How To Start An Herbal Tea Business

How To Start Your Own Herbal Tea Business

If you are interested in Private Labeling or White Labeling your own tea, Build a Blend can help you from start to finish.

We are an organic wholesale tea manufacturer and supplier of stocked tea and herbal blends (including Immunity and Wellness blends) and pure ingredients. We also create recipes and supply both major and small brands.

We manufacture more than 200 house blends.

Why Sell Tea Online?

Next to water, tea is the most consumed beverage in the world. More popular than coffee! Yep, a recent study shows that 80%+ all all U.S. households consume tea on a daily basis. This market is only getting larger with the variety of flavors and styles. Powdered teas, loose leaf teas, custom blended teas and more.

The BMO (Beverage Market Association) expects and increase in growth of over 6% per year. Ready-to-drink, Pyramid Tea Bags are now available in all types of flavors.

Teas have been used for thousands of years because of their health and therapeutic benefits, sleep aids, detoxification abilities and more.

So many teas and tea flavors and types are available in the market that the potential earnings are limitless. This market is saturated but only a few, smart tea vendors, are able to carve out specific niches to make a killing. What will your niche be?  Custom Tea Blends? Bulk Tea? Custom Loose Leaf Teas for Retail Markets?

Finding a Private Label or White Label Tea Supplier

Well, look no further, Build a Blend offers Private or White Label Tea Services! We are your  bulk organic tea supplier and manufacturer.

To start a custom blend or other consulting project we ask that you leave a deposit, which will be applied in full to your future order. This deposit helps us prioritize your request and deliver the best quality service to our customers. More details about our tea consulting services click here…

So, What is the Business Model For Selling Your Own Herbal Tea Blends

Selling direct to consumers is profitable, however, in order to stay competitive and to increase your profit potential, it is recommended that you also sell tea accessories such as tea infusers, tea pots and other tea related products which have higher margins. You can also offer the accessories as an upsell when selling your teas. 

What are the Steps to Starting Your Own Tea Company

1. Create a Business Name. Something unique and fun and memorable. You can go to legalzoom.com or other online service to fill out the necessary paperwork for your particular city, state, county, etc. as it pertains to the correct documents for starting a business.
2. Get a Seller’s Permit. In some states, you will need a seller’s permit. This allows you to sell products either in person or online and is connected to your taxes.
3. Find a Good CPA. You can do taxes yourself, but not recommended once you start to make some significant sales.
4. Find A Tea Manufacturer or Tea Supplier that can sell you bulk tea (ie: Buildablend.com), formulate a tea recipe or recipes for your brand and to create specific brand packaging designs. Also offer tea bags, pyramid tea bags and other specific tea style types. (ie: BuildABlend.com does all of this)
5. Consult With A Tea Expert!  BuildABlend.com is a tea expert. Simply fill out the tea consultation fee deposit to begin the conversation and read more details of what is involved.
6. Get An Online Store. Once you have your products and packaging, you are ready to start an online store. Take professional photos or ask the manufacturer or supplier to supply them for you. Excellent photos speak volumes. To get started quickly, we recommend Shopify.  You don’t need your own merchant account, they supply one and they offer USPS shipping without an account setup. You can pick from one of their free themes or contact Our In House Experts for expert Shopify and eCommerce help.
7. Get a Merchant Account, PayPal or Other Payment Acceptance Account. If you are not using Shopify above, you will need to get your own merchant account so that you can process credit card transactions. You will need a Merchant Account & a Gateway. The merchant account allows you to accept credit cards and the gateway is what is needed for online transactions to connect to your shopping card. A less expensive way to begin is to get a PayPal account. But the fees are typically higher.
8. Create Policies. It is best to do this in the beginning to include but not limited to; return policy, shipping policy, privacy policy and more. You can do simple online search for examples to use.
9. Spy On Your Competition. The best form of flattery is when someone copies what you are doing! We are not saying to copy your competition but analyze what they are doing. Check out their website, their sales message, social media accounts and more. Then emulate them and develop your own message.
10. Market Your Products. Once you have the items above in place you are ready to market your products. You can do this by sending out newsletters, using Pay-Per-Click campaigns (ie: Google Ads), Organic Search Engine Optimization, Blogging, Videos, Social Media and more…

Some Tea Business FAQS:

1. Can I Make a Profit Selling Tea? ABSOLUTELY! You just need to find your niche and work very hard. It isn’t a “set it and forget it” business. You have to work at it like anything else.
2. Do I need FDA Approval to Sell Tea? Depending on your state. Please check with local and federal laws as it pertains to your products. Larger websites like Amazon require FDA approvals.