SECONDARY SOURCES
Herbal Medicine
Herbalists use the leaves, flowers, stems, berries and roots of plants to prevent relieve and treat illness. Herbal medicine has a long respected history. Many familiar medications of the twentieth century were developed from ancient healing traditions that treated health problems with specific plants. Throughout the Middle Ages homegrown botanicals were the only medicines readily available and for centuries, no self-respecting household would be without a carefully tended and extensively used herb garden. Once scientific methods were developed to extract the active ingredients in plants pharmaceutical laboratories took over from providers of medicinal herbs as the producers of drugs. Herbs are medicines ad can have powerful effects. There are 750,000 plants on earth, only a very few of the healing herbs have been scientifically studied. Most of the research that is done on plants continues to focus on identifying and isolating active ingredients rather than studying the medicinal properties of the whole plant. Herbalists consider that the power of a plant lies in the interaction of all its ingredients.
Thanks to modern technology science can now tell us why certain herbs are effective against certain conditions. Most health food stores will have individual herbs as well as complex herbal formulations capsules lozenges, ointments and teas. Adverse reactions are unusual if herbal remedies are used in recommended doses.
Herbal Tea:
There are many delicious blends of herbal teas on the shelves of health food stores. They can be loose herbs ready for steeping; herbal formulations aimed at specific conditions and convenient pre-bagged teas. Some are just for sipping some are medicinal. A comforting cup of herbal tea is a wonderful way to enjoy additional liquids and to relax.
After tasting your sample of ElderBerry Tea please fill in this Questionnaire
CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT
Any information given in this questionnaire is fully confidential
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QUESTIONNAIRE
Please tick one appropriate box for you answer
01. Your age: >15 15-20 20-30 30-50 50<
02. Gender: Male Female
03. Do you drink Tea/Coffee regularly? Yes No
04. Have you previously tried Herbal Tea? Yes No
05. Did you like the taste of ElderBerry Tea? Yes No
06. Would you convert to ElderBerry Tea after tasting? Yes No
07. Are you aware of the medical benefits of herbal tea? Yes No
08. What do you think maybe the benefits of drinking herbal tea?
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09. What price range would you pay for a box of 12 sachets of herbal tea?
- 50p-£2.00 £2.00-£3.00 £3.00 or more
10. Were you aware of Elderberry herbal Tea prior to this tasting and questionnaire?
Yes No
RESUTLTS OF PRIMARY RESEARCH/ QUESTIONNAIRE
The questionnaire was completed by 10 random people. The results were as follows:
- The questionnaire showed that of the ten participants 2 are between the age of 15-20, 4 between the age of 20-30 and 4 people are aged 50 or more.
- 4 are male and 6 are female.
- When asked do you drink tea/coffee regularly, 7 out of 10 said yes and 3 out of ten said no.
- When asked have you previously tried herbal Tea 8 out of 10 had leaving 2 people whom had not.
- When asked if they liked the taste of ElderBerry Tea after tasting a sample 8 out of 10 people said yes with just 2 saying no.
- Would you convert to ElderBerry Tea after tasting? 6 out of 10 people answered yes to this question with 4 answering no.
- When asked were you aware of the medical benefits of herbal tea. 4 out of 10 people were aware of the benefits and 6 out of 10 were not aware.
- When given the opportunity to state what they thought maybe the benefits of drinking herbal tea the written answers were as follows:
- De-toxing the body
- Anti-oxidants, aids immunity & helps general well being
- Non toxic
- No benefits
- No caffeine, De-toxing agent, Good for slimming (diets)
- Caffeine Free
- General Health
- Help the Immune system
- Health and Well-being, Relaxation
- Don’t know
- 6 out of 10 people would pay 50p-£2.00 for a box of 12 sachets of herbal tea, 3 said they would pay £2.00-£3.00 and 1 person said they would not pay at all.
- 2 out of 10 people were aware of elderberry herbal Tea prior to the tasting and 8 out of 10 people were not aware of elderberry Tea.
EVALUATION OF PRIMARY RESEARCH/QUESTIONNAIRE
The questionnaire was conducted outside a local newsagents. People were randomly selected as they left the shop. A lot of people refused to complete the questionnaire. It took 45 mins for all 10 questionnaires to be completed. I feel the results signify a lot in the marketing of Herbal Tea.
The analysis of the questionnaires shows that no one under the age of 15 took part in the questionnaire. I feel this is may-be due to the fact that they would have been attending school. It should not make much difference to the promotion of the Herbal Tea as I think the market would not be directed to under 15’s. I think under 15’s would not buy herbal tea, although maybe it should have been wise to conduct the questionnaire at non-school hours, so as to prove that most under 15’s would not be interested in Herbal Tea.
The questionnaire shows that 6 people were female and 4 were male. I feel that this is so because more females were willing to complete the questionnaire than men were. If the questionnaire were conducted with using half female and half males, maybe the results would have been slightly different and more efficient for the marketing of Herbal Tea.
Seven out of 10 people said they drink coffee/tea regularly. This question was asked in order to find out what percentage of the market drinks tea/coffee, in order to aim the promotion at these individuals who already drink hot drinks for relaxation or taste.
8 out of 10 people have previously drank herbal tea, this shows that when marketing herbal tea, the majority of consumers will have already tried herbal tea, therefor we wish to aim the market at promoting herbal tea in a unique and new means, so as to encourage the people whom have previously tried it to convert to Elderberry flavour, and to convince them of trying this new flavour which is unlike the herbal tea, which they have previously tried and have abandoned.
Question five was a very vital question in the marketing of Elderberry Herbal Tea. 8 out of 10 people did like the taste of the tea. This is a good amount for the successful promotion, and selling of Elderberry Herbal Tea. 8 out of 10 people is 80% which is a very satisfactory amount but we must promote ElderBerry Tea and look into adding more/less flavours in order to satisfy the 20% of people whom did not like the taste and try to have 100% of people liking the taste.
Question six was all so one of the most important questions, as ElderBerry tea will be marketed to those whom already drink tea/coffee and to try convince them to change to the more natural alternative of ElderBerry Herbal Tea. 6 out of 10 people said that they would convert to ElderBerry tea after tasting. This too is also a good total. It is 60% again we must use promotion and advertisement to increase this percentage.
4 out of 10 people were aware of the medical benefits which is good, because the marketing of the product is designed to inform all consumers about the medical benefits of herbal tea, which they have not previously know.
6 out of 10 people would buy a box of 12 sachets of herbal tea for 50p-£2.00, 3 would pay £2.00-£3.00 and one person designed their own amount on the questionnaire, which was £0.00. This is quite unsatisfactory result in the marketing of ElderBerry Tea. It shows that people are not willing to pay a lot for 12 sachets. This would create quite a problem for the producers, as it is necessary to earn a good profit with the implementation of Elderberry Herbal Tea on to the market.
8 out of 10 people were unaware of ElderBerry Herbal Tea prior to the tasting. This shows that there is already a market for ElderBerry Tea, although I feel that this market maybe abroad and not in Ireland, as I recall two participants being British.
CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS
It can be concluded that the introduction of Elder Berry Herbal Tea, would be of benefit and of profit making to the co-op. The co-op are progressing and are quite successful at present therefore they have can afford to advance to the next level of their businesses by introducing a new product. The research conducted has proved that the Elder Berry herbal tea will be quite a successful product because of the growing demand of herbal tea from consumers. The Product of Elder Berry is by far the most obvious ingredient to use, because of its medical benefits, colds and flu relief and unique and rich taste. Herbal medicine and teas have become most popular with the consumer, and is growing each day, so the elderberry tea would be introduced to a demanding market.
Elderberry Tea is a quick and alternative cure for colds, flu and illnesses. It has been tested and has proven to relieve symptoms faster than Lemsip™ and Beechams™.
The following are recommendations of the marketing strategy:
- Elder berry is widely available in the town, but it is recommended that the producers start to grow their own in the case of low supplies and in the hopeful event that their business will grow with the introduction of their new product.
- Different parts of the Elderberry have different mechanical uses. The leaves and stalks boiled to mightily relief for phlegm and colds, the middle or inward bark boiled works much more violently and the berries expel the same. The juice of the root taken procures vomiting. Therefore it would be recommended that the different parts of the plant be used separately in the producing of herbal tea, to treat the specific illness required.
- Elderberry can be grown organically and therefore the co-op should revert to local farmers, to produce the elderberries organically.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Internet: Herbs research foundation: ,
On Health
Books: Herbal Remedies by Geeds and Grosset
Sources: Lemsip™, herbal tea packages etc.
Questionnaire: Family, Friends, and General Public
Library: Natural Medicine files, Iliac Centre Library, Dublin 1.