Introduction

If you are running an online retailer of organic loose-leaf tea and thinking about packaging, you are at the right place.

Your mission is to find the world's most fantastic organic loose-leaf teas and deliver them to your customers as sustainably as possible. When you start your business, the greatest obstacle would be sustainable tea packaging solutions as you will be at the startup position of your business. 

Sustainability-conscious tea company

In the year 2004, a small tea company was launched and there just weren't many packaging options on the market with low enough order minimums. In fact, Their first packaging choice was the ubiquitous steel tin that's used throughout the tea industry.

Unfortunately, as life cycle analyses were taken, it was evident that the steel tins were one of the most environmentally-intensive packaging options to manufacture.

A strategy for recyclable packaging

So the company upgraded its packaging to recyclable paperboard canisters and Kraft paper bags. This was definitely a move in the right direction but still missing the mark in terms of both sustainability and performance.

Of course, eliminating packaging entirely would be the most sustainable option. But like many other specialty products, tea needs some kind of protective enclosure to get it freshly to consumers all across the country.

How do they package their teas? 

They package their teas in a way that

• protects the product
• utilizes the minimum quantity of material feasible, and
• leaves behind the least amount of waste when its useful life is over.

This is why you need a perfect custom box manufacturer

In 2010, the company discovered Innovia Films in the U.K. They created a great backyard of compostable material that is used for the body of their packaging. They were fortunate to collaborate with The Custom Packaging, an American company with the expertise to convert this material for them. TCP looks forward to helping companies be successful especially when it takes them into a little different space that challenges the packaging company and there's a shared learning that can come out of it.

Adopt a good working relationship and differ from the rest

The key is to have a good working relationship where when you're doing something that's unique and different from many other companies. There will be obstacles that need to be resolved. You don't just go down the street and source the product. You have to go above and beyond to find materials that are not mainstream.

The labeling of custom tea boxes was challenging

This new compostable bag posed one main problem. How do they label it?

They had over 100 teas, offered in 3 different sizes. They were unable to obtain a compostable label with a compostable adhesive, and they could not afford to print a separate bag for each type of tea.

As a temporary solution, the company created individual paper tags held on with an elastic band. 

• The upside was that the bag remained compostable.
• The downside was that the elastic band could neither be composted nor recycled by the customer.

The labeling solution

After 4 years of searching, they finally found their packaging solution! A company called Pure Labels helped them out. When it comes to applications for compostable labels. They created what the company thought would be the most responsible adhesive label and now in the past year, they have 100% compostable adhesive.

Revealing the company

After doing this for a while, You get an idea of which clients are pursuing compostability and sustainability from a sincere and authentic perspective and which ones are pursuing it from a market-driven perspective. Arbor Teas is one of those companies that care about the broader view Of creating a product that is fully compostable. I am delighted to introduce to you the latest approach to Arbor Teas' packaging! 

Their new packaging is lightweight, yet durable enough to protect the teas as they travel from the Arbor Teas warehouse to customers' front door. Best of all, their entire new packaging system can be added to a home compost pile where it will typically return to the earth in just 3–4 months And that means no waste.

Conclusion

Sustainability is incredibly important and while the company may never be able to completely abandon packaging, it will always be committed to improving how it can deliver its products to customers who want to minimize the environmental effect.