Salada tea is a Canadian brand of

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...

currently sold in Canada by

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dr ...

and in the United States by Salada Foods, a division of Redco Foods, Inc.

History

The Salada tea business was founded in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anc ...

in 1892 by

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

-born businessman

Peter Charles Larkin Peter Charles Larkin, (May 14, 1855 – February 3, 1930) was a Canadian businessman, diplomat and political patron. Business career Larkin, a world traveller who specialized in finding foodstuffs for import, was best known for founding the ...

. His main innovation was to replace tea sold loose from tea chests with a product packaged in foil. This helped establish a uniform flavor for Salada and the promise of consistent freshness to its drinkers. It became one of the leading teas in Canada and the

northeastern United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...

By 1917, Salada tea was so popular in the United States that Larkin's company (the Salada Tea Company Limited) was able to establish a U.S. headquarters, blending and packaging plant at 330 Stuart Street in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by architects Densmore and LeClear, the building featured large bronze doors by Henry Wilson inscribed with images of the history of the Ceylon tea trade, as well as Larkin's own contributions to a commitment to quality in the field. Although the building has changed hands several times, the doors are still there. By the 1950s, Salada had established plants across North America. In 1957, the company was acquired by Shirriff-Horsey. From 1969 to 1988, it was owned in Canada by Kellogg Canada. In 1988, Salada was acquired by Redco Foods, Inc., a company formed to produce Red Rose Tea in the U.S. under license from

. Not long thereafter, Redco Foods sold Salada (Canada) to Unilever, so that each company produced both brands in their respective country. Since 1995, Redco Foods has been owned by Teekanne of Germany. Since 2018, Salada-branded tea in the U.S. has been produced under license by Harris Tea Company. The Salada brand in the U.S. is still owned by Redco Foods, while Salada tea in Canada is a brand of Unilever Canada.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Salada tea
Salada website (U.S.)Salada website (Canada)
Tea brands Food and drink companies established in 1892 Companies based in Toronto Companies based in Boston Food and drink companies based in New York (state) 1892 establishments in Ontario