Tea Business Spotlight 18 - Tealated

Welcome to the eighteenth of our Tea Business Spotlights, in which we allow tea people to share insights on running their business. If you're a tea business owner and you'd like to take part in an upcoming spotlight, please contact us.

Tealated
Wyoming, USA

How long have you been in business?
I have been in the tea business for a year, but I have enjoyed tea all my life.

What is the size/scope of your business?
We are a small, family run business that sells online, on Amazon, and at our local Food for Thought market.

Why tea?
I fell in love with tea as a little girl living in Morocco for several years with my family. I love to share tea with others and introduce new people to the joy of tea. I especially try to encourage people to drink tea instead of drinking soda, energy drinks, or other toxic beverages. Tea is a wonderful replacement and much healthier.

I also am very passionate about helping others. When I lived in Morocco I was shocked at the level of poverty in the families that lived in the countryside, and the fact that they did not have access to clean and safe water. So, for every purchase at Tealated, we donate 3% to Water.org.

How did you get the ball rolling on your venture?
Our family previously owned an organic, handcrafted soap company that we closed in early 2014. We used the profit from that business to start our tea business. However, I didn't know where to begin, so I happened to mention to a former classmate from high school about my interest in selling tea and he told me he had a friend that was in the tea business. I contacted his friend who then assisted me in developing our company. We are starting out small and growing slowly. In the future we would like to offer more single source and rare teas.

What do you feel is the biggest strength of your business?
As a mom of nine children, I have a desire to love everyone, to serve others, and to help people be as healthy and happy as possible. I believe that tea is the best way to do this. Sharing tea is sharing love! Our family has a huge organic garden that we grow every year not only for our own use, but also to share good, local produce with others. I am always encouraging my friends and family to grow their own food, to make their own natural soaps and cleaners, and to drink tea. Organically produced food is important to us, so all of our tea is organic. Our society is so full of toxins and our bodies need good, organic foods and beverages instead of loading up on soda and junk food. If we love others we want them to be healthy. In loving our customers and giving them the best customer service, we can help to make a difference with tea.

What were/are the biggest challenges of getting into/being in the tea business?
Our focus is on getting non-tea drinkers to love tea, and many new tea drinkers are more inclined to want the flavored teas. There is nothing wrong with this, especially if it gets more people to try tea, but in the future I would like to offer a wide variety of the more rare and single source teas. Since we are a debt-free company, it will take longer to build the profits and expand. However, if you are in the tea business you are always surrounded by tea, and what could possibly be better than that?

How's business?
We are growing slowly but steadily. We get most of our customers by word of mouth which is great because it means people love our tea and are spreading the word.

Adagio Teas - Best Tea Online

Tea Business Spotlight 17 - Tea of the People

Welcome to the seventeenth of our Tea Business Spotlights, in which we allow tea people to share insights on running their business. If you're a tea business owner and you'd like to take part in an upcoming spotlight, please contact us.

Tea of the People
Ontario, Canada

How long have you been in business?
Personally, my relationship with tea has existed for over a decade. While most of my friends gravitated towards coffee, I was attracted to tea because of it’s diverse variety and aromatic character. Only in my early twenties did I begin to understand the tea types, grades, and health benefits. Tea of the People has been in the making for over a year. Having launched recently, Tea of the People is a new company, with an old soul. Our innovative blends and socially conscious driven mission are built around providing honesty in every cup and empathy for the human condition.

What is the size/scope of your business?
When I spoke about Tea of the People, rarely used are words like “I” and “me”. Despite being the only person steering the ship, my family, friends and extended network were the best support system anyone could ever ask for. They acted as an advisory board and without their love and guidance; Tea of the People would not exist. Simply put, they are all co-founders of Tea of the People. In terms of scope, we are laser focused on getting our tea in health & wellness retail stores. Health & wellness grocery shoppers are among the most enlightened and passionate people when it comes to food and beverages. Winning over hearts and minds in this space is key because in doing so, you then have ambassadors and influencers spreading the word.

Why tea?
With the global economic recovery still lagging after the worst recession in close to a century and so much frustration with our political bodies, the general feeling is people are becoming increasing disconnected from one another. Tea is one of the few things that does the opposite. Consumed all over the world, tea connects men and women in our communities and with civilizations from the past and future. Tea transcends time and space and to help drive the tea industry in a more healthy and socially conscious direction feels incredible.

How did you get the ball rolling on your venture?
When Founder & CEO of Whole Foods Market, John Mackey, is asked what ought pre or current entrepreneurs do to be successful, the answer is “start”. Heeding to this simple, yet profound advice, the earliest roots of Tea of the People can be traced back to an impromptu trip to my favorite grocery aisle, the tea section. After much research, their appeared to be glaring issues with the tea space that few, if any, had thought about disrupting. From there we just “started” learning as much as we could about getting the company off the ground.

What do you feel is the biggest strength of your business?
We use only the most nutritious and meticulously produced ingredients in the world. Companies throw around the words “highest” and “finest” when it comes to quality but won’t tell you the “type” of green tea they use, for example, and often times, forgo blending real ingredients with their tea. When somebody buys our Acai x Goji Dragon Well green tea, not only are we excited to tell them that Dragon Well was once drunk exclusively by Chinese emperors and that it’s the most antioxidant-rich green tea in the world, but you are getting a huge handful of actual goji berries with your blend. Our biggest strengths are quality, nutritional value and flavour uniqueness.

What were/are the biggest challenges of getting into/being in the tea business?
Starting a business in any industry is painstaking and tea is no different. The biggest challenge was perfecting the blends. It took about 6 months to finalize our inaugural lineup. For months we worked with food scientists and tea experts, where we faced roadblock after roadblock. Truthfully, it wasn’t known if we could get Dragon Well to taste delicious with super fruit or where to begin with barrel aging Madagascar cocoa beans with organic rooibos. On top of that, we were met with a ton of opposition from the tea space because Dragon Well has never been blended with anything before. Nearly every major tea distributor and company, when discussing our vision, scoffed us at. But something beautiful happened in each of these moments. Very few teas excite and surprise us anymore because everything under the sun has been done, so when I received such passionate reactions, I knew Tea of the People’s was on to something.

How's business?
Since launching, things have been crazy. We did not foresee this much excitement around our innovative teas and story. Magazines, blogs and thought leaders in the health & wellness, foodie and social entrepreneurial spaces are writing about Tea of the People and that feels both amazing and humbling.

Tea of the People has advertised at Tea Guy Speaks

Tea Business Spotlight 16 - Tea Vue

Welcome to the sixteenth of our Tea Business Spotlights, in which we allow tea people to share insights on running their business. If you're a tea business owner and you'd like to take part in an upcoming spotlight, please contact us.

Tea Vue
Maryland, USA

How long have you been in business?
Since 2013.

What is the size/scope of your business?
We are a startup, online loose leaf tea and tea ware retailer with Amazon as an additional distribution channel.

Why tea?
Our love for tea is multifaceted – the expansive and diverse taste, character, and health properties along with the rich history and ceremonial tradition have been most intoxicating for us.

How did you get the ball rolling on your venture?
While conducting research for a consulting engagement, we became aware of the untapped potential of the tea market in the US and globally. Through the compelling business opportunity, we found an even greater appreciation for the complexities of tea.

What do you feel is the biggest strength of your business?
Our mission is to personally curate only the finest quality teas for our customers. We strive to create an experience through not only the tea itself but with our branding and personalized service. Every Tea Vue tea is presented to the customer in packaging that is worthy of with the tea it holds.

What were/are the biggest challenges of getting into/being in the tea business?
Although the market potential is significant, it is a challenge to educate consumers on how to discern widely-available, low grade, bag and loose leaf tea from loose leaf tea of the highest quality.

What would you do differently, if anything?
We would have commenced pursuing Tea Vue years ago.

How's business?
Repeat business is strong – everyone that has tried Tea Vue’s tea extols praise and becomes an ongoing customer. Reaching those that are not yet aware of Tea Vue is the challenge.

What advice would you give to someone who aspires to be in the tea business?
Life is precious and too short – pursue your passion whether tea or otherwise.

The Breville One-Touch Tea Maker

Tea Business Spotlight 15 - Whittard of Chelsea

Welcome to the fifteenth of our Tea Business Spotlights, in which we allow tea people to share insights on running their business. If you're a tea business owner and you'd like to take part in an upcoming spotlight, please contact us.

Whittard of Chelsea
Witney, England

How long have you been in business?
Whittard of Chelsea was started over 125 years ago in 1886 in London.

What is the size/scope of your business?
We have over 60 stores in the UK and online shops in the UK, US, France, Italy and Germany and will be adding Japan. In addition, we wholesale in various countries too.

Why tea?
Our founder Walter H Whittard was passionate about tea.

How did you get the ball rolling on your venture?
Walter H Whittard was born in 1861 into a family of wealthy leather merchants. Not keen on joining the family business, Walter pursued his passion for tea spending five years as an apprentice, before founding his own company at the age of 25. He opened his first shop on busy Fleet Street in 1886. A talented businessman, Walter soon spotted that there were opportunities beyond tea and added coffee and cocoa to his range, creating exclusive blends from the finest ingredients. His store was full of gleaming tea caddies and brass weighing scales and he established a reputation for combining expert service with specialist teas, freshly roasted coffee and fine quality cocoa. Ahead of his time, Walter understood the need to tailor products to his customers – he watched the wigged occupants of the Inns of Court come and go and created a blend called ‘Barristers Refresher’ to tempt them in. Walter’s philosophy was always to ‘buy the best’ and this has been a guiding principle for Whittard of Chelsea ever since.

What do you feel is the biggest strength of your business?
We are passionate about tea and coffee, passionate about helping our customers explore and discover new and innovative blends and passionate about sharing our knowledge. We believe fine tea and coffee deserves to be valued, appreciated and enjoyed.

What were/are the biggest challenges of getting into/being in the tea business?
There are always new competitors and new products, so the challenge is to maintain quality but also continue to develop new and exciting products.

What would you do differently, if anything?
That’s a question for Walter and unfortunately he’s no longer around to answer …

How's business?
Business is good. We are constantly evolving our offering, while remaining faithful to our customers’ favourite products and always finding new ways to reach and interact with our customers. E-commerce and social media are playing a bigger role. Plus because we have lots of customers who loved our stores and products whilst visiting England, it’s great to be launching more international websites, so more and more people can buy our unique teas and coffees when they return home.

What advice would you give to someone who aspires to be in the tea business?
Be passionate about what you do and ensure you have a great quality product.

The Breville One-Touch Tea Maker

Tea Business Spotlight 14 - Kally Tea

Welcome to the fourteenth of our Tea Business Spotlights, in which we allow tea people to share insights on running their business. If you're a tea business owner and you'd like to take part in an upcoming spotlight, please contact us.

Kally Tea, LLC
Winchester, CA

How long have you been in business?
Just under 1 year

What is the size/scope of your business?
We are a mail order online retailer specializing in loose leaf tea and “accoutrements”.

Why tea?
We absolutely love tea, we love the taste, the fresh feeling it imparts, we love the healthy aspects (scientific proof or not, we know how we feel!), the flavors, the special taste blends, and especially the community who drink and enjoy tea.

How did you get the ball rolling on your venture?
We started to get the desire when we knew we loved tea and we knew we wanted to do what we love. We made contacts; we tasted vast amounts of samples to narrow the product line down to what we felt were the cream of the crop. Once the tea was selected, we then interviewed photographers, web designers, and put it all together, based on what we like to read, and see in an online shop. We felt we wanted to convey what we like in an online shopping experience and not what others like, or (marketing people hate this!...) “how to make big sales.”

What do you feel is the biggest strength of your business?
The excellent variety as well as the fun blends. Our customer service is taken very seriously.

What were/are the biggest challenges of getting into/being in the tea business?
Locating top quality teas and ingredients that met our high standards.

What would you do differently, if anything?
There are some things, but those would mostly be behind the scenes and not necessarily worthy of discussion in this forum. But as a whole we have been very happy with the whole process.

How's business?
There are many peaks and valleys, but what we do love is that the orders we have shipped there have been glowing reviews of all our products.

What advice would you give to someone who aspires to be in the tea business?
Read, drink, talk, read, drink, learn…Oh yeah, did we say drink?

The Breville One-Touch Tea Maker

Tea Business Spotlight 13 - Enjoy Better Tea

Welcome to the thirteenth of our Tea Business Spotlights, in which we allow tea people to share insights on running their business. If you're a tea business owner and you'd like to take part in an upcoming spotlight, please contact us.

Enjoy Better Tea
Worthington, Ohio

How long have you been in business?
I first started selling coffee and tea online in 2006, so more than 6 years.

What is the size/scope of your business?
We import Pickwick tea and Douwe Egberts coffee from the Netherlands, along with many other imported and premium brands. We do buy a small portion of our products from US distributors. We sell tea through our website www.EnjoyBetterTea.com. In addition to retail sales, we have a wholesale business line with some small specialty stores.

Why tea?
Originally, we were focused on imported coffee so tea came up naturally as an addition to our business. Our focus is on premium tea, imported by distinctive tea producers, often with long and storied histories.

How did you get the ball rolling on your venture?
I started out having a small ebay store where I sold some of my favorite coffees and teas. I spent weekends, then later weekday evenings too, in procuring products, filling orders and mailing the packages. As my business grew, I involved my wife and 3 daughters to help with the packing and mailing of orders. Eventually, I hired a part-time assistant, and a few months later, I quit my day job in Information Technology. Today, I have a staff of 4 full time and 2 part time employees, and I am looking to hire a new salesperson. My wife and daughters still help out too!

What do you feel is the biggest strength of your business?
We have a great selection of tea products all at reasonable prices. In fact, we get that feedback often, that our prices are very good.

What were/are the biggest challenges of getting into/being in the tea business?
The obvious challenge of being in the tea business is the amount of competition in the marketplace. Quality tea is available in a lot of different places. Our goal is to offer premium tea at exceptional prices and by doing that, be a leader in the marketplace.

What would you do differently, if anything?
I can honestly say I wouldn’t do anything differently. My plan is to continue to build on my sites, adding new products as I find them, and continue to challenge the competition.

How's business?
Business is good. When the tea site first started, we had 5 tea brands and business was slow, but steady. Today, we offer more than 11 premium brands, along with tea-making accessories, and we have many repeat customers. Because we offer a subscription service for both coffee and tea orders, we have a strong, loyal customer group. We also offer discounts in our newsletters – the tea newsletter is published and sent once a month – and we are on Facebook, Twitter and we have our coffee blog, with a section devoted specifically to tea. (We have a very beneficial relationship with a social media consultant at www.ThePinkAnvil.com. The Pink Anvil folks handle our online presence - and they are taking new clients!)

What advice would you give to someone who aspires to be in the tea business?
Think about the approach you want to take in the market. You want your idea/product/service to be at least somewhat unique. That is, offer something different, or offer something old in a new or unusual way.

The Breville One-Touch Tea Maker

Tea Business Spotlight 12 - Tealet

Tealet
Honolulu, Hawaii

Welcome to the twelfth of our Tea Business Spotlights, in which we allow tea people to share insights on running their business. If you're a tea business owner and you'd like to take part in an upcoming spotlight, please contact us.

How long have you been in business?
Tealet went live in May 2012.

What is the size/scope of your business?
We are a grassroots global corporation that facilitates relationships between tea growers and tea drinkers. We are a two-sided marketplace between tea growers from over ten different countries and will initially focus on marketing to the US market, although we do ship tea to customers internationally.

Why tea?
My professional background is in food science and technology and I was never really satisfied working in the food industry until I began working for a RTD green tea manufacturer. I was introduced to the unique qualities of tea and the healthy benefits it can bring for people. I was reintroduced to tea from the perspective of the grower during my time as a Japan MBA student at the University of Hawaii. I studied the market feasibility for Hawaii Grown Tea and then did a four month long internship in Kyoto, Japan at Obubu Tea Plantations. I think the US tea market is growing, the consumer is becoming more conscious, and tea growers are prepared to supply the world with the best quality tea.

How did you get the ball rolling on your venture?
After I finished an internship in Kyoto, Japan I returned to Hawaii and participated in a Startup Weekend event. At the event individuals pitch business ideas and teams are formed to build the business in 52 hours. My idea of "tea-commerce", now Tealet, was selected and my team won second place. Since then I have continued to work on the business idea and now we are in a business accelerator in Silicon Valley talking with investors about growth of the business.

What do you feel is the biggest strength of your business?
Our biggest strength is personal relationships we have with tea growers around the world. We hope that we can build a product that can extend this relationship with the tea drinker.

What were/are the biggest challenges of getting into/being in the tea business?
Like any business it is difficult to get the right partners together and to do the jobs of 10 people. The tea business is a relatively straight forward business, but there is much competition so it is very challenging to find the thing that separates you from everyone else.

What would you do differently, if anything?
I would have started studying Japanese earlier. I work with many Japanese farmers that don't speak English and we sometimes have difficulties communicating. I am practicing my Japanese now, but I wish I was fluent in speaking and writing so I could quickly do business with my partners.

How's business?
Business is growing quickly. Our customers are enjoying our tea and we are excited to try new things and take our customers on an exploration with us.

What advice would you give to someone who aspires to be in the tea business?
If you want to get in the tea business the best way to start is to network and build a community within the tea industry. Find out what's going in the ecosystem and try to build a solution that will help everyone including yourself. Make friends and find ways that you can work together. There is a lot of opportunity in the tea market right now, so there is much room for synergy.

Cuisinart TEA-100 PerfecTemp Programmable Tea Steeper

Tea Business & Blogger Spotlight

Do you own a teahouse or tea store? A mail-order tea business? Are you an established tea blogger? If so we’d like to talk to you.

We've done a series of brief spotlights on tea businesses since kicking off this feature. Take a look at them here. If you’d like to take part in a spotlight we promise not to take much of your time and may even generate a little bit of publicity for you.

For more information, contact us here.

Cuisinart TEA-100 PerfecTemp Programmable Tea Steeper

Tea Business Spotlight 11 - Breakaway Matcha

Breakaway Matcha
San Anselmo, CA
link

Welcome to the eleventh of our Tea Business Spotlights, in which we allow tea people to share insights on running their business. If you're a tea business owner and you'd like to take part in an upcoming spotlight, please contact us.

How long have you been in business?
The website went live in March 2011 (we’re online only).

What is the size/scope of your business?
We ship globally to matcha enthusiasts in many countries, and provide matcha to some of the best restaurants in the world, including The French Laundry and Manresa. Our matcha is also served at the White House.

Why tea?
I’ve been a matcha aficionado since the 1980s, when I first began living in Japan. There’s plenty of cooking matcha to be found on the internets, but I wasn’t able to find any artisanal matcha that tastes amazing just straight up, as tea, and not as a cooking ingredient. So I set out to find it, mostly because I just wanted to have a steady supply (it’s somewhat addicting once you discover it). But when I served it to friends, everyone wanted some, and voila, the business was born.

Tea Business Spotlight 10 - Tiesta Tea Company

Tiesta Tea Company
Champaign, Illinois

Welcome to the tenth of our Tea Business Spotlights, in which we allow tea people to share insights on running their business. If you're a tea business owner and you'd like to take part in an upcoming spotlight, please contact us.

How long have you been in business?
We started the business while still in college (March of 2010). Our product was introduced to the public on store shelves in Champaign, IL in August of 2010.

What is the size/scope of your business?
We are currently in about 70 stores - mostly in the Midwestern USA but we have entered a couple stores on the coasts as well.

Tea Business Spotlight 9 - Culinary Teas

Culinary Teas
Milford, Indiana

Welcome to the ninth of our Tea Business Spotlights, in which we allow tea people to share insights on running their business. If you're a tea business owner and you'd like to take part in an upcoming spotlight, please contact us.

How long have you been in business?
We have been in business for ten years. We started the company in April of 2001.

What is the size/scope of your business?
We sell only to the United States and Canada. We did just over $200k in sales last year so we are still a small company.

Why tea?
Tea has always been a love of mine and when my favorite vendor went out of business I decided I could take my job skills and use them for myself instead of others and make sure I would never run out of my favorite tea again.

Tea Business Spotlight 8 - Min River Tea Farm

Min River Tea Farm
Fuzhou, China

Welcome to the eighth of our Tea Business Spotlights, in which we allow tea people to share insights on running their business. If you're a tea business owner and you'd like to take part in an upcoming spotlight, please contact us.


How long have you been in business?
We started in March 2011, so it's a very new business. We've been live for about a month now. The idea has been brewing in my head for about 1 year now, and it's taken that long to get everything ready and running.

What is the size/scope of your business?
We're still quite small, just focussed on the UK market now and only selling online, but quite soon we'll expand to Europe and the USA. We sell only pure, authentic Chinese teas, whole-leaf and with no added flavourings or fruity blends!

Tea Business Spotlight 7 - Tao Tea Leaf

Tao Tea Leaf
Toronto

Welcome to the seventh of our Tea Business Spotlights, in which we allow tea people to share insights on running their business. If you're a tea business owner and you'd like to take part in an upcoming spotlight, please contact us.

How long have you been in business?
We founded Tao Tea Leaf in September 2009, and have been working full time since December of the same year, when the retail store opened. We already had a rich background of knowledge when it came to tea, and a great relationship with the tea growers and vendors in China. And, of course, we did a lot of research before we started selling tea in Canada.

What is the size/scope of your business?
We are a small business in Toronto. We import the finest teas from China, Japan, India South America and Africa, but we focus on Chinese Tea. Our retail store, Tao Tea Leaf, is located in the fashionable Yorkville/Rosedale area of Toronto. From there, we showcase elegant tea wares, hold educational workshops, host tea ceremonies, celebrate cultural events and organize our Chinese Tea Culture Tour.

Tea Business Spotlight 6 - Canton Tea Co

Canton Tea Co
London

Welcome to the sixth of our Tea Business Spotlights, in which we allow tea people to share insights on running their business. If you're a tea business owner and you'd like to take part in an upcoming spotlight, please contact us.

How long have you been in business?
Since Dec 07 but we spent 18 months in research and planning before we launched.

What is the size/scope of your business?
We are a small but fast-growing specialist supplier of authentic whole leaf tea from China and Taiwan. Our business is primarily web-based in the UK, but we are growing our trade business in Teahouses, boutique hotels, Michelin-starred restaurants and high end retail outlets like Harvey Nichols, London. We also sell quality teaware, some Indian and herbal tissanes. Our US customer base is growing rapidly - which may have something to do with achieving second place among the Best Tea Companies in the US tea review website Teaviews.

Tea Business Spotlight 5 - Dandelion Communitea Cafe

Dandelion Communitea Cafe
Orlando, Florida

Welcome to the fifth of our Tea Business Spotlights, in which we allow tea people to share insights on running their business. If you're a tea business owner and you'd like to take part in an upcoming spotlight, please contact us.

How long have you been in business?
Five years next month

What is the size/scope of your business?
1000 sq ft operation in a renovated bungalow house with front and back patio dining areas. We have one location and think small is beautiful. We have an extensive organic, vegetarian and gluten free food menu which we are well known for.

Tea Business Spotlight 4 - Runa LLC

Welcome to the fourth of our Tea Business Spotlights, in which we allow tea people to share insights on running their business. If you're a tea business owner and you'd like to take part in an upcoming spotlight, please contact us.

Runa LLC
Providence, Rhode Island

How long have you been in business?
We founded Runa in early 2009, and have been working full time since July of 2009.

What is the size/scope of your business?
We launched our first product line in the Fall of 2010, and are now being sold through 100 retail locations on the East Coast, including several dozen Whole Foods Markets. We have 4 employees for our US company, and 16 employees under our Ecuadorian company, in addition to 600 indigenous farming families that we partner with.

Tea Business Spotlight 3 - Indie Tea

Welcome to the third of our Tea Business Spotlights, in which we allow tea people to share insights on running their business. If you're a tea business owner and you'd like to take part in an upcoming spotlight, please contact us.

Indie Tea
Las Vegas, Nevada

How long have you been in business?
Indie Tea has been in business since May, 2009, but in the works since 2007.

What is the size/scope of your business?
Currently, Indie Tea is a small, boutique tea company that is family owned and operated by myself, my husband, Mike Johnson and our daughter, Rachael Wilson. Of course we have aspirations for growth; but always want to maintain that family atmosphere no matter the size. We our focusing on selling wholesale to retail partners, but do maintain an online retail outlet. In June of 2011, Indie Tea will be an exhibitor at the World Tea Expo (booth #731), and through our presence there hope to expand our brand to other parts of the country and beyond.

Tea Business Spotlight 2 - Seven Cups

Seven Cups
Tucson, Arizona

Welcome to the second of our Tea Business Spotlights, in which we allow tea people to share insights on running their business. If you're a tea business owner and you'd like to take part in an upcoming spotlight, please contact us.

How long have you been in business?
Since 2002, but we spent almost as many years prior to that doing research, and establishing relationships in China before we felt we could start selling tea in the US.

What is the size/scope of your business?
We are a small business but we accomplish things that are usually more typical of much larger businesses. We do 100% of our sourcing directly from producers that we visit every year, currently 26, in the mainland and one in Taiwan, and we export it from China. We completely control our supply chain because we have our own Chinese export license, which we received in 2008. We are the only international tea company with our own license. It helps us to ensure that our quality is consistent. It also allows us to guarantee the tea's authenticity and that organic certifications are accurate.

We have a website that is oriented around education in tea and Chinese tea culture. We have kept an active blog since 2003. We do a lot of research in China in relationship to tea and tea culture. We are members of the Chinese International Tea Culture Research Institute, and have been published in their journal. We have customers in thirty six countries through our site.

Tea Business Spotlight 1 - Joy's Teaspoon

Welcome to the first of our Tea Business Spotlights, in which we allow tea people to share insights on running their business. If you're a tea business owner and you'd like to take part in an upcoming spotlight, please contact us.

Joy's Teaspoon
Las Vegas, Nevada

How long have you been in business?
Launched the site April 1, 2010. Although, I initially began the business idea/plan in 2006.

What is the size/scope of your business?
Family run business located in Las Vegas, NV. We participate in a number of local events including tasting events at local libraries, boutiques, etc.

Why tea?
I am a self-proclaimed home chef and have always enjoyed cooking. Had my first run-in with loose leaf tea in 2006 in Chicago and instantly fell in love with the flavor, processes for brewing, history of the drink, etc. I am an avid tea drinker now with a desire to share that passion with anyone I meet.

How did you get the ball rolling on your venture?
1 - Got my husband on board!
2 - Got my business plan together and drafted up a budget for start up costs. Between those two things I had a solid checklist of things to take care of.
3 - Really convinced my husband (he's a numbers kind of guy!).