Barry's Tea
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| Founded | Cork, Ireland (1901) |
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| Headquarters | Cork, Ireland |
Key people | James J. Barry |
| Products | Black Teas, Green Teas & Fruit and Herbal Teas |
Number of employees | 65 (2015) |
| Website | www.barrysteashop.ie |
Barry's Tea is a family-owned Irish tea company founded in 1901 by James J. Barry in Cork City. In 1934, Anthony Barry, son of James J. Barry, was awarded the Empire Cup for tea blending, confirming his expertise in the tea trade.
Until the 1960s, tea was sold from a shop in Prince's Street, but thereafter as a result of its increasing popularity, the company expanded its wholesaling and distribution operations. In 1960, Peter Barry, son of Anthony Barry, pioneered the concept of wholesaling tea and began sourcing tea from East Africa. There was an incredible reaction to these new blends, and they became something of a Barry’s Tea signature. It became apparent that the qualities of freshness, flavour and that distinctive golden colour were very much unique to Barry's Tea.
Through word of mouth alone, reputation continued to grow and by the mid-1980s Barry's Tea had become a much loved national brand. According to their website, they are currently responsible for 38% of all tea sales in the Irish market (which is worth an estimated €85 million annually).[1] Today, Barry's Tea is also available in the United Kingdom, Spain, and in some areas of Canada, Australia, France, Luxembourg and the United States where there are significant Irish immigrant communities.