12th May, 2008: A Driving Force at Bigelow Tea
I had a valuable yet quite sad encounter this past weekend with an individual who works for a small business who was doing some work for me. This guy was sharing his story on how he had started with his employer a few years ago and how they really never treated him well. Company management were constantly taking away one thing after another so that his “package” was something that could barely sustain his family.
I realize this is happening more and more. Between spiraling healthcare costs, and rising gas and food prices, this country which of course includes our Bigelow Tea employees will have to endure an incredibly painful future. But this conversation also reminds me, one more time, that in my position at Bigelow, I should never forget that not just 330 employees are affected but 330 families are dependent on the success of what we do and how we do it.
It is funny, sometimes people ask me what are the pressures like in running a private company with no stockholders breathing down our necks. I always say, that yes I don’t have stockholders to worry about but I do have a lot of people whose livelihoods depend on my actions.
That conversation last weekend was sad for sure, it weighs heavily on me. But it also was an invaluable reminder of what needs to be a driving force in my everyday actions here at Bigelow Tea…
Cindi Bigelow
President
Posted by Cindi at 6:00 am | Comment (0)
11th March, 2008: What a great IDEA!
I am so excited to share some fun news about a super idea generated by a team in our company called IGT which stands for the Idea Generation Team. IGT is made up of 7 employees from diverse departments throughout Bigelow Tea. Since the groups’ inception two years ago, they have met once a month and brainstormed about all different kinds of ideas. For example, one of their fun thoughts was to develop their own cooking show. Two members of the IGT created delicious recipes using Bigelow tea. I have to say, they had a complete ball making up recipes for all of us to enjoy. We got such joy from watching the video they created (especially the bloopers)!
Well last Thursday another one of their ideas become a reality. Next to our corporate headquarters sign on the outside of our building, they wanted to add a beautifully crafted replica of the Bigelow Tea signature teapot logo. Sounds like a no brainer (which of course saying yes to their idea was) but no one else made it happen like they did!
Because of this team’s great work, everyone passing by our building will now get to not only see our formal name R.C. Bigelow, Inc. but it will have placed next to it our lovely teapot emblem.
In my opinion, some of the best ideas are what I call the “V-8” idea-you hear the idea and you react the same as the V-8 commercials “wow, I should have had a V-8”….simple, yet effective….
Cindi Bigelow, President
Posted by Cindi at 6:00 am | Comment (1)
6th March, 2008: Fruit and Almond Tea Announcement
I have exciting news we have enough ingredients to make 400 cases of Fruit & Almond tea. The tea will be available to purchase online (www.bigelowtea.com) in approximately two weeks. The tea will be packaged in white generic boxes but the foil will be in the standard Fruit and Almond overwrap. I am also working on making it available (on line only) from this point forward. More news to come on that front – but for now, we are making up 400 cases for you amazing wonderful consumers. Thank you so much for enjoying our tea!!!
Cindi Bigelow, President
Posted by Cindi at 6:00 am | Comments (3)
5th March, 2008: Fruit and Almond Tea Requests, We Hear you and Thank you!
I have a full court press working on this; we just need a few more days to figure this out! It is hard to get some of the ingredients needed in small quantities but I promise you, my team is all over this!!!!! We have one ingredient that is causing the majority of the problems……
Posted by Cindi at 2:22 pm | Comments (2)
4th March, 2008: How Much Buzz is Too Much?
Okay, I realize the new buzz in beverages is “buzz”…how much caffeine you can put in your body to “jack you up”. Well I am not claiming to be a doctor but I think at some point, the caffeine we put in our bodies reaches a point that is over the top.
I had always read in different periodicals, that the maximum you should put in your body is around 300 milligrams a day. Sounded fair, as that would be about 6 cups of tea or 3 cups of “regular” coffee. So the other day I opened up a magazine (InStyle, Feb 2008) and there is a section called, HOW MUCH CAFFEINE MEASURES UP. In it, it states that the National Sleep Foundation recommends consuming no more than 240 mg. a day-okay, that seemed pretty reasonable as well. Then they listed some popular products and their caffeine count. I was delighted to see our Bigelow Earl Grey listed and it stated that one cup had 40 mg. (yeap), but then it listed a very popular chain coffee-a Grande had 550 MILLIGRAMS.
All I can say is HOLY COW. If that is what you are consuming at one sitting- I would stop and take pause. Again, I am no doctor, but at that kind of number what are we doing to our bodies??
Hey I love caffeine with the rest of them, remember I drink a good 5 cups a day, but 550 at once….all I can say is OUCH….
Okay enough lecturing, I am now going to make a cup of Earl Grey Tea-get my caffeine and not “jack myself” up to another planet!
Cindi Bigelow
Posted by Cindi at 6:00 am | Comment (1)
7th February, 2008: Thank you for loving our Teas
The painful process of discontinuing a tea….not fun but unfortunately a necessity. Each year we have the wonderful opportunity to create new and exciting flavors for our tea consumers. The receptivity to our new flavors over the years has been outstanding, whether it was with our Pumpkin Spice, Green Tea with Pomegranate or one of our newest AriZona teas that has the powerful antioxidant Acai in it. Our tea consumers have come to know that when we put our name on a tea, it is the most flavorful, freshest tea possible.
However, with all the fun work in creating and introducing new teas, we have to occasionally let go of our slower moving/slower selling teas because when a tea flavor reaches a certain point of sales, it becomes almost impossible to run a very limited quantity of teabags on our equipment. Then comes the hardest part of all…we have to share news with our wonderful consumers that a tea will not be produced any longer. Of course, with that decision, we make lots of really lovely people very unhappy. The letters, the phone calls, the emails come flooding in pleading with us to reconsider. We try very hard to take care of our faithful consumers and provide some of the discontinued tea through the website but eventually we get to a point where the tea is not longer available.
The reality is, we cannot make those passionate fans happy and that is not fun…We have over 80 beautiful teas and with that our warehouses would explode and our machines would revolt if we did not eventually let some of our slower moving teas retire to the Bigelow Tea “pasture.”
So for all you amazing fans that we cannot satisfy 100% by taking away one of your favorite teas…we are very sorry. Please know if we could, we would love to supply you with every tea you ever wanted from us, but that is not truly possible.
Thank you for loving those teas and I can only hope that you might find a wonderful substitute somewhere in our array of teas that makes you just (or at least close to “just”) as happy.
At least I can dream…
Cindi Bigelow
Posted by Cindi at 6:00 am | Comments (2)
22nd January, 2008: New Year’s Reflections
Now that it is a new year, it is time to take inventory. Take inventory in all parts of my life which of course includes my role here at Bigelow. I was thinking about what is the most important (or at least one of the most important things) I need to bring to the table and I believe it is the role of a driver. I have to be driving this organization forward in all areas at all times. Sometimes that is not fun and certainly doesn’t always make me that popular but it is critical.
For this wonderful and warm family company to position itself for the future, we need to make sure all areas are driving forward. How can we do it better, where should we be going, what else can we be doing to get close to our customers? The list is endless but to me, that push is what will ensure this lovely company is relevant to the consumer in 5-10 years and longer.
Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the million details that I get exposed to, but I need to make sure I am taking the time to effectively communicate to all of my fellow teammates so we are driving together and moving forward.
It is important to sit back and take an inventory of ourselves. Reflection allows us to ensure our lives have some clarity and that we are on a path which allows us to ignore the noise and stay focused. Yes, it is that time of year….time to sit back, have a cup of tea and reflect….cheers to a beautiful 2008 for all of us.
Cindi Bigelow, President
Posted by Cindi at 6:00 am | Comment (0)
11th December, 2007: Good tea for a Cold!
I have a new favorite combo brew of the week… perfect during flu and cold season (which seems to be all around me!!)
Take one tea bag each I Love Lemon herbal and Ginger Snappish herbal, brew together in one cup, add a little dollop of honey.
If you are not feeling well, I guarantee you will feel better and if you are currently healthily (lucky you!), have this combo everyday to ward off those pesky germs! My friend at work just made one up for me-it is FABULOUS!
Cindi Bigelow
Posted by Cindi at 6:00 am | Comments (2)
4th December, 2007: Sit back and enjoy the Holidays!
Well I don’t know about everyone else, but I have spent the last three weekends (yes three) doing almost nothing but getting ready for the holidays and buying Christmas presents. I think I am really missing the point of this special time of year. It shouldn’t be about putting up garland and lights and buying gift after gift. I know that “intellectually” but I think I don’t know it spiritually. I just want to make sure that all those special people I give gifts to light up with a warm smile. Well that is good but how do I balance the need to delight people and still not get caught up in all the hustle and bustle? I did share a cup of Bigelow vanilla caramel tea over the weekend with a friend, and no joke, that helped (must be all the L-theanine). Any advice is welcome. Until then I better keep the kettle on every day!
Here’s to the holidays, learning how to truly enjoy them with those we love, and still have some time for ourselves!
Cindi Bigelow
Posted by Cindi at 6:00 am | Comments (2)
19th November, 2007: Bigelow Tea Wins Award From The Bridgeport Regional Business Council
How exciting, we just won an award from the Bridgeport Regional Business Council for all our efforts to support the environment. Upon winning this prestigious honor, the BRBC came into our facility last week to see some of our good work and they created a 90 second video for the award dinner coming up on December 6th. We will definitely make the video available on the blog once it is complete.
What makes the award special to me is that all the hard work being done by our “green team” is being noticed and appreciated. I truly love to see credit where credit is due and this team has worked very hard! I am looking forward to the evening but mostly what makes the evening exciting is knowing how proud the team will be when their fine work is being shared with the hundreds of people attending the event.
Cindi Bigelow
Posted by Cindi at 6:00 am | Comments (2)
