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Greetings!
 Happy year of the Ox and 11th birthday to Honest Tea! 2008 was quite eventful for us here at Honest Tea (see Seth's New Year's Thoughts for details) and 2009 promises to be at least as eventful, with new varieties, new markets and millions of new consumers. So sit back, relax and enjoy a cold Honest Tea, Honest Ade or Honest Kids - it's going to be an exciting year.
Honestly Yours,
Seth & Barry
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| WELCOME MANGO GREEN TEA! |
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 We're excited to unveil our newest variety - Mango Green Tea! The flavor was the overwhelming favorite of our loyal Facebook fans, so we took the world's most popular fruit (sorry, bananas!) and combined its smooth, natural sweetness with our antioxidant-rich organic green tea. Organic Mango Green Tea launched in New York City this week, but will be available in other cities in the coming months.
p.s. - Make sure to "fan" us on Facebook, "follow" us on Twitter and "friend" us on MySpace. Through these social networks you'll not only be able to vote in our polls, but you'll also get the latest Honest news and chances to win great prizes, like free product. Don't hesitate, join today!
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GREEN TEA HIGHLIGHTED AS A DIET HELPER
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 Speaking of green tea... According to the LA Times several studies have suggested that green tea provides a boost to exercise-induced weight loss. How green tea works its magic is not completely understood, but scientists believe it speeds the rate at which fat is broken down in the body. We say it's the 200+ mg of the super-antioxidant ECGC in our green teas. To learn more, click here.
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| THE HONEST KIDS DRINK POUCH BRIGADE |
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Since founding the Drink Pouch Brigade with TerraCycle™ in 2007, almost 8,000 collection sites have been established across the country and more than 3.7 million empty Honest Kids pouches have been saved from landfills. To learn more and do your part by joining the Honest Kids Drink Pouch Brigade, click here.
Also, if you've noticed something different about Honest Kids lately - you're right. We recently redesigned our pouches for easier handling and straw poking. They're even more kid-pleasing with bright, fun graphics. Something this pretty doesn't deserve to end up in the trash, so jump-start your Drink Pouch Brigade collection by picking up an eco-friendly 24-pouch Honest Kids Variety Pack at Sam's Club.
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HONESTTEA.COM UPDATES
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Looking for a way to wear your HONEST pride on your sleeve? Interested in our green headquarters in Bethesda, MD? Check out the two new additions to Honesttea.com - a cool online wearables store and a fun 360° virtual office tour. Stocked with the latest and greatest "Be Real. Get HONEST" gear, you can shop this page 24/7 to get the perfect accessory for enjoying a cold Honest Tea or Honest Ade. As for our office tour, take a few minutes to scroll around and discover sustainability "hotspots" like our bamboo flooring, reclaimed brick columns and energy saving appliances. Happy clicking!
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SELLING WITHOUT SELLING OUT
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There's an invaluable new resource for people interested in learning about the challenges businesses go through as they expand and evaluate the tradeoffs of partnering with larger companies. Last year the Trusteeship Institute gathered leading entrepreneurs from around the world to gain their insights on how to maintain a company's mission as it grows. The website features 30 minute interviews with executives from Ben & Jerry's, Stonyfield Farm, Odwalla, White Wave, and of course, Honest Tea. Check it out here.
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SETH REMEMBERS OUR ORIGINAL "SPICE GIRL," ANN WILDER
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Ann Wilder died last month at the age of 77. Back in February 1998 when I was getting Honest Tea started, she was the President of Vann's Spices based in Baltimore, a company she co-founded in 1981.
My co-founder Barry and I had found a great Kashmiri Chai spice blend up in New England but the supplier kept the grinder in his backyard and he could only make 20 pounds a month (during warm months). So we needed to find another supplier.
When Barry said, "We need to create our own blend," I panicked a bit. I had learned a lot of things in business school, but spice blending was not one of them. But Barry was right to push me. He said, "What's so difficult? We know the ingredients that go into chai. We just need to find a spice house to work with us. Go to the Yellow Pages and look up spice houses in Baltimore, and you'll be all set."
It turned out to be a little more difficult than Barry described. I soon learned that selecting, blending and grinding spices is an art. But I was fortunate that after calling around to a bunch of numbers from the Baltimore Yellow Pages, the first spice company where I reached a live person happened to be Vann's Spices. And I was particularly fortunate that the person who picked up the phone was Ann Wilder.
I tried to explain my challenge (panic?) about attempting to recreate a chai recipe to Ann over the phone, and in her calming and relaxed South Carolina accent, Ann said, "Why don't you just come on over and we'll see what we can put together." I drove to a warehouse area outside of Baltimore and walked into a building filled with intoxicating aromas.... a whiff of curry... and then a hint of cinnamon. Ann and I walked through the warehouse taking samples of all the different spices... cardamom, cloves, orange peel, ginger, allspice, black pepper and seven different kinds of cinnamon - who knew? But Ann was insistent that we go with what she called "Saigon cinnamon", a particularly potent powder from Vietnam. She also showed me how important each ingredient is in a spice blend. For example, most ingredient suppliers only offer cardamom seeds, but I learned that the pods themselves had flavor. And we always insisted on making the blend with the pods and the seeds.
I vividly recall picking up our first delivery on a wintry day in my Saturn station wagon as I was driving up to our bottling plant in Buffalo. The spices had just been ground earlier in the day, and the aroma was so intense that I had to drive with the windows open, even as the snow and frigid air swirled into the car. When I opened the door at the bottling plant some eight hours later, people 200 yards away could smell that I had arrived with the spices.
With Ann's help, our Kashmiri Chai blend was a hit and we worked with Vann's for several years. Once Honest Tea converted our ingredients to organic sources, we had to move on to other suppliers, but I enjoyed catching up with Ann and her son Rob at trade shows over the next few years.
Ann had launched the business at the age of 50 with her friend Virginia (the name Vann's was a combination of their two first names). A few years after our companies stopped working together, Ann got into a disagreement with the other owners of Vann's and eventually ended up suing them for breach of contract - a sad ending to a business she started at the age of 50 by peddling her spice blends at church bazaars and local markets.
But for Ann the business was just a way for her to do what she loved - discover great blends and share them with others. And I'm thankful that I had the chance to share some magical spices with Ann Wilder.
Ann's obituary can be found here.
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TADCAST
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Feeling creative and thirsty? Want to make some cash doing what you love as a filmmaker AND an Honest Tea fan? Here is your chance, thanks to Tadcast. All you need to do is incorporate Honest Tea's Honey Green Tea or Superfruit Punch Honest Ade into your next viral video and you're good to go. To learn more about the Tadcast Contest, click here.
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HONEST CONSUMER OF THE MONTH
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Almost from the day Honest Tea began selling organic, traditionally-brewed bottled tea, enthusiastic consumers have been sharing their experiences with us - and we love it! Your letters, postcards, phone calls and e-mails make us smile (most of the time!) So, we'd like to say thanks by selecting an "Honest Consumer of the Month" to win a case of Honest Tea and be featured in our newsletter. This month's winner is... Adriene S., a pre-school teacher and avid Peach White Tea/Pomegranate Red Tea fan.
In a recent e-mail to Seth&Barry@honesttea.com, she explained how she takes her love for Honest Tea and turns it into a true learning experience. "What do I do with all those bottles? Why, I bring them to work and we turn them into oh so many things... This month, during our space unit, we covered them in tin foil, duct-taped two together, attached some red streamers to the mouths of the bottles and turned them into "jet packs"! It's such a kick to see the kids jetting around the classroom with these jet packs on their backs! Thank you for making such a delicious product that keeps on giving!"
No, Adriene - thank YOU. We hope that your free case comes in handy for whatever is next in your lesson plan.
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DID I REALLY JUST SEE THAT?
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On January 28, 2008 our very own President & TeaEO, Seth Goldman, got to chat with the President of the United States, Barack Obama, during a White House meeting on the stimulus plan. Prior to the inauguration Seth met with the Obama/Biden Transition Team for a panel on sustainable business practices, which he recently wrote about it on his Inc.com blog, The Mission Driven Business.
Annapolis, MD-native Benji Madden (of the band Good Charlotte) and Honest Tea's own Ryan van de Griendt, showing some support for Orange Mango Honest Ade and Benji's DCMA clothing line.
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HONEST TEA IS EVERYWHERE!
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For ALL the Honest Tea action, be sure and check our new "photoblog" here! Meanwhile, here is a little taste ...
BE THE CHANGE. DRINK HONEST! We hit the streets of DC hard during President Barack Obama's inauguration!
These girls can't think of anything finer than sipping some cold Black Forest Berry during a fun night out near Union Square, San Francisco.
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UPCOMING ACTION!
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See our Honest Sampling Tea-m in action across the country at these exciting events:
Arizona
2/1: Walgreen's (8816 E Pinnacle Peak Rd, Scottsdale AZ) 3-6pm
2/1: Walgreen's (6501 E Greenway Pkwy, Scottsdale AZ) 11-2pm
Southern California
1/31: Whole Foods Market (2313 Valencia Blvd., Valencia) 12-3pm
2/1: Santa Cruz Market (324 West Montecito Santa Barbara) 10:30-1pm
Northern California
1/31: Mollie Stones (851 Cherry Ave # 22, San Bruno) 2-5pm
2/1: Oliver's Market (560 Montecito Ctr, Santa Rosa) 3-6pm
Pacific Northwest
1/31: Central Market (15605 Main Street Mill Creek, WA) 11:30am-2:30pm
2/8: Love 'em Or Leave 'em Marathon (Green Lake Park Seattle, WA) 8am-12pm
NY
2/2: Whole Foods Market (110 Bloomingdale Rd., White Plains) 4-7pm
2/9: Green Business Competition Launch Party (92Y Tribeca, Hudson St & 92nd St) 5-10pm
D.C.
2/1: Whole Foods Market (1440 P St NW) 11am-2pm
2/1: Whole Foods Market (4530 40th St NW) 4-7pm
Boston
2/5: Whole Foods Market (317 Boston Post Rd, Wayland, MA) 3-6pm
2/6: Whole Foods Market (40 Railroad St, Andover, MA) 11am-2pm
Philadelphia
2/6: Fresh Grocer (4001 Walnut St.) 11am-2pm
2/6: Whole Foods Market (929 South St.) 4pm-7pm
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SPREADING THE WORD
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We're not a secret anymore. Media from across the country are discovering Honest Tea and we couldn't be happier about it! Here are a few of our most recent mentions, but be sure visit our Press Page to get all the info.
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NEW YEAR'S THOUGHTS FROM SETH
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It's been quite an eventful year. Hard to capture it all in one go , but here are a few highlights and thoughts:
- For Honest Tea, the big news this year was the minority investment we took from Coca-Cola. Surprisingly for me, it was a fairly easy decision for us to share the company, though the negotiations were complicated. We're a year into the relationship now and it still feels very positive from all aspects - we've grown the way we hoped - 2008 progress was even faster than our historical average annual compound rate of 66%, and we're now starting to tap into Coke's buying power for bottles and other packaging. Most importantly to me, we've still maintained the mission-driven, entrepreneurial culture that defines Honest Tea and that has been the most satisfying aspect of the deal so far.
- We've doubled in size as an organization - from 43 people at last year's company meeting to 87 this year. After hosting everyone at my house during previous company meetings, it's strange to walk into a hotel conference room and not know every employee's name. It's satisfying, and also a little intimidating, to know we're helping all these folks provide for themselves and their families.
- The success of our new products seems to become clear more quickly. In 2008 we developed some great new items - such as Jasmine Green Energy Tea and Superfruit Punch, which quickly rose to the top half of all varieties. But we also brought out two lemons - Citrus Green Energy Tea and Citrus Spice Decaf, which are in the process of being discontinued.
- We expanded our mission statement this year to highlight our commitment to democratizing organics. Our original statement read:
Honest Tea creates and promotes great-tasting, truly healthy, organic beverages. We strive to grow our business with the same honesty and integrity we use to craft our products.
And we changed it to read:
Honest Tea creates and promotes delicious, truly healthy, organic beverages. We strive to grow with the same honesty we use to craft our products, with sustainability and great taste for all.
 This year's launch of Bethesda Green helped reinforce for me the readiness of Americans to take action to protect the environment. I think many people felt frustrated the way my wife and I did after watching Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth". We knew that turning our washing machines to cold water wouldn't hurt, but more needed to be done - we just needed more ways to take action. Honest Tea's involvement with Bethesda Green has helped us and many others in our community do just that. Whereas typical community recycling events generate 5-10 tons of recycled electronics, Bethesda Green's e-cycling day in December generated more than 50 tons. The organizers of Bethesda Green continue to be amazed by the intensity and quality of the response we've seen from our neighbors. I look forward to expanding the model, and hopefully replicating it elsewhere.
- Transition - almost exactly a year ago my father-in-law, Ray Farkas, died, after a painful bout with colon cancer. The experience certainly sharpened for me how fragile life is, and how important it is to live the way Ray did - being true to yourself, enjoying life (he wore shorts every day) and finding a way to make the people you care about feel special.
In these challenging economic times, some might say a mission-driven business like ours should let our values take a back seat and instead focus on the basics of making and selling tea. But as I look ahead to 2009, I take Ray's spirit to heart - we will continue to build this enterprise by focusing on what's important to us, and not forgetting to have fun as we do it. Sometimes people ask me what I like best about running Honest Tea and I generally give a serious answer about helping change peoples' diets and moving toward a more sustainable agricultural system. But I need to keep in mind that it's also a blast to wake up every day and spend time with great people, while being able to enjoy an unlimited supply of my favorite drinks!
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That's it 'til next time. If there's anything you'd like to know about Honest Tea, drop us an e-mail and we'll try to address it in an upcoming newsletter. Thanks for reading, and for drinking Honest Tea!
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