Case study

Tea India: London Coffee Festival 2025

As long-term partners of Tea India, part of the Keith Spicer Group, we were thrilled to bring the brand to London Coffee Festival 2025. With a large community of coffee drinkers and tea lovers keen to explore new flavours, it was the perfect place to launch the brand new Vanilla Chai and Dirty Chai — two exciting additions to the Tea India portfolio.

The four-day event, split between trade days (Thursday and Friday) and consumer days (Saturday and Sunday), allowed us to increase visibility within the hot beverage industry, spark curiosity, drive trial, and gather direct feedback from industry professionals and consumers.

The brief

Our goal was to launch Vanilla and Dirty Chai while positioning Tea India as a premium, flavour-forward brand. We targeted both consumers and trade — from retail buyers to café owners — driving awareness, trial, and conversation.

Beyond raising awareness, our strategy centred around encouraging product trial, fostering engagement at the stand, gathering genuine feedback, and producing high-quality content that could extend the campaign’s reach long after the event.

Tea India: London Coffee Festival 2025 gallery image

Mechanics

To bring this strategy to life, we curated a multi-sensory, content-rich activation across all four festival days.

Sampling, Product Launch Activation

Sampling was a key focus, and we made sure visitors had plenty of opportunities to discover the range. Attendees could try iced teas in Vanilla, Coconut, and Masala flavours, and enjoy hot cups from the full Tea India range. To encourage follow-up trial at home, we also distributed take-home sachets of Masala and Ginger Chai — a huge hit with both consumers and trade visitors.

Retail & Merchandise

To bring the Vanilla Chai launch to life in an unforgettable way, we introduced a branded ice cream bike serving scoops of vanilla ice cream (dairy and plant-based) topped with a chai shortbread crumble made in collaboration with local business New Forest Shortbread. This fun and flavourful twist proved hugely popular with frequent requests to purchase the crumble as a product.

The stand also offered merchandise and retail sales, including festival-exclusive branded t-shirts, alongside boxed teas available to buy on the spot. Many visitors mentioned they already bought Masala Chai in Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Waitrose, but were excited to discover the full range and new flavours in person.

Content Production

To capture the buzz and extend reach, we produced a suite of high-quality content, including:

A highlight video capturing the activation in action
A #TeaForTwo interview series featuring festivalgoers sharing their honest reactions to each flavour
Candid and behind-the-scenes photography of the stand
A stylised photo and video shoot of Tea India’s merchandise range for e-commerce and social media use

Festival attendees frequently commented on how refreshing the iced chai was, the popularity of the Vanilla and Masala flavours, and how exciting it was to see a chai brand showcased at a coffee-focused event.

Results

The event was highly successful for the brand with clear interest from trade, numerous requests for merch and biscuits, and a strong bank of content for marketing. All of the below supported brand trial, but also reinforced Tea India’s positioning as the UK’s most accessible and exciting chai brand:

1500+ cups of iced and hot chai sampled

Over 1000 ice cream samples handed out

3500+ samples distributed

Highly positive sentiment around the new flavours, particularly Vanilla and Dirty Chai

Successfully reinforced Tea India’s position as a leading chai brand with strong consumer appeal

Deliverables

Full event planning, strategy, and logistics

On-site staffing: brand ambassadors and event manager

Sampling operations and stand management

Branded ice cream bike and local collaboration

Custom merchandise design and retail execution

Content production (video, interviews, photography)

Post-event content delivery for digital channels

It was our first time at the London Coffee Festival, and it felt like a space we absolutely needed to be in. Among the sea of coffee brands, our colourful stand and bold branding offered a refreshing change — and visitors really felt that.

The GottaBe! team were exceptional as always; the team really understood our brand — they didn’t just build a stand, they created a complete Tea India experience that reflected our values and brought our flavours to life. It was visually striking, filled with positive energy, and most importantly, full of chai love all weekend long.

The feedback on our new flavours was incredible, and it was amazing to see both consumers and trade audiences so engaged with the brand. We had queues at the stand all weekend and incredible feedback on our Vanilla and Dirty Chai flavours — it’s clear there’s a growing appetite for chai. As we grow Tea India’s presence in new spaces, events like this are a crucial part of building awareness and trial — and this activation was the perfect next step.