grew to 500 by 2001, and by 2015, they had 3,000 wholesale customers!
Today, the main place where T2 stores and sends out its products is in Laverton North, Victoria.
T2's Look and Feel
T2 shops are designed to make you feel like you're part of a special tea-making ritual. They often look like a modern version of an old-fashioned shop that sells interesting things. The shops usually have dark colors, with orange and black as their main colors. The orange color is bright and fun, which helps attract younger people, but it's also simple enough for older customers.
In T2 stores, you can often try different teas and smell the ingredients at special "smelling tables." Some stores even have cool features like a tea fountain made from teaware!
Different Tea Blends
T2 is known for its huge variety of tea blends. This shows how much Australians have become interested in special, unique teas. T2 has offered anywhere from 130 to over 250 different types of tea over the years!
One popular tea that became famous around 2006 was Chai. It was one of T2's top-selling teas.
For a long time, T2 only sold loose leaf tea. But because restaurants wanted them, they started making tea bags in 2007. These tea bags were special, made from sheer muslin cloth in a pyramid shape.
T2 also creates special tea blends for different cities. For example, they have "Melbourne Breakfast Tea" with vanilla, "Brisbane Breakfast" with mango, "Sydney Breakfast," and "Perth Breakfast." In 2013, they even made a "Hobart Breakfast" tea.
When T2 opened its first store in London, the "Melbourne Breakfast Tea" and "Liquorice Legs" were very popular. Later, "London Breakfast" and "Earl Grey Royale" became bestsellers.
In 2016, T2 released a fun, limited-edition tea range called "Veggie Patch." In 2017, they had a special collection of chai teas with unique flavors like popcorn, sticky honey, or honeycomb. To celebrate their first store in Singapore, T2 also created a "Singapore Breakfast tea" with a mix of pu'er, green tea, coconut flakes, and roasted rice.
Awards T2 Has Won
Maryanne Shearer, one of the co-founders, won the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year award in 2012.
The T2 store in Shoreditch, London, won the "Store of the Year" award in 2014 for its design. T2's main office in Collingwood also won an award for its interior design.
T2 has also won awards for its packaging designs, including for its tea bags and mini fruit tea range.
T2: The Book
In 2015, Maryanne Shearer wrote a book called T2: the book. It talks about the company's history, different types of tea, and even recommends teacups and how to brew tea. People who reviewed the book said it was very artistic and more than just an advertisement for T2. The book also won an award for its design in 2016.
See also
