31st January, 2008: Bigelow Annual Tea Celebrates Hot Tea Month
In honor of January being Hot Tea Month, the 3 Bigelow facilities each host an afternoon tea party for the employees. These annual events are a wonderful way to celebrate the joy of drinking tea and to foster a sense of fellowship and fun amongst co-workers.
At the corporate headquarters in Fairfield, CT, the Customer Service and Call Center staffs host the afternoon tea annually. This year, in addition to a wide variety of Bigelow teas being offered, a selection of delicious food items was served, including cucumber sandwiches, sweet and savory ham sandwiches, and scones with fresh whipped cream and jam. Also, brownies with Bigelow vanilla caramel tea glaze were served, along with sugar cookies drizzled with Bigelow EggNogg’n tea glaze. The tea and the food were presented on tables covered with white linen tablecloths and adorned with several beautiful flower arrangements. While the tea and food were being enjoyed, a raffle was held where every employee had a chance to win items from the Bigelow Direct Marketing catalog.
The annual Bigelow afternoon teas are wonderful events that are eagerly anticipated and are a great way to celebrate January being Hot Tea Month.
J David Silva, Customer Service Manager
Posted by Liesl at 6:00 am | Comment (1)
25th September, 2007: New Tea and Valued Employees come together at Bigelow
Well our season has started off very strong (thank goodness). Lots of fun things going on, our new Chai ready-to-drink products have just been launched, Mocha Chai (my favorite) and Vanilla Chai (fabulous as well)…. We have partnered with the very best company, AriZona, to help us and what great (and fun) partners they are! This product is SO GOOD…..less calories than that Frappaccino drink but with tons of flavor. We also just launched this month three hot tea bags made with AriZona flavors…Green Tea with Ginseng and Honey, Green Tea with Ginseng, Honey-Jasmin, Mandarin Orange, and Green Tea with Pomegranate and Acai. I am telling you, not all tea bags are created equal…you have to try these to believe them!
Well I have to go, I have to get ready for our “Teapot” dinner-yes that is really the name of the event. It is for all of our employees who have been with our company 7 years or longer. Believe it or not, almost 70% of our company is in this club! Anyway, 10 new members are coming in this year from our Fairfield location and they really look forward to their induction. SO got to go…..
Cindi Bigelow
Posted by Cindi at 6:00 am | Comments (6)
3rd September, 2007: Bigelow Celebrates Labor Day with our Annual Retiree Luncheon
Just had 30 retirees come back for our annual retiree luncheon, and it was really lovely. To be able to reconnect to our employees that have dedicated years to building this business, who are the foundation of this company, well…it means a lot to my entire family.
Every summer, we send out invites to those who have retired from Bigelow Tea. We are never sure how many will respond positively to the luncheon and each year we are pleasantly surprised with the high turnout. This year was no exception, I actually think it was our biggest turnout ever. Our luncheon included individuals who worked during the 60 and 70’s and retired almost 20 years ago to those who have retired in the last few months.
What never ceases to amaze me is the comradery between them, even after all these years. The chatter, the laughs, the stories about their years here-it is a very special afternoon. I have to say, it is after an event like the one we had today, it clearly reminds me the value of a family company.
Cindi Bigelow, co-President
Posted by Cindi at 6:00 am | Comment (0)
26th June, 2007: Bigelow Summer Picnics
Each year the company holds a picnic for all of the employees. In Louisville they had their picnic in June, in Boise they are scheduling their picnic for August and in Fairfield ours is scheduled for September.
This is a great time to see everyone from Bigelow and in a relaxing setting. People take the time to get to know one another and share some of those stories that do not come out in a work setting. Since we have people working on night shifts, day shifts, and weekends, we really do not get many opportunities to gather everyone together at one time.
Besides having good food (sometimes it is catered, or pot luck, or cooked by management), we also have time for a little competition in sports. We have the mighty hula-hoop, water balloon toss, bingo, horse-shoes, tennis and then that ever popular volleyball game.
It is nice to be able to take time out of a busy schedule to enjoy each other’s company. When we are back at work and trying to resolve issues, it makes a difference that you know a bit more about your co-workers!
Dean
Posted by Dean at 6:00 am | Comment (0)
23rd April, 2007: The Best Cup of Tea
There are many things that make companies great and one of ours is our people.
The goal of Bigelow is to provide the best cup of tea possible to our consumer and that can only come when you have employees that are dedicated and caring. Our three manufacturing facilities employ over 220 employees and their average tenure is 9 years plus. Each year the company recognizes those that have been with the company 7 years or more with dinner and dancing.
While the employee morale and job enjoyment levels might not show up on all great companies it sure makes a difference to ours.
Dean
Posted by Dean at 6:00 am | Comments (2)
4th April, 2007: Bigelow’s Bed knobs and Broomsticks Bed Race
Last week I visited Louisville and our production plant there. Once a quarter I try and get out to each plant to see how they are doing and offer assistance wherever possible. This year I want to see the Bigelow “bed” which has been built to participate in the Kentucky Derby Bed knobs and Broomsticks bed race. Businesses from around Louisville build and then push their beds through a course to see who has the best design and the fastest. The Louisville plant has been participating for several years and has been close to winning a couple of times but has not taken 1st yet, may be this year. While this might not have anything to do with making tea bags, it sure is a fun activity for all of those that participate.
Dean
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3rd January, 2007: January is Hot Tea Month!
Happy Hot Tea Month.yes January is Hot Tea Month. This is always a fun time for us. We hold celebrations in each of our facilities with scones, muffins, sandwiches, and of course lots and lots of Bigelow Tea.
I have always been surprised by the fact that the tea industry does not make a bigger deal about this month, but maybe to the consumer it doesnt really make a difference. All I know is that for us, we make the most of it. We send out tea facts weekly to our employees, we hold raffles, we serve goodies in each of our floor cafeterias each week.it is just a great event to celebrate for this family tea company. So for all of you who did not know that January is Hot Tea Month.now you do.
Time to turn on the kettle!
Posted by Cindi at 4:34 pm | Comments (3)
11th December, 2006: ABC Primetime Challenge: Bigelow Tea Employees Participate in Weight Loss Challenge
This past June, ABC Primetime invited our company to participate in a Corporate Weight Loss Challenge. The challenge involved testing weight moTEAvators. The idea was to test which had more moTEAvational power ? becoming healthy for ones sake vs becoming healthy to avoid a threat of humiliation.
Bigelow Tea , dedicated to the positive moTEAvation of being healthy for their own sake, competed head-to-head against the Bridgeport Bluefish Corporate Office, who were placed in a competitive environment were each asked to lose 15 pounds in a two-month period.
The test was to see whether the positive moTEAvation do it for me and my health or the negative moTEAvation dont let down the team and possibly humiliate myself would win out in the end.
A preliminary visit to our company on June 20 provided ABC Primetime Producer, Tom Berman, and Associate Producer, Christine Murphy-Costello, an opportunity to tour our facility operations and meet with potential team participants. Soon after we let them know that we were up for the challenge, we held our first team collaboration meeting to design t-shirts for the event. The slogans, Drink Green Get Lean and TEAM Bigelow moTEAvated to lose weight were selected.
We were ready. Let the games begin!
Posted by Elizabeth at 6:22 am | Comment (0)
