A Scarborough couple have turned their honeymoon dream into reality by launching a loose leaf organic tea business.
Hish and Lisa Al-Bizri set up the Finest Organic Tea Company after being inspired by visits to tea plantations during their honeymoon in Sri Lanka.
Hish said:
"Our passion for tea started in 2015 when we spent our honeymoon in Sri Lanka.
Before this, we only ever drank what is known as your more commercially available teas, as we naively presumed that they were the only teas readily available on the market. However, our minds were indeed opened when visiting all of the various tea plantations in this fantastic country.
We did not deliberately go there to visit these places; they were simply a part of our itinerary, but once we saw them, we realised that these places and people would change our lives forever!
We were lucky enough to visit different tea regions in Sri Lanka, including the most famous Nuwara Eliya region and the tea plantations they had there. From the awe-inspiring landscapes of the tea terraces to the tours of the tea plantations themselves, it really opened our eyes and tastebuds just to how many different variants of loose-leaf teas there are out there.
The couple wanted to start their own business for a long time, but were busy with their day jobs – Hish as a gas engineer and Lisa running an online printer ink business. However, after countless hours of planning and research, they decided the time was right to join forces and do something that they were both passionate about.
The Finest Organic Loose Leaf Tea Company was born and the couple believe that it is currently the only solely organic tea company in the UK.
Hish said:
“Lots of companies are doing organic tea but with a limited selection of maybe five to 10 varieties. We currently have 90 different types of tea from all over the world.”
Hish’s favourite is the Marrakesh Mint and Lisa favours the Silver Needle Jasmine and Sleep Well teas.
Hish explained that the tea market in general is highly competitive, but that organic tea has only become more widely available and popular in the last few years.
He said:
“The process to become Organically Certified and Carbon Neutral has been a difficult one – it was much easier to become a gasman than it was to get the organic certification! But it was incredibly important to us. We can trace every pack of our tea like a map to the very day it was picked. It is organic every single step of the way.
“Sourcing the right packaging was also a huge challenge, but we are proud that our packaging is grade 5 recyclable and can be put in the blue bin in most places in the UK.”
The couple have also done extensive research about the health benefits of tea and have felt the benefits themselves.
Lisa said:
“This for me is the most interesting thing and it’s all backed by studies – it’s not just pie in the sky. Tea has been used for health for centuries.”
The couple plan to change, update and expand their range of products in future and have been receiving 5* reviews since they launched.
Hish said:
“So many of my customers I met as a gas engineer drink loose leaf tea – it’s not until you get chatting to people about it that you realise how popular it is. It’s been an eye-opener!”
To find out more go to www.finestorganictea.co.uk
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