Sign in to view
member only content

Get ready for fully personalized breakfasts: following customized cereal from Mymuesli, which we covered last week, comes Blends For Friends, a British company that sells custom-blended tea. As the name indicates, Blends For Friends are mainly ordered for others. Gift-givers are requested to tell the company all about their friend in question, from date of birth and job description, to the recipient’s physical appearance and hobbies. And of course the type of tea they usually drink. The more information master blender Alex Probyn is given, the better suited the blend will be. Probyn had worked as a ‘master tea taster’ for a large tea brand for years, when he started blending individual teas for friends and family based on their personalities. The idea caught on, and now Blends For Friends offers customers across the globe the same service. Every original new blend costs GBP 27 plus postage for 100 grams of loose leaf tea, packaged in a gift-wrapped tin caddy with a bespoke label referring to the recipient and the different teas used in the blend. Reorders are priced at GBP 7 plus postage (“less than 20p for every personalized cup of tea”). Besides individual gifts, Blends For Friends also creates bespoke blends for corporate clients and teas for weddings. Springwise doesn’t see an end to the possibilities for smart entrepreneurs to create customized versions of familiar goods, selling them (online) as highly personal gifts or gravanity goods. From wrapping paper to baby blankets, and from bank cards to lingerie. Pick your niche!