Creepy & Creative Design: A witches brew

London tea connoisseurs Bird & Blend looked locally to find the right fit for their packaging wishlist

London tea company Bird & Blend is run by Krisi Smith and Mike Turner, who started off packing tea in their bedroom. Now with multiple retail stores and a thriving international online store, Bird & Blend is leading the way in tea innovation in the UK, and we’re delighted to be work them to produce a range of seasonal tins – including a new Halloween edition!

Bespoke printing on Bird & Blend Halloween limited edition slip lid tin

Bird & Blend – suppliers of both loose tea and teabags – first consulted with P. Wilkinson Containers in 2018 before returning in the summer of 2021 to become a client. They wanted a tin caddy supplier who could meet short lead times as a local firm, and who could help them improve their environmental credentials with recyclable packaging choices. We worked with Bird & Blend to select bespoke 74mm diameter, 160mm tall slip lid tins for their tea caddies, which keep the tea leaves fresh. All the caddies are manufactured in London, using solar power, at our William Say factory.

Not only is the tea caddy 100% recyclable but also fits well into the circular economy model as it’s designed to be re-used many times over for tea storage (or anything else you might want to store in it) before eventually being recycled. The local manufacturing option was also one of the major attractions for Bird & Blend, as they were looking to move away from packaging imports from the Far East and were keen to work with a British supplier.

Bespoke printing on Bird & Blend limited edition slip lid tins

One of the most exciting parts of the tea caddy range offered by Bird & Blend is the selection of quirky and creative printing options they use to create limited edition runs for seasonal specials. The bespoke litho printed designs are completed at the Wilkinsons site, before Bird & Blend add their signature black label. They have commissioned several versions of the tin, with a range of celebration designs including Christmas, Easter and Halloween editions in different colours.

The Bird & Blend tins also have an ‘eco message’ debossed on the bottom of the tins: ‘made using solar power’. Krisi and Mike are delighted with their green packaging credentials and include them in their own sales pitch: “Using a local supplier, combined with being made using renewable energy generated from Solar Power, this tin has a much lower carbon footprint than tins imported from abroad!”

Bespoke printing on Bird & Blend limited edition slip lid tins

Bird & Blend also offer customers a 10% discount if they bring their metal tea caddies to be refilled in store – the gift that keeps on giving!