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Transitioning in to 2016

by Sashee Chandran

Hey CommuniTEA,

It has been a little while since I’ve provided a Tea Drops update. Here we are, already well into March and a quarter of the year almost gone! Time seems to evaporate, especially when you are trying to grow a business.

This year has been quite a transition for us at Tea Drops. First of all, we have officially moved into our new office headquarters in Brisbane, CA! It was a bit chaotic in February since we didn’t really stop our business operations during the move, we were still managing to pack and get orders out during (although we were admittedly a little delayed -- thanks for bearing with us!). We now have a lot more space to sprawl and are settling in nicely. We are really making the space a home with lots of tea decor and comfy living room furniture. Come visit us anytime!

We have had some amazing opportunities come our way this past year, and continue to expand our “teaprint.” We recently launched our new retail packaging this year which has been receiving a lot of love. It’s always this nervous feeling when you are introducing your products to the broader world for the first time, but I continue to be so excited about the response. San Jose Mercury named us California’s coolest beverage brand, and Bravo TV took notice naming Tea Drops one of the most interesting products from Fancy Food Show. We were also named the most innovative beverage by Specialty Food Association. Yeah!

We will always have our beloved wood boxes available for purchase, however this new packaging makes it even easier to transport your Tea Drops wherever life takes you. You can find these teas available at your local boutique stores, Hy-Vee grocery chain stores, and additional retailers across the country we will be announcing very soon.

Like any startup, we have our fair share of growing pains. As we commit to our mission to spread the love of tea to as many corners of the country (and world) as possible, we have to make certain investments and tweak processes so that we can scale our reach. This means forming new partnerships and saying goodbye to old ones. This process can be hard, time-consuming, and frankly emotional at times. But it’s absolutely necessary and has been a great source of relief as well.

Community is at the forefront of everything we do, and I’m incredibly grateful to each one of you for joining this journey with us. A friend of mine made a great analogy for any startup that really resonated with me. He said that starting a business is like hosting a big party bus where people hop on and off at various points. Some people jump on the bus and enjoy a great, long, fun ride. But at some point they may want to go home and get some rest or stop at one particular club, while the bus continues on. And as the owner/host, I have to be embrace the different stages of the party -- and be super thankful for the time people did spend on the bus, because their presence made all the difference. So thank you for joining this party, and for sticking around too! 

 

Tea Drop on,

 

Sashee

Founder & CEO


If you aren’t following our daily adventures, what are you waiting for? See behind the scenes of running Tea Drops on Snapchat (@myteadrop), Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook! 

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