Alcoholic tea brand Noveltea returns with new owners a year after liquidation

An alcoholic tea brand which went into liquidation after falling victim to the pandemic is making a return under new ownership.

Boozy tea business Noveltea, which was launched in Newcastle in 2016, had stirred up the drinks sector with its unusual tea-infused spirits and it also got financial boosts when its founders appeared on BBC’s Dragons’ Den TV show and the German version of the pitching programme, Cave of Lions.

However, despite proving popular with customers in the UK, Germany and China, and securing investments from the North East Venture Fund, the Government’s Future Fund and private backers through crowdfunding campaigns, the company struggled to bounce back from the pandemic’s impact on the hospitality market.

Liquidators at FRP Advisory were appointed to Tea Venture Limited – which traded as Noveltea – in October 2022, and marketed the company’s assets for sale, including its stock, intellectual property and brand. Documents on Companies House show FRP received claims totalling more than £768,000 from unsecured creditors and its estimated deficiency was £2.66m.

Now it has emerged that the IP and Noveltea name were bought by a Cheltenham business, which has brought Noveltea’s popular products back to the market, through new company Feature Spirit Ltd.

Feature Spirit’s founder Dave Carson confirmed the company acquired the brands as well as its IP, including the website and social media accounts, and has also given the bottles a new look. The new firm has three different tea-based liqueurs and a dry gin with tea distillates.

He said: “We are continuing to produce the products in Germany. I know initial production was in the UK, but it had been moved to Germany by Tea Ventures Ltd.

“Over the past few months, we have been working hard behind the scenes to revamp Noveltea’s image and develop new products to exceed the expectations of our valued customers. With a new, modern look and a fresh brand identity, we are ready to get our products back into the hands of our loyal customers and new fans.”

The original busuiness had been set up by former Newcastle University students Lukas Passia and Vincent Effroth, who went on to appear on the Dragons’ Den, where they turned down investment offers and instead chose to raise funds through CrowdCube. In late 2020 Noveltea secured £1.4m from those investors in a move that followed a major deal with German celebrity Dagmar Wöhrl for €450,000 worth of backing.

Prior to that, Noveltea had secured more than £877,000 from three crowdfunding campaigns in 2017, 2018 and 2020 – the last of which gave the business a pre-money valuation of £6.8m.

However, the business then struggled to recover from the pandemic’s impact on the hospitality market. As well as mounting material costs, one of Noveltea’s biggest European customers also filed for insolvency, which piled the pressure on profitability. Efforts were made to find a buyer for the business, which was set to break into the US market before the pandemic struck, but no viable offers emerged and Noveltea ceased trading with the loss of seven jobs.

Looking ahead, new owner Mr Carson has plans to expand its client list, adding: “We are very excited to have acquired Noveltea, and are delighted to have relaunched it onto the market. Our initial focus is on selling online, direct-to-consumers. We will explore re-establishing offline channels – shops, bars, restaurants and events – next year.”