Selling homemade tea bags.....

[ColtCroft]

So I currently do gemstone healing jewellery and a trained reiki practioner. However I also make my own herbal tea bags for various reasons, I'm finding it difficult to find much relevant information and hoping someone may be able to point me in the right direction.

I'd like to be able to sell my tea bags on my facebook page and on the various stalls that I do throughout the year.

If anyone could help me with this I'd be very grateful.

Thank you
Stacey

 

[Scalloway]

I would suggest contacting the Food Standards Agency

https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/register-a-food-business

Your local council's environmental health department will also be able to help.

 

[Andy777]

Hi Stacey,

Do you just want to sell the bags (empty bags) or bags with tea in them?

Just asking as I was shopping for empty bags the other day and it's quite hard to find good ones that don't use bleached paper etc. I did manage to find it though on Amazon, there's a start-up company in the UK doing this. Maybe you can collab with them in any way?

 

[ITBadger]

I would suggest contacting the Food Standards Agency

Your local council's environmental health department will also be able to help.

Absolutely this. Selling any food grade product requires a lot of compliance, better to keep yourself covered as opposed to going gung-ho and selling through Facebook.

 

[AlexiaMax]

I can suggest you a better option. Go for Facebook ad promotion and and post boosting. So it will reach to more interested customers.

 

[Sidney Stone]

Are you going to sell tea bags or created a new technology and want to claim patent rights over it?

 

[quikshop]

I'd like to be able to sell my tea bags on my facebook page and on the various stalls that I do throughout the year.

Before Facebook we used to sell aromatherapy products at health and holistic fairs throughout our area. Check with your local Council (City and borough) for events, Google is your friend for finding local fairs.

 

[Mr D]

Before Facebook we used to sell aromatherapy products at health and holistic fairs throughout our area. Check with your local Council (City and borough) for events, Google is your friend for finding local fairs.

As is Stallfinder.

I use that site both for searching for places to take the wife on a trip out and places to scout to sell at.

 

[Karllacey]

Handmade Tea Bags? I am just wondering are we talking about individual tea bags that you make and put them in a box to sell? or the container in which people can put loose tea in to strain.

Call me a bit negative here but this does not sound like a business because either way you can pick up a box of teabags for £3 and the container you will probably get in Wilko or a Pound Shop.

If your hand making them as well you better have a bloody good source to keep the production and distribution costs down but I just do not see it.

The jewellery is of course something entirely different because of individuality etc....

 

[Mr D]

Handmade Tea Bags? I am just wondering are we talking about individual tea bags that you make and put them in a box to sell? or the container in which people can put loose tea in to strain.

Call me a bit negative here but this does not sound like a business because either way you can pick up a box of teabags for £3 and the container you will probably get in Wilko or a Pound Shop.

If your hand making them as well you better have a bloody good source to keep the production and distribution costs down but I just do not see it.

The jewellery is of course something entirely different because of individuality etc....

And yet can sell a container of tea for £10 plus.
Or a pack of teabags for several pounds.

Tea lovers are willing to pay more for what they see as increased value product. I understand coffee lovers can be the same.

https://www.whittard.co.uk/tea/how-...eaf-teabags-334086.html?cgid=teabags#start=36
£6.50 for 15 teabags.

https://www.whittard.co.uk/tea/how-...e-tea-MSTR314518.html?cgid=loose-tea#start=30
Darjeeling - 100g for £13.

Can anyone say Whittard is not a business? Its over 125 years old.

 

[Karllacey]

Of course and I agree with everything you say - however the OP says that they are handmade I am concerned that the amount of time it actually takes to make it by hand plus the packaging, distribution and ancillary costs associated makes it difficult to make anything on top.

Whittards have a massive infrastructure behind them which is as you say 125 years old which takes us back to the British Empire times where we exploited countries such as India and China for these resources. Not that I have any real insight into it but the timeline fits.

 

[Mr D]

Of course and I agree with everything you say - however the OP says that they are handmade I am concerned that the amount of time it actually takes to make it by hand plus the packaging, distribution and ancillary costs associated makes it difficult to make anything on top.

Whittards have a massive infrastructure behind them which is as you say 125 years old which takes us back to the British Empire times where we exploited countries such as India and China for these resources. Not that I have any real insight into it but the timeline fits.

Probably import the stuff from suppliers like everyone else these days.

There's handmade and handmade - create a new tea mix by hand and its a handmade tea, stick it into silk bags / paper bags / whatever material bags and its still handmade tea.
We don't know the process, we don't know timescale. I can think of a couple of methods of handmaking teabags that aren't too slow per bag.