Barry's Tea
 | |
| Founded | Cork, Ireland (1901) |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Cork, Ireland |
Key people | James J. Barry |
| Products | Black Teas, Green Teas & Fruit and Herbal Teas |
Number of employees | 65 (2015) |
| Website | https://www.barrystea.ie |
Barry's Tea is an Irish tea company founded in 1901 by James J. Barry in Cork. Until the 1960s, tea was sold from a shop in Prince's Street, but thereafter the company expanded its wholesaling and distribution operations. There is a common debate among Irish households about which is the superior Irish tea – Barry's Tea or Lyons Tea.[1]
History
[edit]By the mid-1980s Barry's Tea had become a 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).[2] Today, Barry's Tea is also available in the United Kingdom, Spain, and in some areas[where?] of Canada, Australia, France, Luxembourg and the United States where there are significant Irish immigrant communities.
Members of the Barry family been elected representatives for Fine Gael: the founder's son Anthony Barry (TD 1954–57 and 1961–65), Anthony's son Peter Barry (TD 1969–97) and Peter's daughter Deirdre Clune (TD 1997–2001 and 2007–11, and MEP since 2014).
Controversies
[edit]In May 2018, it was revealed that many of Barry's Tea teabags are made with polypropylene, a non-compostable plastic which is damaging to the environment.[3] As of August 2021, the company claimed that it had responded to consumer pressure and had made 100% of its teabags biodegradable.[4]
Barry's Tea was a major sponsor of the greyhound racing industry in Ireland.[5] Despite numerous calls for the company to desist, it had refused to cease its sponsorship of an industry which had been the subject of repeated investigations into animal cruelty.[6] As of July 2019, the sponsorship has been pulled indefinitely.[7]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Teapot, Little Yellow (2012-06-15). "Irish Tea Debate — Lyons vs Barry's". Tea Blog. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
- ^ "About Barry's Tea | Irish Tea Brands". Barrys Tea.
- ^ Correspondent, Conor Pope Consumer Affairs. "Barry's Tea says it is working to take plastics out of its tea bags". The Irish Times.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ "Cork-based Barry's Tea removes plastic from Teabags". 13 August 2021.
- ^ Fortune, Michael. "Veteran 'Sarahjo' the Barry's tea pick". The Irish Independent. No. June 9, 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
- ^ "Minister has 'deep concern' over greyhound allegations". RTÉ. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
- ^ Horgan-Jones, Jack. "Barry's Tea and FBD Insurance pull greyhound racing funding". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2019-07-25.