How Do You Translate Yorkshire Tea?
2 September 2025
What words go with “Yorkshire …..”? The answers could be many and varied – “Dales”, “pudding”, “cricket”, “Water”, and more. But, in recent years, another has come to the fore – Yorkshire Tea. And not only here in the UK: Yorkshire Tea has become a well-known brand internationally, because of one business - Taylors of Harrogate.
Sarah Henderson (pictured right) has worked for the group for 16 years, and now manages the international business in Asia, and Central and South America, for the Taylors of Harrogate brands, including Yorkshire Tea. When it comes to understanding how heritage brands market themselves in different overseas cultures, she’s a great person to ask.
More than translation
“It’s not just a matter of translation”, she explains. “Some things just don’t translate well, or won’t be easily understood in another language. Take the idea of Yorkshire Tea, for example: in the UK we have always used quite playful branding, and used words like ‘a proper brew’. But even in an English-speaking country such as Canada, ‘proper brew’ has different meanings, and may need explaining or adjusting. And in other cultures, some of the humour associated with the brand just doesn’t make sense to people who don’t know British culture well. So, our message needs to be localised, while still staying true to our brand and values.”
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Taylors tea has gained fans around the world - from Chile to China, and from Iceland to Uzbekistan – so clearly the company has learned how to localise its message effectively. In some countries it gained a foothold through the British expatriate market, or through long-standing links to the UK - Yorkshire Tea now has an 8% market share in Australia, for instance. Its other tea and coffee products, which instead bear the ‘Taylors of Harrogate’ brand name, spearhead the way into non-expat markets, where the name ‘Yorkshire’ has less meaning, and traditional branding style is appropriate – markets such as China and Korea, for instance. Sarah mentions hearing from her distributor a happy (and unusual) group of customers drinking their Yorkshire Tea: “They were monks in a Tibetan monastery” she said. One can only wonder what the word ‘Yorkshire’ meant to them. Maybe, simply: great tea.
The art of listening before speaking
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A long-time Chamber International client, Taylors’ strategy involves using distribution partnerships, and paying close attention to market research, some of which it entrusts to in-market agencies. The company is about to launch its own ‘flagship store’ on the giant Chinese shopping platform TMall, and has already been preparing the ground through careful messaging on the Chinese peer social media platform RED Note (formerly known as Little Red Book), using their own official account: |
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Taylors of Harrogate; presenting the more formal style of English tea drinking, to appeal to those who appreciate China’s own venerable tea culture.
It's an exciting space for British brands – one that requires creativity, courage, and careful listening to the market and culture – all of which Taylors of Harrogate appear to have in abundance.
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