The Tea Without Milk And Sugar Idea: Appealing To Customers Who Are Health-Concerned
India drinks tea! Everybody enjoys drinking chai in the mornings, afternoons, and several cups in between. Additionally, our tea must be “malai mar ke,” sweet, robust, and milky!
Ketan Desai, VAHDAM’s Chief Sustainability Officer India, thinks that when visitors are served tea or coffee at home or in business, they almost always choose the tea. He grinned, “And the chai that is served has to be sweet by default—that is the default setting for all of us.”
“I usually respectfully decline such tea when given, responding with a stern “I don’t drink liquid halwa!” This guarantees that I will always get a stern look, but sometimes kindness requires cruelty. I am asked the same question over and over again: “Why do I call chai, liquid halwa?” Desai jokes.
India consumes around 95% of its tea as sweet, milky chai, or liquid halwa. But why do I find this so offensive? Sugar is the culprit and the solution; a cup of chai typically contains two tablespoons of sugar, or around 32 calories. Desai says.
The American Heart Association (AHA) states that women should consume six teaspoons of sugar daily and males should consume nine teaspoons. The most concerning statistic is that drinks make up 47% of our daily sugar consumption, with snacks coming in second at 31%. We drink four to five cups of tea a day on average, in addition to three major meals and two or more snacks! The recommended daily intake of sugar would be met by only one cup of tea, and the overall amount of sugar we consume from all of our meals, snacks, and other drinks (including the odd can of soda, juice, or pint after work) would often surpass this amount. Is it any surprise, therefore, that India is now known as the world’s diabetes capital?
Reducing sugar consumption is the key to a healthy lifestyle. Rather of consuming endless glasses of liquid halwa, how about switching to Green or Black tea, such as the Darjeeling tea with lemon? Desai concludes, “With almost no calories and sugar, it’s not only healthier, but it tastes beautifully great.
