Vape supplier Supreme has acquired collapsed tea giant Typhoo for £10 million.
The UK’s oldest tea brand entered administration last month after its pre-tax losses rose from £9.6m to £38m. Its sales dropped from £33.7m to £25.3m, according to its latest results which covered the year to the end of September 2023.
Earlier this year, Supreme bought Acorn Topco, the parent company of Clearly Drinks, which owns a range of soft drinks brands including Rola Cola. The Typhoo transaction further boosts Supreme’s diversification strategy, bringing non-vape annual sales up to more than £120 million – approximately 50 percent of the group’s revenue.
Supreme CEO, Sandy Chadha, said: “I believe Typhoo Tea will thrive under our ownership, further benefitting from Supreme’s significant market reach and successful track record in creating brand loyalty, making us an ideal fit for this business.
“Having established our soft drinks division earlier in the year, we believe the addition of Typhoo Tea and its highly complementary blend of great value and premium tea brands, creates tangible cross sell and product innovation opportunities in the near-term.”
Established in 1903, Typhoo was the first pre-packaged tea brand in the UK. Today, its products include herbal and fruit tea infusions, across a portfolio of brands including Lift and QT. Aside from declining sales and mounting debts, the iconic tea firm had recently suffered other problems including a major break-in at its Wirral factory last year.
Trespassers occupied the Merseyside site for several days. In doing so, they caused extensive damage, which incurred costs of £24 million for the 2023 fiscal year – an unforeseen expense which piled further pressure on Typhoo’s finances.
