About PG Tips

PG Tips is one of the handful of teas that defined the British cuppa. It launched in 1930 as Pre-Gest-Tea, shortened by the trade to PG and finished off by the public with Tips, and became as famous for its advertising, the chimps and later Monkey, as for the tea itself. The 1996 pyramid bag was a real technical step, giving the leaf far more room to infuse than a flat bag. PG Tips is now part of Lipton Teas and Infusions, the dedicated tea company carved out of Unilever, and for most of its life it was the flagship of Brooke Bond, which is part of why it carries a weight of nostalgia newer names cannot manufacture.

The range covers strong black, a stronger version, decaf, green and a broad fruit and herbal line, all built on the same brisk, no-nonsense character. PG Tips was the first major British tea brand to commit to sourcing all its tea through the Rainforest Alliance, a pledge it began rolling out in 2008 well ahead of rivals, and it switched early to a fully biodegradable plant-based bag with recyclable cartons. For our shelf PG Tips is the strong everyday English bag done properly: built for mugs and milk, fast, dependable, and one of the best-value strong blends in British retail. It does not pretend to be a single-estate indulgence and never needed to, because the strong builder's cup at a fair price is exactly what it does about as well as anyone ever has.

Key facts

• British Heritage Since 1930s Launched in the UK in the 1930s, building brand identity through decades of iconic monkey-led advertising campaigns.
• Soft-Water Optimised Blend The Assam-emphasis blend is built for British soft water and milk-tea preferences.
• Range Expansion (Chai, Decaf, Gold) Recent expansions include Chai Special Blend, Decaf English Breakfast and Gold Special Blend variants.
• Plant-Based + Rainforest Alliance Plant-based PLA biodegradable bags and Rainforest Alliance certified supply chain across the majority of the range.

The founders

Brand timeline

1. 1930s PG Tips launches in the UK

   PG Tips launches as a British tea brand, building the brand around the strong cup and the iconic monkey advertising campaigns that defined British tea marketing for decades.

2. 1950s Iconic British brand status

   PG Tips becomes one of the British tea brand standards, alongside Tetley as the working-class everyday cup of choice.

3. 2017 Becomes part of CVC

   PG Tips becomes part of the ekaterra/Lipton Teas + Infusions consolidation following Unilever's tea business sale.

4. 2020s Plant-based plastic-free bags

   PG Tips transitions tea bag range to plant-based PLA biodegradable mesh, removing polypropylene sealants.

5. 2024 Rainforest Alliance certified

   PG Tips supply chain is Rainforest Alliance certified across the majority of the range.

6. 2026 Stocked at Teas.co.uk

   Hand-picked into curator selection: full PG Tips range from Original English Breakfast through Chai Special Blend and Gold Special Blend.

Sustainability

PG Tips sits within the Lipton Teas and Infusions sustainability framework that was spun out of Unilever in 2022, focused exclusively on tea and infusions. The PG Tips supply chain is Rainforest Alliance certified across the majority of the range, with plant-based PLA biodegradable mesh tea bags replacing the polypropylene-sealant traditional format. Outer cardboard cartons are fully kerbside recyclable across the UK.

• Rainforest Alliance Certified PG Tips supply chain Rainforest Alliance certified across the majority of the range.
• Plant-Based PLA Bags PLA biodegradable tea bag mesh, home-compostable, no polypropylene synthetic plastic sealants.
• Kerbside Recyclable Carton Outer cardboard carton FSC-certified and fully kerbside recyclable.
• Lipton Group Climate Programme Sits within the Lipton Teas and Infusions group climate framework with multi-decade commitments to net-zero supply chain.