Rare Tea Company

Rare Tea Company Ltd. ("Rare Tea Co.") is a direct trade tea sourcing, distribution and online retail company. Founded by Henrietta Lovell in 2004, the company is based in London.

History

In 2000 Henrietta Lovell, then a corporate project manager, encountered Chinese tea culture while working abroad.[1] "In China, businesspeople would show off by buying a $120 pot of tea at lunch," she has said in interview. "I'd never tasted anything like it."[2] Following a visit to Springbank whisky distillery on the Mull of Kintyre, Scotland Lovell started Rare Tea Company on a similar model, sourcing small-production teas to meet a demand for tea in the high-level drinks market.[3]

Initially an exclusively online retail business, Rare Tea Company now additionally supplies tea to a number of restaurants, including Noma, The Fat Duck and Momofuku. It is also a shop retail business, selling through Waitrose and Selfridges.

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Product

Rare Tea Company imports and exports loose leaf teas. These are bought via direct trade relationships with farmers in China, India and Africa.[4]

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Awards

Best Independent Retailer 2009 - Observer Food Monthly[5]

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References

  1. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/tastemakers/anatomy-of-taste-to-the-bitter-end-grey-goose-vodka
  2. ^ http://www.time.com/time/travel/article/0,31542,1871630,00.html "Market Leader Interview – Henrietta Lovell". Retrieved August 14, 2012.
  3. ^ "Market Leader Interview – Henrietta Lovell". Retrieved August 14, 2012.
  4. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pn410
  5. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2009/mar/20/observer-food-monthly-awards-results
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Further reading

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Last modified on 4 November 2012, at 23:05