Tea Importer Moves From "Clicks" to "Bricks"

The Original Ceylon Tea Company—founded in 1999 by a group of entrepreneurs as an online purveyor of 100% pure, high mountain-grown tea from Sri Lanka—is reinventing itself to compete on the grocery store aisle.

AUSTIN, Texas—In a move that might be considered as reverse engineering" from the dot-com craze of the 90s, one company is making the move from Clicks to Bricks.
    The Original Ceylon Tea Company—founded in 1999 by a group of entrepreneurs as an online purveyor of 100% pure, high mountain-grown tea from Sri Lanka—is reinventing itself to compete on the grocery store aisle.
    Internet traffic has been good and continues to grow," says TOCTC CEO Kit Riley, but the opportunity to introduce our tea to a broader audience is simply too great to ignore. Its a chance to show drinkers of todays herbal hot drinks what a sensuous experience a cup of truly extraordinary tea like ours can be in terms of its fragrance, taste, and even the rich, golden color it presents."
     The Original Ceylon Tea Company has recently completed a packaging redesign incorporating bright colors and the distinctive Ceylon Tea Board Lion Logo. The Lion Logo appears only on 100% pure Ceylon (Sri Lanka) tea that has passed the boards stringent quality standards.
     Flavors offered under The Original Ceylon Tea Company label include: Raspberry, Mango, Passion Fruit, Earl Grey, English Breakfast Tea, Green Tea, and Needwood Certified Organic Tea.
     The Original Ceylon Tea Company is the sole North American distributor for Needwood Certified Organic Tea. Grown on the Needwood Tea Estates at over 6,000 feet in the lush, mountainous Uva region of the tiny island nation, the plantation is surrounded by virgin jungle and commands breathtaking views of the sea below. Needwood was the first plantation to receive the international organic certification and is recognized the world over for its outstanding contributions to nature conservancy, and for its dedication to the people who live on and work the tea gardens.
     The company also caters to chefs and gourmet cooks who are among the growing culinary force using tea for cooking. Although popular for thousands of years in the East, Western cooks are showing growing enthusiasm for cooking with tea. Common ideas for cooking with tea include:
1.   Using infused tea to poach or steam fish or fowl
2.   Tea leaves as smoker chips"
3.   Infused tea to add flavor to rice dishes
The Original Ceylon Tea Company offers three of its teas in decorative, bulk tins for cooks (or purists who disdain the use of teabags). The flavors in tins are Green Tea, 1001 Nights (an exotic blend with a rich, fruity fragrance), and the Needwood Certified Organic Tea.
     The Original Ceylon Tea Company imports and distributes only 100% pure, high mountain-grown tea from Sri Lanka. The company, whose corporate offices are based in Austin, TX, now channels its sales activities primarily through specialty food distributors and grocery stores, but retains its direct sales outlet on the Internet at www.ceylon-tea.com. For more information, contact the company through its Web site or by calling toll-free 877-333-9901.

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