6th May, 2008: Carbon Footprints
Have you ever tried to figure out your Carbon Footprint for your house? We have been working on summarizing all our efforts in the Green/Environmental areas and trying to put a number to it. We could say we saved x amount of paper or did not use x amount of electricity but they all have different measurements. One method out there is to convert all the savings into carbon numbers and then they can be added or subtracted with ease.
There are many different calculators on the web that are appropriate for the household level. All you do is input your electric, gas, waste, commuting numbers and at the end a carbon footprint number is calculated. It is rather interesting to see where you have the biggest impact and what options you might explore if you want to reduce it. For the business it gets a bit more complicated with different locations but it has been a good exercise to see what our impact is. For many years we have been working on reducing our footprint and now we can see exactly what that effort has been. We need to keep on making reductions for even with the improvements we have made our total Carbon Footprint can still be lowered.
Dean
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29th April, 2008: Celebrate the 2nd Annual First Flush Celebration, Charleston Tea Plantation
Bigelow Teas Charleston Tea Plantation welcomes guests to celebrate the arrival of the spring season with their Annual First Flush event, a day dedicated to the entrance of the 2008 crop harvest. Taking place on May 17, 2008 on Wadmalaw Island, the 2nd annual First Flush Festival will offer a full day of excitement and revelry.
Throughout the day, the Tea Trolley will take visitors on a special route and provide an informative and enlightening First Flush Tour. Attendees can also observe the process of making tea in the on-site factory.
In addition to the plantation tours, food, live music and games, attendees will have the opportunity to purchase their very own supply of Charleston Tea Plantations 2008 First Flush Loose Tea. At an extremely limited availability, the First Flush Tea produced only with tea leaves from the very first spring growth on the tea plants has a unique taste of its own.
Tickets for the festival will be sold prior to the event at the Gift Shoppe for $8.00. On the day of the event, tickets will be $10.00 at the gate. For more details regarding the First Flush Festival, please call 1-843-559-0383 or visit www.bigelowtea.com.
Posted by Liesl at 6:00 am | Comments (2)
25th March, 2008: Long Term Relationships Make Great Tea!
As a company we have very little turnover of employees, recently we looked and over 70% of our employees have 7 plus years with the company. Just last week we celebrated a person’s 30th anniversary with Bigelow Tea. In June we do have a plant manager who is retiring and so we are going through the process of interviewing for their replacement. Hiring is critical at all times and this position is even more so because of the impact they will have on the plant employees and culture.
To try and make the best possible selection the VP of Human Resources, the current Plant Manager and the VP of Manufacturing will go ahead and conduct the first round of interviews. Narrowing down the field we will bring the candidates back and have the plant management and a cross section from the hourly employees do a second round of interviews. After that the final group will go to corporate for another round of interviews with people from a variety of departments. Now this process is by no means perfect but hopefully by the end of that process we know the candidate inside and out and the candidate knows the company and our culture.
In the end hiring is always a gamble but we take the hiring process very seriously because for us it is a long term relationship!
Dean
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12th March, 2008: Spice it Up… Bigelow Tea’s “Add Flavor to Your Life” Campaign Targets Hispanic Market
Bigelow Tea has launched a national Hispanic marketing campaign. The company is excited about ‘Dale Sabor a Tu Vida’ or ‘Add Flavor to Your Life’ as a way to reach out to Bigelow Tea’s Hispanic consumer base. “Hispanics are a very important part of our consumer base and the research clearly shows that, as consumers, they remain loyal to brands based on taste and quality, both areas where Bigelow Tea differentiates itself,” said Cindi Bigelow, President, Bigelow Tea. “The theme ‘Dale Sabor a Tu Vida’ echoes this sentiment as well as reflects a passion and zest for adding flavor to life that is culturally-relevant.”
With Miami, Los Angeles, Houston and New York City being the first cities targeted for broadening the market of Bigelow tea drinkers within the Hispanic community, future marketing efforts in this regard will also include Spanish language website, print, advertising, direct mail, public relations that will extend to promotional events and samplings. The campaign was created by Bauza and Associates.
Bigelow is proud to celebrate its Hispanic consumer base! For more updates go to www.bigelowtea.com/tebigelow.
Posted by Julie at 6:00 am | Comment (0)
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)
5th February, 2008: Solar Panels Generate Excitement
Our solar array has now been up and running for three months and has been producing power each and every day. Now some days have been a bit brighter and sunnier than others but if you go to this link you can see how we are doing each day or for the week/month/year.
The solar project has been a great success not only in the power produced but in the interest it has generated. From showing the array to other companies who are interested in solar to just recently being contacted by a 13 year old that is doing a paper on solar for a school project, the amount of interest is amazing. When our project was brought on line we were the 2nd largest solar array in the state of CT and that gave us some bragging rights. Today I am very happy to say we have dropped to probably the 4th or 5th largest in the state. That means more and more companies have taken steps into green power and overall that is the best thing for everyone.
Dean
Posted by Dean at 6:00 am | Comment (1)
4th December, 2007: Bigelow Tea’s 2007 Gift Selection Makes Holiday Shopping Easy
Gift giving is a breeze this season with an online catalog that has Bigelow tea gifts, tea chests, gift baskets and more!
Fairfield, CT, December 4, 2007 - - Bigelow Tea, a family owned business steeped in over 60 years of tea traditions, is proud to offer its 2007 Holiday Collection found at www.bigelowtea.com. The catalog features more than 30 pages full of tea products and gift ideas sure to warm friends and family over this holiday season.
Distinctive gifts like the Zen Glass Teapot and Trivet will be sure to please with its elegant hand blown glass design along with the more traditional Classic Tea Chest which is beautifully crafted with an elegant cherry finish and contains eight different varieties of Bigelow tea. The Green Tea Together basket, which includes Bigelow exclusive mugs, Meyer Lemon Cookies and eight different kinds of green tea is sure to make a green tea lover out of anyone while the festive Poinsettia Tea for Two tea pot with tea cups on a matching ceramic tray is perfect for the person who has everything. There are many options available through the catalog in a variety of price ranges and all can be easily ordered online.
“We are constantly looking for unique and wonderful tea gifts to offer in our catalog so our consumers can share their love of tea,” says Cindi Bigelow, President of Bigelow Tea. “We wanted to make holiday shopping more convenient, while at the same time, enjoyable and even entertaining. This is our way of saying thank you and happy holidays!”
About Bigelow Tea Company
Bigelow Tea was founded by Ruth Campbell Bigelow over 60 years ago in 1945. The company continues to be 100% family owned and managed by the Bigelow family with a special blend of pride and enthusiasm. Today the company is one of the nation’s leading producers of specialty teas, which includes more than 80 varieties of flavored, traditional, green, organic green, herbal, decaffeinated, and iced teas. One of Bigelow Tea’s best-known products is America’s number one specialty tea flavor – “Constant Comment® – flavored with a delicious blend of oranges and spice. It is available in black tea, green tea and decaffeinated versions.
Bigelow Tea products are available nationwide and every variety can be found on the company website (www.bigelowtea.com). Tea lovers will also enjoy the company’s blog (www.bigelowteablog.com).
Elizabeth April-Fritz
Bigelow Tea
203-334-1212
eafritz@rcbigelow.com
Valorie Luther
Creative Concepts
203.259.4202
vluther@creative-conceptsllc.com
Posted by Valorie at 8:22 pm | Comment (0)
2nd November, 2007: Tea Benefits Touted by USA Today
An October 8th USA Today article explores research linking tea and health. Tea has been associated with health benefits for thousands of years and yet, scientists have only begun to recognize and investigate these benefits over the past thirty years. In a recent study, reported in the July issue of the journal Life Sciences, green tea and black tea when substituted for drinking water, inhibited the growth of human prostate cancer cells implanted in mice. In addition, topical application and ingestion of green tea polyphenols, compounds with the antioxidant activity, protected against skin cancer in mice.
One of the most fascinating things about tea, according to co-author of the study, Hasan Mukhtar, vice chair of dermatology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is that “there is no other product known that has such diversified effects.” Green tea seems to have more health prestige than black tea, perhaps because it has been the focus of more research. Although not as well studied as green tea, black tea may be, in fact, as beneficial, says Mukhtar, who drinks two cups of black tea and two cups of green tea a day.
Furthermore, human clinical trials, conducted by Iman Hakim, a professor the Arizona Cancer Center at the University of Arizona, found that compounds in green tea had a positive affect on genes involved in cancer susceptibility and DNA repair. In addition, an ongoing clinical trial of current and former smokers with chronic pulmonary disease, demonstrated that those who were given green tea instead of a placebo drink experienced a significant improvement in HDL (good cholesterol) levels.
The article also examines work done by John Foxe, professor of neuroscience, biology and psychology at City College of the City University of New York. Foxe is investigating theanine, which unlike the polyphenols found in tea, can cross the blood/brain barrier. According to Foxe, people who drank a solution with theanine equivalent to 10 cups of tea were able to focus better than those who drank the placebo solution.
Now that’s some three bodies of research worth talking about…
Posted by Julie at 6:00 am | Comment (0)
4th September, 2007: No more Filing Cabinets!
Who doesn’t like that 5 or 6 drawer file cabinet? I like the wooden two drawers but the metal tall ones store the most paper. It really does not matter which type you use or like for both are able to store a ton of information.
One of the problems we have here is it seems like file cabinets multiply like rabbits. You never really get rid of the old information and you always have more information and paper to store so that means more file cabinets taking up more space and more places to look for that information you need.
We evaluated the space they took up, the time it took to find the information you wanted, and tried to improve on this situation. The solution we are utilizing is scanning the documents into an electronic repository that can be accessed by anyone at Bigelow Tea at any of our locations. We worked with the consulting group SOURCECORP to implement Digitech Systems ImageSilo for our needs but there are others out there that can provide similar solutions.
The electronic copies have eliminated making paper copies to share with colleagues, reduced file cabinet space and have improved our ability to find information in a timely fashion. Now file cabinets are still nice to have around for plant stands, picture hanging, and to fill in that empty spot in the corner but for storing documents we have found a better way.
Dean
Posted by Dean at 6:00 am | Comments (2)
