TWG Tea is a Singaporean luxury teahouse chain and a namesake brand of artisanal tea. The brand was established in 2007 as a subsidiary of a Singaporean lifestyle company, The Wellness Group - from which the acronym, TWG, was derived.
History
TWG Tea was established in 2007 as a subsidiary of a Singaporean company, The Wellness Group. The Wellness Group's founder, Manoj M Murjani, a Hong Konger of Indian descent, conceptualised the luxury teahouse chain together with a French-Moroccan tea sommelier, Taha Bou Qdib. The company opened its first tea outlet in Raffles Place's Republic Plaza. In 2008, during its first year of operations, TWG Tea products were sold at Dean & Deluca, in New York. In 2010 the brand opened its first overseas store in Jiyūgaoka, Tokyo. Within a span of six years, TWG Tea has opened salons and boutiques in 14 countries. As of 2014, TWG Tea had distributors or outlets in Singapore, Russia, Japan, Morocco, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, China, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, the Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, India and Australia. In 2014, TWG Tea opened a training facility at its headquarters in Singapore to train its staff to become tea sommeliers. In the same year, following a legal dispute between Murjani and Bou Qdib over TWG's ownership, Murjani and The Wellness Group exited the brand, and the brand passed into the ownership of The Wellbeing Group, a second parent company established by Bou Qdib with acronymic similarities.
Branding
Branded as the "first and only upscale tea salon" in Singapore, TWG Tea sells tea, as well as tea-infused food, such as savoury items, pastries and desserts. It also sells upscale tea accessories, such as gold and platinum teacups. TWG Tea products are sold through the company's outlets as well as in upscale retailers such as Harrods Knightsbridge, Feinkost Kafer and El Corte Ingles. TWG Tea sells over 800 different tea varieties from every tea producing country in the world. In Hong Kong, TWG stores is called Tea WG, due to trademark dispute with Tsit Wing Group.
Tea
Classification and packaging
TWG Tea presents their teas classified by colour: red, white, yellow, green, blue and black. The company sells 800 different kinds of tea sourced from different parts of the world and packaged under names such as "White House Tea" and "Singapore Breakfast Tea". Its most expensive tea, Gold Yin Zhen is sold for NT$250,000 per kilogram.
Cuisine
The tea-related cuisine sold by TWG Tea follows the same menu at all outlets. The menu contains both afternoon tea sets and other dining options. In addition to tea, outlets also sell other beverages, including alcohol.
Lawsuit
Naming lawsuit
In 2011, a lawsuit against TWG Tea was filed in Hong Kong by tea retailer Tsit Wing International and its parent company Tsit Wing, for incorporating the abbreviation TWG in its name, which was trademarked by Tsit Wing. The latter company, which is based in Hong Kong, was founded in 1932. A judge handling the lawsuit noted in July 2013 that the use of the "existence of the date 1837 in TWG Tea's sign has led people to believe that the company was established at that time", while in actuality it was founded much later, in 2008. In justification, the firm's spokespeople claimed that it was instead a tribute to the "year when the Chamber of Commerce was founded in Singapore". The case was ruled in Tsit Wing's favour, with damages payable yet to be decided. Shortly after the ruling, TWG Tea filed for appeal. On 3 December 2014, TWG Tea lost a court appeal and as a result it may have to change its name in Hong Kong. TWG Tea has room to pursue its final appeal. According to the company's lawyer, in case the company loses the appeal again, it may use another registered logo containing the acronym "TW" instead of the currently used "TWG", to which Tsit Wing had no objection. In January 2016, the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal ruled in Tsit Wing’s favour.
Shareholding lawsuit
A second lawsuit was launched against the company on 17 February 2014 by one of the company's co-founders, Manoj M Murjani, who claimed his ownership in the company had been unlawfully diluted by OSIM Group, and as a result was in breach of shareholding agreement previously signed. The trial was completed in 2016 and Murjani's claim was dismissed.
