TWG Tea opens largest flagship at Changi Airport amid global expansion

[SINGAPORE] TWG Tea is making a bigger bet on travellers.

The home-grown tea brand has opened its largest flagship worldwide at Changi Airport Terminal 3, as it steps up expansion in airports, luxury hotels and other travel destinations.

Spanning 2,700 sq ft in the departure transit area, the TWG Tea Gallery operates round the clock and houses the brand’s first museum, alongside its usual retail offering of teas, accessories and gifts.

Among its more striking design features is a nearly 8 m-high ceiling hand-painted with a world map of tea. Below it sits a wall displaying more than 1,200 tea tins.

TWG has built much of its identity around turning tea drinking into an occasion, and the Changi store pushes the idea by celebrating the history of the beverage.

The museum contains more than 170 antique tea wares and decorative objects collected over 15 years, including more than 50 Russian samovars – a tea-making device – dating from the 17th to 20th centuries, Yixing clay teapots, Chinese-Islamic ceramics and Western tea wares.

“The TWG Tea Gallery represents the most definitive expression of TWG Tea to date,” says co-founder Taha Bouqdib, who is also president and chief executive of parent company V3 Gourmet. “More than a tea boutique, the flagship brings the past, present and future of tea into one immersive experience.”

More commercially significant, however, is where the flagship sits.

TWG says travel retail is a key pillar of its international growth, with the brand expanding in airports, luxury hotels and cruise lines.

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Recent openings in Saudi Arabia and Mongolia have added to a network that already includes cities such as Seoul, London and Kuala Lumpur, while further growth is planned in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

TWG has more than 70 locations worldwide, but the Changi gallery is unique in offering access to a steady stream of international travellers, including those who may not have encountered the brand in their home markets.

The company has accordingly tailored some of its merchandise to the location: Grand Voyage Tea, created for the opening, takes its visual cues from the hand-painted ceiling and is a green tea with notes of orchard fruits, rose petals, mallow blossoms and warm spices. 

There is also a Singapore Surprise gift set containing Singapore Breakfast Tea, Silver Moon Tea and 1837 Black Tea.

For passengers with less room in their luggage, TWG is offering takeaway tea, macarons, chocolate bonbons and tea-infused ice cream and sorbet. Terminal 3 exclusives include pandan gula melaka and coconut tea ice cream, as well as soursop with Temi tea sorbet.

TWG is wagering that even for travellers racing towards a boarding gate, there’s still time to grab a cup of tea.