Starbucks will be adding a new tea line to their range of products that will now include the "Oprah Chai" - a tea-based drink created by former talk show host Oprah Winfrey.
Starbucks chief, Howard Schultz, and Winfrey announced the partnership Wednesday during the company's annual meeting, noting that the new brew will go on sale at Starbucks and Teavana stores in the United States and Canada starting April 29.
The world's biggest coffee chain, Starbucks is looking to tea as a means to expand their sales as competition heightens in the coffee market, according to Reuters.
"We are going to elevate the tea experience in the same way we did for coffee," Schultz announced Wednesday, adding that the partnership with Winfrey "is a strong next step forward in accomplishing this objective."
Winfrey and Starbucks developed the tea with the help of Teavana's teaologist, Naoko Tsunoda.
As a self-confessed tea lover, Winfrey shared that the new "Oprah Chai" will be a blend of tea mixed with cinnamon, cloves, ginger and cardamom. It will be sold in tins or as pre-served tea lattes.
Schultz confirmed that the partnership between Starbucks and Winfrey is not a form of endorsement. For each Teavana "Oprah Chai" sold, Starbucks will automatically make a donation to the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation in support of youth education.
The Tea Association of the USA reported that tea is the most widely consumed beverage globally next to water. Coffee is regarded as the king of sales, generating an estimated $75.7 billion in 2012 compared to $40.7 billion for tea that same year, according to the Euromonitor International, a market research firm.
