Choose an article...
Stephen Twinings 300yr Tour
Stephen Twining steams ahead as 300 years of Twinings world tour hits half way mark
To celebrate Twinings’ 300th birthday, 10th generation member of the world famous tea family, Stephen Twining is currently on a global tour to spread to word on how with Twinings there’s a tea blend to suit every taste, mood and occasion. To date he has visited countries as diverse as Sweden and Singapore and many others in between!
Stephen has been sharing interesting insights on how Twinings has evolved over 300 years and hosting tea tasting sessions to open up the world of tea for consumers, media and the food industry. He’s also participating in a series of landmark events to mark this very special celebratory year for a company that was one of the first to introduce tea drinking outside China.
Get a flavour of Stephen Twining’s global tea journey below:
DECEMBER, 2005:
•The Twinings 300 years global tour began early with Stephen setting out to Singapore and then onto Thailand for a glamorous gala dinner for fifty Thai journalists at the Royal Sports Club in Bangkok. Media interviews included national newspaper Nation and guests were treated to a unique Twinings Mocktail, using iced tea.
JANUARY, 2006:
•First stop in 2006 was Canada. An exciting marathon ‘300 minutes of tea-tastings’ among passers-by at thirty different locations and landmarks around Toronto provided great media fodder and placed Twinings’ birthday on everyone’s radar.
•The highlight of Stephen’s trip to New York on January 13th included a live radio interview on the popular food programme WOR-AM’s ‘Food Talk’.
•By mid January, Stephen was in Switzerland, hosting tea tasting sessions and afternoon tea events among media in the beautiful cities of Neuenegg, Lausanne and Zurich.
•Next stop, the Czech Republic where the national media were invited to the British Embassy for a press conference with Stephen. The group was then joined by Prague’s high society, including the Prime Minister’s wife, for a tea-tasting and a classical guitar concert.
•Finally, January drew to a close for Stephen in Germany and Austria. He attended no less than seven press events and presented to 125 key journalists from the media in Hamburg, Munich and Vienna.
MARCH, 2006:
•Heading for sunnier climes, Stephen arrived in United Arab Emirates for a week of media interviews and also assisted with staff training in the food service industries of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
•Back to Europe, Stephen’s visit to Norway coincided with ‘British Week’ where his visit was highlighted by several national TV channels and radio stations. He also presented an award to a hotel who received the accolade ‘Best Breakfast’.
APRIL, 2006:
•While Stephen took a well deserved holiday in April, Twinings International Marketing Director, John Cornish stepped into the breach and hosted a tea tasting session at Twinings’ Strand shop in London for Thai visitors who had won a ‘Fly me to London’ radio competition. Visitors loved the fact that the Strand shop resides on the very same premises Thomas Twining opened back in 1706 when he was one of the first to introduce tea drinking to the British.
More/…
-2-
•Taking tea to another level, Stephen helped supervise Twinings Australia breaking a Guiness Book World Record by hosting ‘The highest High Tea Event’ at the top of Sydney Tower.
MAY, 2006:
•Back in the UK, Stephen officially opened the ‘Twinings of Twickenham Exhibition’ at Orleans Gallery, Twickenham on the 10th May. The exhibition features the work of renowned, Victorian botanical artist, Elizabeth Twining and is open until the 27th of August. For more information visit – www. www.richmond.gov.uk/arts
•In May, Stephen joined Canadian audiences a second time – but this time from Westminster in London. He participated in a live broadcast with Canada AM – the country’s highest reach national breakfast programme - and talked about how to make the perfect cuppa.
•May also included media visits from Japan and Italy to the 300 year old Twinings store in The Strand.
JUNE – JULY, 2006:
•New Zealand, Fiji and Australia are visited by Stephen.
The remainder of Stephen’s Twinings Global Tour involves further trips to Europe, Asia and the USA with a Twinings 300 Year finale in South America.