Patricia Graells and William Karis, founders of Seven Senses Organic Greek Herbal Teas, competed on stage at the recent Devan Shah Tea Tycoons at World Tea Expo, held March 27-29 in Las Vegas, and came out on top as winners in the Sustainability category.
Seven Senses focuses on organic, herbals teas, and all of the company’s ingredients are sourced from different parts of northern Greece, in addition to being certified by BIOHELLAS and USDA. They also have a strong focus on the environment and ethical sourcing, only selecting organic farms, supporting small family businesses, and respecting the land and environment in Greece.
The Devan Shah Tea Tycoons, which Seven Senses competed in, is an entrepreneurial-focused competition and awards program for the tea industry that celebrates and honors emerging small businesses that are producing or sharing innovative and new products for the global tea industry. The competition has three categories – Camellia Sinensis, Innovation and Sustainability.
To learn more, World Tea News spoke with both Graells and Karis for this third article of a three-part series that highlights each of the three winners of the 2023 Devan Shah Tea Tycoons Competition. To read part one of the series with Sharyn Johnston of SINENSIS (winner in the Innovation category), click here. To read part two of the series with (winner in the Camellia Sinensis category), click here.
Question: Hi, William and Patricia! Thanks for your time and congratulations on winning the Devan Shah Tea Tycoons competition in the Sustainability category for Seven Senses Organic Greek Herbal Teas! How did that feel?
Answer (Patricia Graells): After being selected to the final round, we felt that we had a lot to prepare in order to present our story in front of the judges. When they selected us, it took a moment to process hearing our names as the winners. We felt excited and at the same time speechless. We believed in our company, we believed in our products, and we believed in ourselves. The question was: Did everyone else believe? And they did!
Question: What was it like competing live on stage – in front of a large crowd – at the Tea Tycoons competition?
Answer (William Karis): At first, we were excited to go on stage and present our company, but we quickly realized how intimidating it is listening to yourself and thinking what everyone else is hearing. Then euphoria kicked in and, before we knew it, time was up. We were excited to see the crowd being engaged with our story. That was an amazing experience and made us feel, win or lose, we succeeded.
Question: What can you tell us about Seven Senses Organic Greek Herbal Teas and your mission?
Answer (Patricia Graells): We are a unique, premium, organic Greek tea brand that focuses on product purity, sustainability, and offering the freshest organic herbal teas available in today’s market. Our mission is – drinking our teas will have a positive impact on people’s emotional, spiritual and physical health, as it has done for Greeks for thousands of years.
Question: When did you officially launch Seven Senses Organic?
Answer (William Karis): September of 2019 was our first official sale.
Question: What’s the story behind Seven Senses Organic? What led you to want to launch the business?
Answer (William Karis): Both coming from European backgrounds, we learned the value of using natural herbal products from Mother Earth. Every summer, both of our families took us to spend time in our villages, where they used to give us herbal teas for different reasons – i.e. lavender to relax, thyme for sore throat, etc. Since we have this common background, we wanted to share and educate the world with our heritage and knowledge about the benefits of Mother Earth, especially in America, where there are a lot of preservatives and caffeine everywhere.
Question: What can you tell us about the Greek herbal teas and other products that you sell?
Answer (Patricia Graells): All our products are hand-planted, hand-picked, hand-packed and delivered to us directly from our farms in northern Greece. We chose six unique herbs that we felt would allow us to easily express our passion to people. These six – Mount Olympus Tea, Chamomile Tea, Lavender Tea, Sage Tea, Thyme Tea and Oregano Tea – are pure organic flavors that, individually, bring specific properties and benefits, and blended together, expand on those properties and benefits. Additionally, we have five proprietary blends that we felt our customers would appreciate and value because of the variety of properties and benefits and aromatic flavors.
Question: What can you tell us about the farmers you work with in Greece, as well as your commitment to responsible sourcing?
Answer (Patricia Graells): Our farms are located in the northern part of Greece, where the Earth allows us to harvest our products fertilizer-free and pesticide-free. Due to these factors, we have secured the highest level of organic certifications from BIOHELLAS and USDA. We provide opportunities to local workers, 90 percent of which are women, that live in small villages around the area. All of our packaging is made from recycled metals, natural ink dyes and recyclable/biodegradable doypacks.
Question: Can you tell us more about your commitment to environmentally friendly practices?
Answer (Patricia Graells): Our commitment to the environment is to protect the natural balance of the local farm lands and waterways, by not using fertilizers or pesticides.
Question: What’s been the overall response to Seven Senses Organic? And how are sales?
Answer (William Karis): As a fairly new company, three years old, we have been blessed to have double digit growth each of the first three years. After exhibiting at the 2023 World Tea Expo and being awarded with the 2023 Devan Shah Tea Tycoons competition in Sustainability, we have seen an increase in demand for all our products. Currently, we are in over 60 retail locations in North America, South America and Europe. Additionally, our wholesale division has tremendously expanded in North America.
Question: What are your most popular herbal teas?
Answer (Patricia Graells): It is difficult to single out any one of our products, due to the fact that we offer many different flavors – from flowery to spicy, from savory to sweet. People love all of our flavors, and we invite you to experience them all!
Question: What’s the message about Greece that you want your customers to remember?
Answer (William Karis): Greece is known for being one of the most important Blue Zones in the world. Part of this is due to the healthy natural diet that Greek Earth provides to their citizens. A major part of this diet is the daily consumption of non-caffeinated herbal teas. Now our customers have the ability to be part of this healthy organic diet.
Question: Do you sell your herbal teas to wholesale customers, in addition to direct-to-consumer sales?
Answer (William Karis): Yes, we do. We offer our products to small, medium and large companies, with the ability to customize order quantities.
Question: How have you marketed Seven Senses Organic? What’s worked best for you?
Answer (Patricia Graells): We started developing our B2B network first. We believed that this would allow us to build our brand at a grassroots level. Looking back, this decision strengthened our position to expand to direct-to-consumer and wholesale. This strategy helped us with launching our online channels.
Question: What challenges did you face when building the Seven Senses Organic business?
Answer (William Karis): During the process of choosing our packaging, color palettes, artwork, logo design and tea menu, we were severely impacted by COVID-19 restrictions. We could not travel, we could not communicate with other businesses/partners, delays on organic certification approvals/paperwork, and population lockdown. This impacted our initial start-up and daily operations.
Question: Other than winning the Tea Tycoons competition at World Tea Expo, what are some of your successes with Seven Senses Organic thus far?
Answer (William Karis): Our first year in business, we had one single retail partner, who believed in our product. Today, we have over 60 retail partners. This is huge! Most eComm businesses have a returning customer rate of 20 to 25 percent. Our latest reports show our returning customer rate is 42 to 48 percent. We are very proud of these achievements.
Question: What was your overall experience like at World Tea Expo 2023 in Las Vegas? And what would you say to others who are thinking about attending or participating?
Answer (Patricia Graells): For small businesses that have limited financial resources, it may seem as a major expense and risk to attend. If you believe in your company and products, we assure you that there is no better stage in the world for you to share your passion and story with.
Question: What are your thoughts on the state of the tea industry in North America right now, and consumer interest in herbal teas?
Answer (Patricia Graells): Many articles available today show that herbal teas account for the biggest growth of market share in the beverage industry. Together, with what our customers’ feedback is, we believe there is no bigger growth market in the beverage sector. Additionally, we believe that the organic herbal tea sector will continue to see positive growth in the near future.
Question: What advice do you have for other tea entrepreneurs, or those who want to build a tea business like yours?
Answer (William Karis): You first have to start off with an idea, believe in the idea, trust yourself, don’t be afraid to fail, and most importantly execute that idea. Turn that idea into your passion and share that with the world.
Question: Thanks for your time! Last question – what’s next for Seven Senses Organic?
Answer (William Karis): We will continue our expansion and growth in other markets worldwide. Expand our R&D of new products, but most importantly, continue to offer the highest quality products available in the market.
To learn more about Seven Senses Organic Greek Herbal Teas, visit SevenSensesOrganic.us.
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