Our Organics + Naturals club worked with the Supply Chain club to organize a trek to Celestial Seasonings in Boulder, Colorado. We had the opportunity to tour the facility, sample teas and herbal infusions, and learn about how tea is made.
Celestial Seasonings was started in 1969. They currently offer 105 varieties of tea and serve 1.6 billion cups of tea a year! Over 100 ingredients are sourced from 35 countries across the globe. Their facility in Boulder, Colorado is their only manufacturing location; they run three shifts five days a week.
The top-selling tea is Sleepytime Classic, introduced in 1972. It is the best-selling specialty tea of all time.
I talked with club presidents, Lauren Clayton and Cole Mankin, after the tour.
What was the most interesting thing you learned on the trek?
“Their top-selling teas aren’t actually tea at all! They are herbal infusions” –Lauren Clayton
“The Tension Tamer tea has catnip in it…I’ve been drinking Catnip Tea this whole time!” –Cole Mankin
Club Presidents Chris Shrope, Lauren Clayton, and Cole Mankin
We weren’t allowed to take pictures during the plant tour, so if you’re curious what the inside of a tea-manufacturing facility looks like, you’ll have to check it out yourself! In the meantime, here are a few of our favorite parts:
“I loved learning about all of the places around the world they source their ingredients from.” –Lauren Clayton
“The mint room—it cleared my sinuses!” –Cole Mankin
