The Republic of Tea is a privately owned American

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 south-western China and nor ...

company based in

Larkspur, California Larkspur is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States. Larkspur is located directly south of Kentfield, California, Kentfield and south of San Rafael, California, San Rafael, at an elevation of . As of the 2 ...

, that makes and sells more than 350 varieties of teas throughout North America. It was one of the first companies to offer varieties such as rooibos red tea, white tea, and tea seed oil to American consumers.

History

The company was founded in 1992 by Mel Ziegler,

Patricia Ziegler Mel Ziegler and Patricia Ziegler are an American business couple. They are the founders of Banana Republic, a clothing and accessory retailer. Alongside William Rosenzweig, they co-founded The Republic of Tea. They eventually sold both companies. ...

, and Bill Rosenzweig. The Zieglers co-founded

Banana Republic In political science, the term ''banana republic'' describes a politically and economically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the export of natural resource.A banana republic is a country with an economy of state capitalism, where th ...

and ZoZa.com. In 1994, they sold the company to Ron Rubin. Rubin's son Todd Rubin joined the company in 2007 and succeeded his father as president in 2015. Ron Rubin currently serves as The Republic of Tea's Executive Chairman and Minister of Tea. The Republic of Tea designates its employees as "ministers", its customers as "citizens", and its retail outlets as "embassies".

Practices

The Republic of Tea's products are distributed through speciality retailers including

Whole Foods Market Whole Foods Market, Inc. (colloquially referred to as simply Whole Foods) is an American multinational supermarket chain store, chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from Hydrogenated fat, hydrogenated fats and artificia ...

and

Williams Sonoma Williams Sonoma is an American retailer of cookware, appliances, and home furnishings. It is owned by Williams-Sonoma, Inc. and was founded by Chuck Williams (author), Charles E. (Chuck) Williams in 1956. History In 1947, Chuck Williams settle ...

. They do not intend to expand to mass market retailers such as

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box warehouse club retail stores. As of 2021, Costco is the third-largest retailer in the world, and as of August 2024, Cos ...

and

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

. The company prides itself on maintaining slow but steady growth and operating without any debt. The company supports

sustainable agriculture Sustainable agriculture is agriculture, farming in sustainability, sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an ...

. It sources several of its teas from biodynamic farms, a form of alternative agriculture based on pseudo-scientific and esoteric concepts. It also produces Sonoma Teas, which are made from dried grape skins that would otherwise go to waste.{{Cite news, url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/12/01/456796760/cascara-tea-a-tasty-infusion-made-from-coffee-waste, title=Cascara 'Tea': A Tasty Infusion Made From Coffee Waste, last=Carpenter, first=Murray, date=2015-12-01, work=NPR.org, access-date=2018-10-04, language=en Both Ron and Todd Rubin have said that they are not interested in selling The Republic of Tea, despite a potential valuation as high as $125 million. Ron Rubin says he has always hoped his company would remain family-owned and private.

References

External links

Official website

Official distributor for Switzerland
Tea brands in the United States Tea companies of the United States Food and drink companies established in 1992 Companies based in California Companies based in Marin County, California