Phil Simms and Cindi Bigelow

Had a great time recently with a team of managers in New Jersey and Phil Simms.  We have been so fortunate to work with him for over four years and he truly is a friend to our family.  He spent over an hour sharing stories and talking tea….it doesn’t get better than that….Love you Mr. Phil.

Cindi Bigelow

I had the most enjoyable morning yesterday with the CEO of Bruegger’s Bagels, Jim Greco. We met at a Bruegger’s bakery in Shelton, Connecticut where we were able to say hello to customers and learn how to make bagels!

Bruegger’s just made Bigelow Organic their tea of choice for all Bruegger’s bakeries! How perfect….a delicious bagel and a cup of Bigelow Tea. Jim was so delightful and so much fun. The staff was fantastic as were all the customers. There was one group of men who have gone every day to this Bruegger’s since the store opened (yes seven days a week)! How loyal is that? It was also very heartwarming that many of their customers only drank Bigelow Tea (I knew the Bruegger’s customer had good taste).

Anyway, stay tuned for the video we shot yesterday. It was so great, especially when I took orders from customers and tried to fulfill them-I am not the best bagel cutter. But Jim and his staff were more than patient.

It was truly a super morning…we are delighted to be their partners. Jim and every member of the Bruegger’s team are definitely now part of the Bigelow family!

Cindi Bigelow

Just finished having employee meetings with all the employees at our Fairfield, CT facility….year-end stuff, bonus checks, etc.

What a great group of people…receptive, caring, open. You name it, my team of people cannot be better! After I finish talking to them about the recap of the year, many of them line up to chat “off-the-record.”

The stuff they say is so heartwarming….yes, they are my shareholders. But more importantly, they are my family…..

Cindi Bigelow

Just got back from an amazing week in West Virginia with 180 fellow companions (approx 120 young adults and 60 adults)-what a week!

I have gone now for 5 years and never cease to be blown away by the level of compassion and the amount of good work done over the course of the week.  This year my team (always two adults and 5 high school kids) worked on a family’s home but what made it even more extraordinary than usual was that we got to meet four generations from the same family.  We worked directly with a mother and her son every day putting up siding and underpinning, then visited her mom at her home and then we even got to meet her grandmother (the young boy’s great grandmother!).

The warmth and abundance of appreciation they all showed us will stay with me forever.  The grandmother insisted we visit her at her home where we spent over an hour with her as she told us story after story and walked us around her home showing us all her flowers and vegetables with such great pride.  I could have listened to her all day.

It was a heartwarming a trip as I could ever have imagined….my team performed miracles.

Just came back from visiting our plant out west and the employees took great joy in having me sit on and then ride (of course with someone else as the driver) the biggest Harley Davidson motorcycle I have ever seen in my life.  Just getting on it was a task, but after I was safely returned back to the plant after my high speed motorcycle ride on the highway,  I was smiling from ear to ear as were the employees.

I loved the spirit and the adventurous nature of our employees; they truly make work extra fun.  Thanks guys for a motorcycle ride I will never forget!

Cindi Bigleow

All of us as Bigelow were deeply saddened to learn the loss of George Steinbrenner.

I know I speak for my family and all the employees when I wish the Steinbrenner family our deepest sympathy, as well as the entire Yankees organization. Mr. Steinbrenner’s contributions to the Yankees Baseball Team and all of New York as well as his charitable work will live for decades to come.

George you will be missed!

Cindi Bigelow and the Bigelow Tea Family

Cindi Bigelow and Portrait of Ruth Campbell Bigelow

On June 24^th, Cindi Bigelow visited WCBS News Radio 880 for an interview on the “Women In Business Report.” Chatting with Anchorwoman Pat Carroll, Cindi shared some of the passion and fascinating history of Bigelow Tea and Constant Comment, as they celebrate their 65^th anniversary. Cindi expressed the pride in her family’s outstanding innovations, and shared a few pieces of fascinating Bigelow Tea lore.

We know that Cindi’s grandmother, Ruth Campbell Bigelow, created the unmatched Constant Comment tea blend, right in her kitchen, in 1945. But did you know that it was her son, David C. Bigelow who promoted the idea of then specializing in tea? Cindi related: “‘Mom’ he told his mother; ‘…tea could be our niche! There is no other product like Constant Comment in the marketplace.’”

Truer words were never spoken, and starting with the flagship brand Constant Comment, family-owned Bigelow Tea has gone on to become America’s leading specialty tea company.

Listen to a snippet of Cindi on her broadcast, and learn more about the inscrutable black tea recipe–flavored with orange rind and sweet spices–that is still a top secret. As Cindi shares, “[After 25 years]…I finally said to my parents, ‘don’t you think it’s about time I learn to make Constant Comment?’”

Cindi Bigelow Women in Business Interview

Here’s to the passion and the innovation that Bigelow Tea puts in to all of the delicious teas, which is the ultimate recipe for success. Happy Anniversary!

Our fiscal year just ended, and oh yeah we are blessed here at Bigelow! Looking at double digit growth, are you kidding me? We have been so fortunate to be able to do something exceptional this year for all our employees. No matter what the position inside our company, everyone got a $1000 extra bonus on top of their regular bonus (which was 30% better this year over last for the profit sharing part of the bonus) and got a raise close to up to double that of last year.

To give that check out last week was nothing like I have ever experienced here at Bigelow. The need from our employees for that “extra hit” was SO GREAT. The stories that were shared with me will stay with me forever. It was almost hard to listen to them all, it became overwhelming.

I always tell everyone, one of the greatest gifts of running a family company is being able to provide work for good people. My family knows how blessed we are every day, but last week really hit me hard. I truly love our employees and I know they love working here… A very nice feeling, a very good year!

Cindi Bigelow

Had the best time doing a tea tasting at Fairfield Warde High School. Captured is Mrs. Honorowski AP STAT class.

Cindi Bigelow

I have to share with you the most amazing morning I had this week. Bigelow was very fortunate to be able to help sponsor solar panels for a school in Wilton. Thanks to Connecticut state funding for programs like this (unfortunately the funding might end soon), Bigelow was able to donate $25,000 and receive a tax rebate from the Neighborhood Assistance Act.

The process was pretty simple: first the town of Fairfield had to get state approval for the funds. Once they got the approval, the town looked for businesses to sponsor. We quickly lined up to support such a worthy cause. We then gave out the money to non-profit organizations that wanted to “go green.”

Well thanks to that process, we now have an elementary school with 50 solar panels on its roof. Those panels will reduce the school’s CO2 emissions by 15,500 pounds over the next 25 years. It is the equivalent to planting 175 trees a year over that same time frame!

This week I was invited to the school’s ribbon cutting for the panels, and the event was so heartwarming. I walked in to the school to be greeted by 5 young boys in ties and jackets (too cute for words), they then escorted me into the main room where hundreds of little faces were staring up at me as they moved me to the front. Each one was more precious than the next. I was all smiles. Our congressman, Jim Himes, got up and spoke and did the most amazing job talking to these young kids about their role in taking care of our one world. He was brilliant in his approach-just the right level but talked about all the things they are doing in the school to help  planet earth!

It was such an outstanding event that I have since called our Governor, Jodi Rell, to share with her how fantastic the experience was. I know she is looking at a bill right now that will extend or end the funds available to continue these kinds of programs. She has much to consider with the state of Connecticut in serious financial turmoil, but I felt like she should at least hear how effective the funds have been and how they are helping our state and our world for the future.

Who knows, maybe my little ribbon cutting experience might make a big impact on her! Either way, it was a morning to remember. I am still all smiles…..

Cindi Bigelow