History
P
eople had always told Seth Goldman, co-founder of Honest Tea, that he drank a lot of liquids. An active person, Seth Goldman was continually in search of the perfect drink to quench his thirst after a run, a game of basketball or between grad school classes. Yet, Seth found most drinks either too sweet or too tasteless. Barry Nalebuff, one of Seth’s business school professors, found that he and Seth shared a passion for the idea of a less sweet, but flavorful beverage during a class discussion that involved a Coke vs. Pepsi case study. They agreed that there were tons of sugary sweet options and lots of new waters, but there was nothing in between to fill the void. Fair Trade Certified Timing was everything. Barry had just returned from India where he had been analyzing the tea industry for a case study. Among other things, he learned that most of the tea purchased for bottling by American companies was the lower quality dust and fannings left after quality tea had been produced. Barry had even come up with a name to describe a bottled tea that was made with real tea leaves—Honest Tea. When Seth heard the name, the bells started ringing—it was the perfect name to fit an all-natural brand that would strive to create healthy and honest relationships with its customers, suppliers and the environment.
Seth took a deep breath quit his job at the Calvert Group and started brewing batches of tea in his kitchen Five weeks after taking the plunge, he brought thermoses of tea and a bottle with a mock-up label to Fresh Fields (Whole Foods Markets). During that meeting, the order came for 15,000 bottles, and so did the heavy pause as Seth’s mind raced, trying to figure out how they would produce that much tea. They were, at that moment, in the tea business. Honest. That was ten years ago. Today, Honest Tea can be found in glass bottles, plastic bottles, barely sweetened, or even ‘a tad sweet’ in tens of thousands of stores across the US. The company has applied its passion for social responsibility to initiatives in the environment and to creating partnerships with the growers, cultures, and communities behind the teas.
Mission
We will never claim to be a perfect company, but we will address difficult
issues and strive to be honest about our ability or inability to resolve them. We will strive to work with our suppliers to promote higher standards. We value diversity in the workplace and intend to become a visible presence in the communities where our products are sold. When presented with a purchasing decision between two financially comparable alternatives, we will attempt to choose the option that better addresses the needs of economically disadvantaged communities. A commitment to social responsibility is central to Honest Tea’s identity and purpose. The company strives for authenticity, integrity and purity, in our products and in the way we do business. In addition to creating a healthy alternative beverage with a lot less sugar than most bottled drinks, Honest Tea seeks to create honest relationships with our employees, suppliers, customers and with the communities in which we do business.
G lass
Ever since Seth and Barry made their first sale using thermoses and an empty Sna pple bottle in 1998, Honest Tea has been brewing great-tasting tea ad serving it up icecold and ready –to-drink. Our teas are USD A Organic Certified, high in antioxidant s and low in calories. We’re up to 17 varieti es!
Honest Tea gree n teas have 9 0-110 mg of the antioxidant EGCG per bott le.
Tea has been the world’s most popular beverage since long before chemical additives were invented, and who are we to argue with thousands of years of history? In this bottle, you’ll taste just organic green tea, with its pure flavor and antioxidant power. Our tea is also “just” in the sense of “fair”, as in Fair Trade Certified™. Great-tasting tea that’s produced in a sustainable, socially-responsible manner. Why add anything else?
16.9 ozPET
Label readers you know who you are) have noticed that other manufacturers disguise the taste of their teas with all kinds of additives. With Just Black, you’ll taste just the highest-quality black tea -- unsweetened and naturally delicious. Our black tea is also “just” in the sense of “fair,” as in Fair Trade Certified™. This helps us ensure that the tea garden workers are paid fair wages.
zero calories
Ever since Seth and Barry made their first sale using thermoses and an emp ty Snapple bottle in 1998, Honest Tea ha s been brewing great-tasting tea ad serv ing it up ice-cold and ready –to-drink. Our teas are USDA Organic Certified, high in antioxidants and low in calories. We’re up to 7 varieties!
Honest Ade
Honest Ade, our line of refreshing thirt quenchers, have twice the freshsqueezed taste of those super-sweet drinks, with less than 50 calories per serving. Good for your waistline, and your smile!
antioxidant power and great taste the s bine com k drin te ana egr pom nic The nation’s first orga lf the calories of those other ha n tha less got s It’ . ries ber blue of pomegranate and more. ing taste that has everyone asking for resh ref t, ligh a s ha it so ks drin te pomegrana tle. p without someone draining every last bot grou us foc a ve lea to yet ve ha we In fact, power of the pomegranate to new the kes ta It Blue te ana egr Pom Ade Honest heights of refreshment.
K ids
ly. You Our Berry Berry Good Lemonade is so delicious it will knock your socks off. Serious other ber, might have to get new ones. The natural flavors of cranberry, lemon and day! ries is just the thing to quench your thirst on a hot summer day…or any , or, ingredients: Purified water, organic cane sugar, organic lemon juice concentrate natural ganic cranberry juice concentrate, lemon extract, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), berry flavor, purple carrot juice (color). Contains 6% Juice Berry Berry Good Lemonade is caffeine free. Certified organic by the USDA
mmm
Honest Tea’s new line of organic, lowsugar, fruit-flavored thirst quench, ers offers a great-tasting alternative to sugar-laden beverages. Each pouch contains less than half the sugar of most other pouch drinks. Enjoy the healthy, natural refreshment of Hon, est Kids, even if you’re just a really big kid at heart!
Growth 98
We launched Honest Tea in February of 1998. Our first bottles hit grocery store shelves in June of that year offering five varieties of freshly brewed and barely sweetened tea. Our first account was Fresh Fields (Whole Foods), which Seth and Barry landed with the batches of tea made in Seth’s kitchen. Eventually, tea production was moved to Buffalo, N.Y. We finished our first year with sales of $250,000.
19
We introduced Chamolime, an organic herbal tea made with chamomile and dried limes. We purchase the limes from a Guatemalan farm cooperative, becoming their first US customer. We also introduced Haarlem Honeybush an herbal tea produced in partnership with a farmers’ cooperative in Haarlem, South Africa. In this year we became the best-selling bottled tea brand in the natural foods industry, claiming seven of the top ten best-selling varieties (SPINS). Our sales topped $4.6 million.
00
20
04
20
In January, we gained full USDA organic certification on all twelve varieties of our bottled tea and eight tea bag varieties. With this certification, Honest Tea became the only tea company to offer an entire line of organic bottles and bags. We introduced a line of tea in PET-1 Bottles which was met with rave reviews and won several packaging awards. The tea bag line was re-designed to include individually overwrapped bags in response to requests from foodservice accounts. The company was again listed on the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing private companies.
07
20
We welcome new investors and board members with the launch of nine new products. New flavors that have already hit the shelves include Pomegranate White Tea with Açaí and the newest Honest Ade, Orange Mango with Mangosteen, both in plastic, and Sublime Mate (Honest Tea’s first yerba mate drink) and Pomegranate Red Tea with Goji Berry in glass. Our Just Green and Just Black are the first of our teas available in 64oz. bottles. This spring we will be launching our much-anticipated new line, Honest Kids, with three flavors of low-sugar organic thirst quenchers—Goodness Grapeness, Tropical Tango Punch, and Berry Berry Good Lemonade!
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