Gourmet Foods pours it on

Gourmet Foods, the distributor of Dilmah Tea in Poland and Switzerland, aims to profit from the changing tastes of Polish tea consumers. "Poland is one of the most important tea markets in Europe. The consumption style is changing, with people switching to high-quality and more expensive teas," says the Gourmet Foods president, Tomasz Witomski, on the company's decision to expand.

This year the company plans to increase its tea sales by 20 percent compared to 2005, when it sold 420 tonnes of tea. "We have huge reserves and we want to use them, especially through strengthening  distribution," says Witomski.

By the end of this year the company wants to open three tea shops in Poland. Apart from that the company will launch a network of T-bars, one of which is already open in Warsaw's Montownia Theater. In May or June another T-bar will be launched in the capital. But expansion will not be restricted to Warsaw. "We are particularly interested in Tri-city, Wrocław and Kraków," reveals Witomski.

There is room for a maximum of 20 T-bars in Poland. "Such places are specific. They are not meant for mass consumption," says Witomski. He admits that the company is interested in places related to art, such as Montownia Theater, which attracts Gourmet Foods' target group: the young and upwardly mobile. This year the company plans to spend some zł.3-3.5 million on developing its distribution network.

The value of the Polish tea market exceeds zł.1 billion annually. Poland is the third-largest consumer of tea in the European Union.