One of the first customs I was struck by in Australia was "morning tea" or "afternoon tea". These phrases are used synonymously with "morning break" or "afternoon break", but when I was with a group of older Australians it was really accompanied by the consumption of hot tea - even in summer.
What about cold tea? Surprisingly, when I first arrived, the only cold tea that was universal in convenience stores and fast food was bottled Lipton tea. It seems cold tea was just not a thing in Australia.
Casting about for things I might do here (since employment seemed to be difficult to come by), I thought maybe I could promote ice tea? Alas, I returned to the States and worked six months (easier to get a job, and higher pay in my profession). But I'm back. And what do I discover? Hungry Jacks now has ICE TEA in their soda fountain.
I predict that within two years, ice tea will be much bigger in Australia. There is already a wide variety in many convenience stores, but it hasn't filtered into restaurants - only Hungry Jacks and, apparently McDonald's (haven't been to one yet). But what's behind this? First of all, Lipton, the bottled tea that's universal here? It's owned by Unilever. And the tea at Hungry Jacks is Fuze Tea, owned by... you might guess - Coca-Cola. So yeah, to imagine that I might introduce iced tea to Australia... and compete with Unilever and Coca-Cola? Of course, there's the craft, home-brew, whatever... but they're not going to take that from an American. They'll only roll over for the big guns. (defeatist? My brother says I should become the Granola King of Australia, since I found granola to be boutique-y and overly priced. Honestly? My motivations lie more in the social justice, nonprofit direction. Coca-Cola’s Fuze Tea arrives in Australia
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