Laura Manning

The Tea brand on a mission to get the UAE drinking better quality tea!

Meet Laura Manning, the founder of BRW Society, a UAE based tea brand. She moved to Dubai in 2018 and straight away felt that great quality tea was hard to come by, there was little choice in the premium quality, whole leaf tea category.

After spending months asking her Mum to send tea to Dubai, she had a lightbulb moment - why not make great tea with lots of delicious varieties accessible in the region? Laura set on a mission to make tea a lot more colourful and fun in the UAE! She wants to ensure people in the UAE are drinking delicious, great quality tea (whole leaves & whole ingredients), which are sourced and packaged in a way that is kind to the planet!

It is fair to say she is fanatical about quality tea and when she is not drinking tea she is thinking about tea!

We sat with Laura this month for this exclusive interview and to know more about her brand and her love for tea.

Hello, my name is Laura, I am the Founder & Managing Director at BRW Society. BRW Society is a UAE based tea brand created to help society by creating more chances for people to find common ground. We make never done before tea blends, that BRW up a conversation.

Tell us about your education.

I went to school in South Wales, UK and obtained 10 GCSE’s and 3 A-Levels in English, History and Geography. I graduated from Swansea University with a BSc Degree in Business Studies and as part of my degree and I studied for 12 months in Nova Scotia, Canada. This is where my love of expat life began!

When and how did you move to the UAE?

I moved to the UAE in August 2018 with my husband and three children. We had always talked about living in another country so when my husband received an amazing job offer here in the UAE, we jumped at the opportunity and we have never looked backed. We love living in Dubai, it’s a great place to raise a family and is full of opportunities. Growing up, tea was a big part of my life. I had a tea obsessed Nan who lived her life one cup of tea at a time, she got the whole family drinking tea. She thought everything could be fixed by just taking a pause and popping the kettle on. This has stuck with me my whole life and I really believe that a cup of tea is a power nap for your soul.

How often do you drink tea?

All day! I start my day with a cup of tea, I have many cups throughout the day, and I end my day with a herbal infusion.

Why did the idea of starting your tea brand in the UAE develop? How big the tea market in UAE?

I founded BRW Society in 2019, to inspire people who are squeezing the most into each day to slow down and savour small moments for themselves and with those around them. I know how important a cup of tea is for wellbeing. Putting the kettle on, getting your cup out, waiting for it to cool so you can get that first sip. It puts you in a state of mind to slow down and take in life. The time was right, and the UAE was just the perfect place for me to start my business, with its vibrant economy and high economic growth rates.

How was the experience establishing BRW Society? What challenges did you face in establishing it? How did you overcome them?

Establishing BRW Society has been an amazing experience, it has given me the opportunity to learn so much. And I am still learning! I’ve had to wear many hats from product management, human resources management, marketing and sales to accounting. Working in a large organisation, as I had done for the past 15 years, does not prepare you for starting your own business. There are many challenges you have to overcome, you have to learn fast and accept you’re going to make mistakes, its important to make mistakes and learn from them. One of the biggest challenges I faced early on was navigating around new business set in the UAE, particularly as I was new to the country but I overcome this by not giving up. It kept asking questions until it was clear in my mind what I was going to do and how I was going to do it.

How did Covid-19 affect your venture and what strategies did you have in place to manage its affect?

The business went through a huge transformation during the pandemic, online sales grew significantly but HORECA sales fell off a cliff. The decline in HORECA sales was personally really tough, I had spent so much time and effort hosting tea tasting events and I was close to signing several new contracts and then everything closed. I was completely gutted! But I had to keep moving, so I made the decision to focus all efforts on retail – both online and offline. People still needed tea. We found that the need for connection became very obvious during the pandemic. People were reconnecting over Zoom and posting selfies of their chats on Instagram. There was a sense of all of us not knowing what was going to happen but finding the comfort and security in each other. So at BRW Society our strategy was to help create more chances for people to connect and find common ground. One BRW at a time. Being agile and shifting our focus was the best decision I made because during the pandemic we grew as a business to a new level, sales grew exponentially.

What is Eco-friendly packaging? And why was it important to emphasise on this for your brand?

Eco-friendly packaging is kind to the planet, it’s biodegradable and recyclable. At BRW Society, we try our very best to do things right. We love tea and all the fun that comes with it but we know how important it is to take care of our earth's resources. That's why we strive to do things differently and have incorporated ecofriendly packaging for all our tea bags. We want you to have a great experience while still being environmentally conscious. I am passionate about having a sustainable brand, that integrates environmental and social issues into its operations. I truly believe sustainability is fundamental for success.

We source the most exciting natural flavours from around the globe and blend them into surprising and delightful combinations you can't find from any other brand in the UAE. We have travelled the globe to bring our customers the best quality tea from some of the most amazing tea gardens in the world. We source our raw materials from more than 30 countries around the world - high-quality teas, specialty teas, herbs, fruits and spices. Our buying team select suppliers and products according to quality and compliance with production requirements and social responsibility. We are in close contact with our suppliers in the countries of origin and carry out regular audits on them. Our expert tea tasters test samples from all over the world for quality, every tea is subjected to extensive testing several times, directly after harvesting, during shipping and again when it has reaches our warehouse. All of our delicious tea blends are EU compliant, many are organic certified and we strongly insist in natural farming which is pesticide free.

How is the tea made 100% plant based?

Our ingredients are plant based and we have extended this to include our packaging, to ensure the whole product is 100% plant based. We use plant-based material for the tea bag instead of synthetic plastics or bleached paper. They are biodegradable and can be completely broken down by microorganisms in the soil or compost. Plant-based material generally breaks down faster than their non-biodegradable counterparts, and so will not hang around in the environment forever. We chose FSC Certified Material for our boxes which is 100% recycled paper from responsibly managed forests. This means that no trees were felled when making your teabag box, and no animals were harmed in the process. We also use vegetable ink to make the boxes look snazzy! And lastly, our clear pouch which hold the teabags in the box, looks and feels like plastic but it’s actually made from renewable wood pulp and highly durable natural fibers, both of which are 100% recyclable. The result is a strong and versatile plasticlike material that can be shaped and molded into any form and applied as film wrap for a variety of products. We are passionate about creating products that are 100% plant based and better for the environment.

What are some of the varieties of tea that BRW Society offers? What other products do you sell besides tea?

We take pride in source the most exciting natural flavours from around the globe and blend them into surprising and delightful combinations you can't find from any other brand in the UAE. We have a range of black, oolong, green and white teas plus herbal and fruit infusions. You can shop our collection of 22 plastic free teabags or over 50 loose leaf tea blends inspired by nature that captivate your senses. All of our tea blends pair perfectly with our must have accessories. In the accessory range we have teapots, mugs, bottles and other teaware.

What are some of your best-selling products?

Some of our best-selling products are Raspberry Mojito - fruit tisane, Organic Glow - herbal infusion, Candyfloss - green tea and our BRW Society tea-togo bottle.

What is your favourite variety of tea?

I have so many! It really depends on my mood and the occasion. I think tea is a great way to relax and it is a great way to enjoy life, I have many favourites. My go to tea in the morning is a green or white tea, I could sip our Organic Rose White all day long, it contains low caffeine so it doesn’t give you the jitters. My second cuppa is usually a Milky Oolong, slightly higher caffeine content but I just love the Milky butterscotch taste of this blend. In the afternoon I usually reach for a herbal, amongst my favourites are Moringa Supercharge, Organic Glow and Organic Snooze – and you cannot beat Organic Ginger & Lemon. I am also a huge fan of a cold brewed throughout the day, Mango Madness and Organic Pina Colada are just delicious and full of flavour.

What markets do you cover? How can tea lovers from Kuwait order your products?

Currently we sell our products in multiple outlets across the UAE. We have developed a new website www.brwsociety.com where people can shop our products from around the world, we deliver globally. On our website you can shop by tea type, tea format and mood.

What are some of your future plans for your business?

I would love to see BRW Society stocked in multiple countries around the world with many, many more blends and exciting new discoveries. I dream of BRW Society becoming a household name and becoming a trusted brand of choice. And, I hope I can inspire more people who are squeezing the most into each day to slow down and savour small moments for themselves and with those around them.

What is your biggest achievement thus far?

BRW Society is really shaking up the market in the UAE, adding a splash of colour on the black tea market and I am really proud about that. Unlike grocery or restaurant exclusive brands, BRW Society is available in both. Tea lovers are able to enjoy our products at home and when they are out and about at one of our partner cafes or restaurants.

What are some of your other hobbies?

In my spare time I enjoy running, spending time with my family, and watching the occasional Nicholas Cage movie, with a large cuppa in hand.

Your message for our readers.

Be inspired by tea - each cup is a chance to rejuvenate your spirit by pausing to connect with yourself and those around you.

Your message for us at CP magazine.

Tea is always a good idea!