The Bigelow Tea Company – American tea manufacturer

Bigelow Tea was founded by Ruth Campbell Bigelow, when she created “Constant Comment” in her kitchen in 1945.

Ruth Campbell Bigelow, started the company in her kitchen when her husband, David Bigelow lost his publishing job and the interior design business she ran was decimated by the Depression.

The first specialty tea in the USA, Constant Comment is a black tea flavored with orange rinds and sweet spices. The first production facility was in the Bigelow’s New York brownstone apartment.

After Bigelow Tea was formed, David oversaw all the finances, ensuring that he and Ruth watched their pennies so that the fledgling business could survive.

With their growing tea business, in 1950 Ruth and David E. Bigelow sold their home in the city and moved to Connecticut. There they bought a small factory in the center of Norwalk, CT alongside the Norwalk River.

In 1957, the Bigelow’s moved their business a mile away to a classic New England brick factory building on Merwin Street in Norwalk, CT. It was not until 1958, a year after Bigelow moved to a larger plant in Norwalk, that the company bought its first tea bag machine. It was also in the late 1950s that the company began to make the transition from specialty shops to the supermarket.

In 1960, their son David joins the company. Ruth Bigelow died in 1966, followed by her husband in 1970. David Bigelow had already assumed leadership of the business in 1963.

David, with the unwavering support of his wife Eunice, lead the company with integrity, passion, intelligence, kindness and a spirit of determination to its current prominence as the country’s #1 specialty tea company.

Sales grew slowly but steadily, taking off in the 1970s when Bigelow began packing their teabags in folding cardboard boxes instead of tins.
The Bigelow Tea Company – American tea manufacturer

History of Lipton tea in United States

In 1890, Sir Thomas Lipton, who had already helped to popularize tea in England, brought his business acumen to the United States. He was the Scottish-born son of an Irish grocer, and in Glasgow in 1871, he founded the first of a successful chain of grocery stores that made him a wealthy man by age 40.

During the war years, Lipton had enlarged its U.S. sales and in August 1919 it moved its packing plant and main office to a large eleven-story building in Hoboken, New Jersey. He established the Thomas J Lipton Co.® tea packaging company and began to look for ways to make packaging and shipping less expensive.

Instead of arriving in crates, loose tea was packed in multiple weight options. He also cut out the middleman and was the first to sell loose tea direct to the masses. Lipton became known for selling reliable product at affordable prices. Another advantage: Lipton could advertise his company directly on the packets.

Soon after, tea bags were accidentally discovered by American merchant. Thomas Sullivan distributed samples of his loose tea to customers in small hand-sewn silk bags, and Thomas Lipton saw the future, and was the first to start selling tea bags. He was also the first to print brewing instructions on tea bag tags.

Soon, Lipton's bright yellow label with its red shield was everywhere, and his tea became popular in America as well as the U.K.

In 1937, six years after Sir Thomas's death, the US operations of Thomas J Lipton were acquired by Unilever, marking the group's first move into the tea business.

Iced tea powder mix was first introduced to the USA in 1964, reaching Europe in 1978 and since then, Iced Tea brand has continued to grow and grow. Bottled Lipton® Iced Tea, which was launched in 1991, is now enjoyed in more than 100 countries worldwide. Currently, Lipton was the leading brand of bagged and loose leaf tea in the United States
History of Lipton tea in United States

Tea business in America

Tea came to America in 1650, even before it reached England.  Peter Stuyvesant brought the first tea to America to the colonists in the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam, which later became New York.

Soon American colonists were consuming more tea than England and the Dutch stayed active in tea trade throughout the Western world.

Once tea did become popular in England, the British could hardly be expected to travel abroad without their precious drink and as a result, tea made second entree to the United States with the British colonists.

By the beginning of the 18th century tea was available in major American cities, but through trade with England. In 1880’s, America came to the forefront as the biggest importer of tea due to faster clipper ships and the ability to pay its debts in gold.

In 1890, Sir Thomas Lipton, who had already helped to popularize tea in England, brought his business acumen to the United States. During the war years, Lipton had enlarged its U.S. sales and in August 1919 it moved its packing plant and main office to a large eleven-story building in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Another British form, Tetley Tea, had sizeable American market share. Salada Tea Company founded in Toronto in 1892 also marketed in the United States.

At the turn of the 20th century the tea bag came along a surprise and Thomas J. Lipton was responsible for designing a four sided tea he dubbed the ‘flo-thru’ tea bag.
Tea business in America