6th December, 2007: Bigelow Tea Recognized for Environmental Leadership
The Connecticut Post reported this week that Bigelow Tea will be among this year’s honorees at the Bridgeport Regional Council (BRBC) annual dinner which takes place tonight. The council is recognizing one state agency and five area businesses for their environmental leadership. Bigelow Tea was chosen because of exemplary efforts made to reduce energy costs by installing solar panels in their facility. Bigelow Tea was creative and financed part of the cost with a grant. In addition to R. C. Bigelow Inc, the other “green” regional businesses being acknowledged are Aquarion, St. Vincent’s Medical Center, Santa Energy of Bridgeport and Urban Green Builders.
These companies are an example to all businesses…while being “green” means saving the environment…it can also mean saving the other green — $$$ — in the process!
Posted by Julie at 6:00 am | Comment (0)
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)
29th October, 2007: Bigelow Tea Raises $60,000 for Men, Women and Children in Need!
Bigelow Tea is proud to announce that it has just hosted its 20th Annual Community Challenge fundraiser with the help of a host of enthusiastic volunteers, sponsors and participants. The event raised a record $60,000, the entirety of which will be distributed to thirteen local area charities. More than 1,000 strong took the “challenge” and participated in Kids’ Fun Run, 2-mile walk and 5K race.
Posted by Liesl at 6:00 am | Comment (0)
4th October, 2007: 20th Annual Bigelow Tea Community Challenge
Well the 20th annual Bigelow Tea Community Challenge just finished up this past Sunday and WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY! Our largest turnout by far! Over 1000 people were in the three events (Kid’s Fun Run, 2 mile walk and a 5K)-not to mention the 200 plus that came with our participants. The weather was picture perfect-breezy 75 degrees. The day was everything I could have hoped for! I think one of the best parts was just sitting back during the affair and seeing the families roaming around, smiling and just enjoying their experience. By far my most favorite aspect of the Community Challenge was seeing the team that planned this event (that I have worked with during the year) get “their moment in the sun.” This group of people just shined! The race committee had absolute and complete ownership of this event. They spent hours and hours, months and months preparing….then the day came. They were like hardcore soldiers running the different areas- preregistration, registration day of the race, walkers area, kids sign up, food, water stations, etc. etc….and they ran these areas with great aplomb. Yes, that was my favorite part of the race, seeing these marvelous people make this event as truly special as it was and always will be….I can proudly say it is one of the best run community events in Fairfield County, raising over $55,000 for local charities. And it is such a huge success because of the sole dedication of the Bigelow Race Committee….ah yes, it was a beautiful day!
Cindi Bigelow, President
Posted by Cindi at 6:00 am | Comment (0)
27th September, 2007: It’s Connecticut’s World Cup…or rather…The Tea Cup…Bigelow Tea Community Challenge
Super Bowl = Football
World Series = Baseball
World Cup = Soccer and Rugby
Tea Cup = Bigelow Tea Community Challenge
The Bigelow Tea Community Challenge is a running event sponsored each year by the makers of Constant Comment® and other fine teas.
Join us this weekend, Sunday, September 30th for a 5k Road Race plus a 2 mile Fitness walk plus a Kids’ Fund Run.
With the help of 40 financial and dozens more “in kind” sponsors, last year’s event raised $50K. The funds were distributed to thirteen Bridgeport and Fairfield based charitable organizations whose programs feed, clothe and shelter people of need in our community.
Let’s mark the 20th year of this event by record breaking participation!!!
Registration opens at 8 a.m. at Wakeman Boy’s and Girl’s Club, 385 Center street, Southport, CT.
See you at the finish line for fun and more…
Posted by Julie at 12:01 pm | 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 (7)
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)
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)
27th August, 2007: Bigelow Iced Tea Contest Winners
And the winner is…1st Prize in the Bigelow Iced Tea Recipe Contest goes to Tyna of Lincoln, CA for her ingenious blend of Bigelow Constant Comment and Plantation Mint teas. Tyna will receive an Olympia Iced Beverage Pitcher and 8 goblets. 2nd prize goes to Stephanie of Elmira Heights, NY. Stephanie created an iced tea with a delicious combination of Bigelow Sweet Dreams, I Love Lemon & C and Berri-Good Herbal teas. Stephanie will receive a Wooden Chest with Flavored and Herbal teas. And 3rd prize goes to Dorinda of Covington, GA. Dorinda’s prize winning iced tea recipe pairs Bigelow Perfect Peach Herbal Tea with Spiced Chai Tea. These contestants got it right! Thank you to everyone who sent us their special recipes, we had fun testing them out!!
Posted by Julie at 6:00 am | Comment (0)
