looseTman said 2013-03-12 13:26:46 -0400

Tea Suppliers with an expedited sourcing process?

Are there other tea suppliers that have an expedited sourcing process similar to Verdant’s? http://verdanttea.com/our-company/#sourcing

20 Replies

Kasumi no Chajin said 2013-03-12 21:57:54 -0400

http://www.tealet.com/ has a similar process I think.

looseTman said 2013-03-12 22:18:14 -0400

Thanks for the reply & link. Their website, https://www.tealet.com/our-mission talks about increasing value for the tea farmers and reducing cost to the consumer, which are great ideas. However, I didn’t see any specific mention of expedited sourcing from the farm to the consumer to provide the freshest tea possible.

Elyse Petersen said 2013-03-20 19:33:47 -0400

Aloha, I am Elyse, the founder of Tealet. All of our teas are expedited from the farm. We rotate most of our inventory within 2 months, promoting the freshest teas that we can. We are building a wholesale auction where retailers or individuals to bid on entire exclusive lots that can be drop shipped from the farm. We have heard from many retailers though that they value a wholesaler in the US that can serve as a QC check for teas coming direct from the farm. If you have any recommendations of how we can best build this platform please get in touch with me at elyse@tealet.com. Our business is still molding into what it will become, but we are driven by the mission to create connections between tea growers and tea lovers on a global level.

looseTman said 2013-03-20 19:55:57 -0400

Hi Elyse, Thanks for sharing about Tealet’s expedited sourcing process. It’s good to know that Tealet is also concerned about offering the freshest tea possible. Your openness to process improvement suggestions should be a great asset to Tealet’s future growth!

Alphakitty said 2013-03-12 21:59:57 -0400

I think Tao of Tea has a similar process, though they don’t detail it: http://www.taooftea.com/aboutus.php?num=50

looseTman said 2013-03-12 22:29:55 -0400

Tao of Tea’s website does provide a good first impression. I too didn’t see any specific mention of expedited sourcing from the farm to the consumer to provide the freshest tea possible.

Butiki Teas said 2013-03-14 16:20:04 -0400

We have a fair amount of teas (not all) that we have an expedited sourcing process for. We utilize air shipping for those teas which is quite expensive but it means that we get our teas in about a week.

looseTman said 2013-03-20 19:57:56 -0400

Now I know why Butiki has so many loyal fans!

TeaVivre said 2013-03-15 04:31:23 -0400

Our products are supplied directly from tea farmers and producers. Also the purchasing process is simple and direct. The teas are directly transferred from tea farmers to us.We will keep samples from every batch to confirm if its flavor and aroma matches with last batch. If it doesn’t, an instant contact will be made with our supplier to solve the problem. Every new arrival must be checked by several staffs repeatedly. Usually our spring tea or autumn tea will be in stock for sell in 15 days after it was produced. The new arrivals will be well stored in order to maitain its good quality.

looseTman said 2013-03-20 20:09:28 -0400

Hi Angel, with all the wonderful comments I’ve read about TeaVivre, I’m not at all surprised that TeaVivre is so very concerned about the quality & freshness of your tea. TeaVivre may wish to consider adding this additional detail to your website.

TeaVivre said 2013-03-20 21:24:19 -0400

Yes, we’ll add this information on our site soon!

looseTman said 2013-05-04 18:56:10 -0400

The updated “About Us” webpage: http://www.teavivre.com/about-teavivre/ provides an excellent description of TeaVivre’s expedited sourcing process. Kudos!

sandra said 2013-03-15 11:27:54 -0400

http://www.tea-adventure.com/ have ordered from them once.

My Friend Rashad said 2013-03-20 17:45:24 -0400

Do they ship to the US?

sandra said 2013-03-21 03:08:09 -0400

yes, they ship worldwide. would contact them. they are fluent in Dutch, English and Chinese.

looseTman said 2013-03-21 10:41:43 -0400

Sandra, Thanks for the reply & link.
After visiting Tea Adventure’s website I found the following pages that provide a very good first impression:
http://www.tea-adventure.com/en/freshness-guarenteed
http://www.tea-adventure.com/en/about-tea-adventure
“Mission: Our mission is to make premium loose leaf teas available for everyone! This is why we offer high grade tea for low prices and why we offer two free samples with every order. This is also the reason why we offer free shipping and why we offer to return your money when you’re not satisfied, etc. etc. Many people are not yet familiar with high quality leaf. We give them a risk-free opportunity to find out all why so many people love fresh loose leaf tea!”
http://www.tea-adventure.com/en/faqen – 100% MONEY BACK GUARANTEE … including the transport costs (Definitely, not very common.)
However, I did not see a specific mention of the number of days/weeks the tea arrives after it has been picked.

looseTman said 2013-03-21 11:06:36 -0400

Has anyone in the US ordered from Tea Adventure?

tperez said 2013-03-21 13:45:46 -0400

Their teas look/sound great!

tperez said 2013-03-21 13:29:22 -0400

I’m pretty sure Yunnan Sourcing goes through a similar process for their self branded pu’erhs, obviously not with the factory teas, and I’m not sure about their greens, blacks, etc.

looseTman said 2013-03-22 17:40:50 -0400

See “TYPICAL SOURCING PROCESS” (especially steps 4-9) – http://verdanttea.com/our-company/#sourcing
Versus:
“The Box” by Marc Levinson – http://uptontea.com/shopcart/information/INFOnl_article.asp
Other related links:
http://www.amazon.com/Box-Shipping-Container-Smaller-Economy/dp/0691136408
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Box/Marc-Levinson/e/9780691123240#TABS