PG Tips
Encyclopedia
PG Tips is a brand of tea
in the United Kingdom
, manufactured by Unilever UK
. It is claimed that Britons drink 35 million cups of the tea every day.
of Brooke Bond
launched PG Tips in the UK tea market under the name of Pre-Gest-Tee. The name implied that the tea could be drunk prior to food being digested. Grocers abbreviated it to PG.
After the Second World War, labelling regulations ruled out describing tea as aiding digestion—a property previously attributed to tea—and by 1950/1 the PG name was officially adopted. The company added "Tips" referring to the fact that only the tips (the top two leaves and bud) of the tea plant
s are used in the blend.
s, and in vending formats. A "Special Blend" tea, which is the same as the tea blended for the brand's 75th anniversary, is available in tea bag form only.
The tea used in PG Tips is imported in bulk as single estate teas from around the world and blended in precise proportions set by the tea tasters
to make blend 777, which can contain between 12 and 35 single estate teas at any one time (depending on season, etc.) at the Trafford Park
factory in Manchester.
PG Tags, tea bags with a string, were launched in 1985, and pyramid-shaped (tetrahedron
) tea bags in 1996 (PG Tips Pyramid Bags is a registered trademark). The pyramid-shaped bag was designed to help the tea leaves move more freely, as loose tea moves in a teapot, and supposedly create a better infusion. One 2011 version of the product packaging makes the claim: "The PG Tips pyramid tea bag gives the tea leaves 50% more room to move around than a flat conventional tea bag. So the tea bag works more like a miniature tea pot. This allows for all the freshness to be released for the best tasting cup of PG."
The Brooke Bond name has now been dropped from all packaging, and the product is now known as PG Tips.
In Scotland, Unilever sells a specially developed blend of PG. It is called Scottish Blend
.
In the Republic of Ireland
, Unilever sells tea under the Lyons brand.
PG tips, Scottish Blend and Lyons teas are exported by Unilever UK & Ireland Export, based in Unilever UK & Ireland's Head Office Leatherhead, through a worldwide network of food distributors.
and Bob Monkhouse
. By 1958 PG Tips had risen from fourth to first place in the British tea market. The chimpanzees were from Twycross Zoo
in Leicestershire.
These advertisements were stopped in the 1970s after complaints by animal rights organisations. However sales dropped and the chimps were bought back 18 months later. The last 'Tipps family' advert was broadcast in 2002. The PG Tips chimps spawned a spin-off in memorabilia, including trading cards and figurines.
and Chicken Run
. In Ireland
these commercials were still airing in late 2006, though advertising Lyons Tea (another Unilever brand). This led to PG Tips becoming a major partner with Wallace and Gromit's first film The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
, launched in October 2005. PG offered "Gromit" mugs on pack in the supermarket. According to The Grocer magazine, Unilever reported that during this "Gromit" mug promotion, PG Tips sales increased 600 percent. Wallace and Gromit also appeared in an advert with Lady Tottington (another character from the film) around the same time.
PG Tips also produced a long running series of trade cards as give-aways. These cards ceased production in 1999 after a survey of customers showed that they were not contributing to developing the business.
In 2005, PG Tips celebrated its 75th anniversary with special packs, including a limited edition Golden pack and a one-off Diamond
tea bag. The Diamond tea bag cost £7,500 and was made by Boodles jewelers and used Makaibari Silver Tips (Imperial).
and the popular ITV Digital
Monkey character puppeteered by Nigel Plaskitt
and Susan Beattie and voiced by Ben Miller
, following a holiday TV special about famously bad decisions (ITV Digital's launch) where they featured briefly. Johnny's notably cleaner and soberer than he often plays, and the Monkey character pointedly explains he's not a chimpanzee, he's a monkey, a nod to PG Tips' chimpanzee family.
One of the adverts was a spoof of the "deli scene" from the movie When Harry Met Sally; in the advert Monkey describes the taste of PG Tips by saying "Oh Yes" repeatedly like in the movie, finishing with a woman in the table nearby asking the waiter "I'll have whatever he's having". The ad ends with the tagline "How Would you Describe the Taste?". It was first shown on 3 February 2010.
Another advert, promoting the naturally occuring theanine
in PG Tips, featured Monkey and Al playing the characters of Captain Mainwaring and Private Pike from the popular sitcom Dad's Army
.
When PG Tips released "The New Ones" range, another advert was released to advertise the "Fresh" one. It featured Monkey and Al out rambling. Monkey says to Al that they need a cup of the "Fresh" one. Al takes so long to decide how the tea tastes that before he can come to a conclusion, Monkey has been swept away by an eagle.
, an international environmental NGO
to start certifying tea estates in East Africa.
As of February 2008, PG Tips packs have been carrying a seal saying 'At least 50% of this tea comes from Rainforest Alliance
-certified farms'. The company stated that by 2010 all of its tea would be Rainforest-Alliance-certified tea. An advertising campaign supporting the initiative was launched at the same time, including two new TV ads with Monkey and Al. At the same time, Monkey starred in a 10 minute documentary-style advertisement called 'A Tale of Two Continents' which was only shown in cinemas and online. In 2011 the maker of PG Tips also stated it is to stop testing its teas on animals.
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, manufactured by Unilever UK
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
. It is claimed that Britons drink 35 million cups of the tea every day.
Brand name
In the 1930s Arthur BrookeArthur Brooke (entrepreneur)
Arthur Brooke was the founder of the Brooke Bond Tea Company. Brooke was born in Lancashire and opened his first tea shop at 29 Market Street, Manchester in 1869. By the age of 30 he was making over £5000 per year, with shops in the large cities and a warehouse in London from where he supplied...
of Brooke Bond
Brooke Bond
Brooke Bond is a brand-name of tea owned by Unilever, formerly an independent manufacturer in the United Kingdom, known for its PG Tips brand and its Brooke Bond tea cards.- History :...
launched PG Tips in the UK tea market under the name of Pre-Gest-Tee. The name implied that the tea could be drunk prior to food being digested. Grocers abbreviated it to PG.
After the Second World War, labelling regulations ruled out describing tea as aiding digestion—a property previously attributed to tea—and by 1950/1 the PG name was officially adopted. The company added "Tips" referring to the fact that only the tips (the top two leaves and bud) of the tea plant
Camellia sinensis
Camellia sinensis is the species of plant whose leaves and leaf buds are used to produce Chinese tea. It is of the genus Camellia , a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. White tea, green tea, oolong, pu-erh tea and black tea are all harvested from this species, but are processed...
s are used in the blend.
Products
PG Tips is available as loose tea, tea bagTea bag
A tea bag is a small, porous sealed bag containing tea leaves and used for brewing tea. Tea bags are commonly made of paper, silk or plastic. The bag contains the tea leaves while the tea is brewed, making it easier to dispose of the leaves, and performs the same function as a tea infuser...
s, and in vending formats. A "Special Blend" tea, which is the same as the tea blended for the brand's 75th anniversary, is available in tea bag form only.
The tea used in PG Tips is imported in bulk as single estate teas from around the world and blended in precise proportions set by the tea tasters
Tea tasting
Tea tasting is the process in which a trained taster determines the quality of a particular tea. Due to climatic conditions, topography, manufacturing process, and different clones of the Camellia sinensis plant , the final product may have vastly differing flavours and appearance...
to make blend 777, which can contain between 12 and 35 single estate teas at any one time (depending on season, etc.) at the Trafford Park
Trafford Park
Trafford Park is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. Located opposite Salford Quays, on the southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal, it is west-southwest of Manchester city centre, and north of Stretford. Until the late 19th century it was the...
factory in Manchester.
PG Tags, tea bags with a string, were launched in 1985, and pyramid-shaped (tetrahedron
Tetrahedron
In geometry, a tetrahedron is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces, three of which meet at each vertex. A regular tetrahedron is one in which the four triangles are regular, or "equilateral", and is one of the Platonic solids...
) tea bags in 1996 (PG Tips Pyramid Bags is a registered trademark). The pyramid-shaped bag was designed to help the tea leaves move more freely, as loose tea moves in a teapot, and supposedly create a better infusion. One 2011 version of the product packaging makes the claim: "The PG Tips pyramid tea bag gives the tea leaves 50% more room to move around than a flat conventional tea bag. So the tea bag works more like a miniature tea pot. This allows for all the freshness to be released for the best tasting cup of PG."
The Brooke Bond name has now been dropped from all packaging, and the product is now known as PG Tips.
In Scotland, Unilever sells a specially developed blend of PG. It is called Scottish Blend
Scottish Blend
Scottish Blend is Scotland's second most popular brand of tea.Manufactured by Unilever UK Foods, who also make PG Tips and Lipton, it is specially blended to optimise taste in the soft waters of Scotland....
.
In the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, Unilever sells tea under the Lyons brand.
PG tips, Scottish Blend and Lyons teas are exported by Unilever UK & Ireland Export, based in Unilever UK & Ireland's Head Office Leatherhead, through a worldwide network of food distributors.
Advertising
Unlike the blended teas many companies were producing, Brooke’s teas were pure, high-quality teas from India and China. Brooke realized the importance of advertising early on, introducing the slogan, "Good tea unites good company, exhilarates the spirits, banishes restraint from conversation and promotes the happiest purposes of social intercourse."The Tipps family
In 1956 PG Tips began using anthropomorphic chimpanzees in their TV advertisements. These were dressed in human clothes and were known as the 'Tipps family'. Their voices were often provided by celebrities, such as Peter SellersPeter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
and Bob Monkhouse
Bob Monkhouse
Robert Alan "Bob" Monkhouse, OBE was an English entertainer. He was a successful comedy writer, comedian and actor and was also well known on British television as a presenter and game show host...
. By 1958 PG Tips had risen from fourth to first place in the British tea market. The chimpanzees were from Twycross Zoo
Twycross Zoo
Twycross Zoo is an zoo near the village of Twycross in Leicestershire, close to the border of Warwickshire . The zoo claims the largest collections of monkeys and apes in the World, and in 2006 re-launched itself as "Twycross Zoo – The World Primate Centre."The zoo attracts around 500,000 visitors...
in Leicestershire.
These advertisements were stopped in the 1970s after complaints by animal rights organisations. However sales dropped and the chimps were bought back 18 months later. The last 'Tipps family' advert was broadcast in 2002. The PG Tips chimps spawned a spin-off in memorabilia, including trading cards and figurines.
The T-Birds
The 'Tipps family' were replaced with a house sharing group of claymation birds called the T-Birds, animated by Aardman, the company behind Wallace and GromitWallace and Gromit
Wallace and Gromit are the main characters in a series consisting of four British animated short films and a feature-length film by Nick Park of Aardman Animations...
and Chicken Run
Chicken Run
Chicken Run is a 2000 British stop-motion animation film made by the Aardman Animations studios, the production studio of the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit films...
. In Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
these commercials were still airing in late 2006, though advertising Lyons Tea (another Unilever brand). This led to PG Tips becoming a major partner with Wallace and Gromit's first film The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a 2005 British clay-mation animated comedy horror film, the first feature-length Wallace and Gromit film. It was produced by DreamWorks Animation and Aardman Animations, and released by DreamWorksPictures...
, launched in October 2005. PG offered "Gromit" mugs on pack in the supermarket. According to The Grocer magazine, Unilever reported that during this "Gromit" mug promotion, PG Tips sales increased 600 percent. Wallace and Gromit also appeared in an advert with Lady Tottington (another character from the film) around the same time.
PG Tips also produced a long running series of trade cards as give-aways. These cards ceased production in 1999 after a survey of customers showed that they were not contributing to developing the business.
In 2005, PG Tips celebrated its 75th anniversary with special packs, including a limited edition Golden pack and a one-off Diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
tea bag. The Diamond tea bag cost £7,500 and was made by Boodles jewelers and used Makaibari Silver Tips (Imperial).
Monkey
In 2007, PG Tips reunited Johnny VegasJohnny Vegas
Johnny Vegas is an English actor and comedian. He is known for his angry rants, portly figure, high husky voice and support of St Helens rugby league club. More recently he has moved into dramatic acting.-Early life:He was born in St Helens, Lancashire, the youngest of four children of Laurence...
and the popular ITV Digital
ITV Digital
ITV Digital was a British digital terrestrial television broadcaster, which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network as ONdigital in 1998 and briefly re-branded as ITV Digital in July 2001, before the service ceased in May 2002. Its main shareholders...
Monkey character puppeteered by Nigel Plaskitt
Nigel Plaskitt
Nigel Plaskitt is a British actor, puppeteer, producer, and both stage and television director.His voice and puppetry talents have appeared on television shows such as Pipkins, Spitting Image and Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet...
and Susan Beattie and voiced by Ben Miller
Ben Miller
Bennet Evan "Ben" Miller is an English comedian, actor and director. He is perhaps best known as one half of comedy double act Armstrong and Miller, along with Alexander Armstrong. Together the pair wrote and starred in Channel 4 sketch show Armstrong and Miller, and the more recent BBC television...
, following a holiday TV special about famously bad decisions (ITV Digital's launch) where they featured briefly. Johnny's notably cleaner and soberer than he often plays, and the Monkey character pointedly explains he's not a chimpanzee, he's a monkey, a nod to PG Tips' chimpanzee family.
One of the adverts was a spoof of the "deli scene" from the movie When Harry Met Sally; in the advert Monkey describes the taste of PG Tips by saying "Oh Yes" repeatedly like in the movie, finishing with a woman in the table nearby asking the waiter "I'll have whatever he's having". The ad ends with the tagline "How Would you Describe the Taste?". It was first shown on 3 February 2010.
Another advert, promoting the naturally occuring theanine
Theanine
Theanine , also gamma-glutamylethylamide or 5-N-ethyl-glutamine, is an amino acid and a glutamic acid analog commonly found in tea , primarily in green tea, and also in the basidiomycete mushroom Boletus badius and in guayusa. More specifically, this compound is called L-theanine, being the...
in PG Tips, featured Monkey and Al playing the characters of Captain Mainwaring and Private Pike from the popular sitcom Dad's Army
Dad's Army
Dad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...
.
When PG Tips released "The New Ones" range, another advert was released to advertise the "Fresh" one. It featured Monkey and Al out rambling. Monkey says to Al that they need a cup of the "Fresh" one. Al takes so long to decide how the tea tastes that before he can come to a conclusion, Monkey has been swept away by an eagle.
PG tips and sustainability
In May 2007, Unilever became the first company to commit to sourcing all its tea in a sustainable manner. To that end, the company asked the Rainforest AllianceRainforest Alliance
The Rainforest Alliance is a non-governmental organization with the published aims of working to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. It is based in New York City, and has offices throughout the...
, an international environmental NGO
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
to start certifying tea estates in East Africa.
As of February 2008, PG Tips packs have been carrying a seal saying 'At least 50% of this tea comes from Rainforest Alliance
Rainforest Alliance
The Rainforest Alliance is a non-governmental organization with the published aims of working to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. It is based in New York City, and has offices throughout the...
-certified farms'. The company stated that by 2010 all of its tea would be Rainforest-Alliance-certified tea. An advertising campaign supporting the initiative was launched at the same time, including two new TV ads with Monkey and Al. At the same time, Monkey starred in a 10 minute documentary-style advertisement called 'A Tale of Two Continents' which was only shown in cinemas and online. In 2011 the maker of PG Tips also stated it is to stop testing its teas on animals.
See also
- TetleyTetleyTetley, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Global Beverages , is the world's second largest manufacturer and distributor of tea. Owned by India's Tata Group, Tetley's manufacturing and distribution business is spread across 40 countries and sells over 60 branded tea bags...
, PG tips' main competitor - LiptonLiptonLipton is a brand of tea currently owned by Unilever.-History of Lipton Tea:Lipton was created at the end of the 19th century by a grocer, Sir Thomas Lipton, in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1893, he established the Thomas J. Lipton Co., a tea packing company with its headquarters and factory in Hobo ken,...
, another brand of tea also owned/made by the same company (UnileverUnileverUnilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
) as PG tips. - Typhoo tea, UK's third leading brand.
Slogans
- "How would you describe the taste?" (Al and Monkey)
- "Do your bit, put the kettle on" (Al and Monkey)
- "We All Need a PG Moment" (used during the T-Birds era)
- "There's no other tea to beat PG" (later chimp ads), followed by "It's the taste!" spoken by a chimp
- "Dad, do you know the piano's on my foot?" MR SHIFTER: You hum it son, I'll play it!
- "Avez-vous un cuppa?" (Tour De France)
- "It's the Tea you can really Taste" (Earlier chimp ads)