Tea product wholesalers should be well-versed not only in the wide selection of tea varieties on the market, but also in the supplies available for packaging, producing and serving tea. Some tea distributors focus strictly on providing a variety of teas to their customers. Others choose to expand their businesses by offering accessories and production and consumption supplies.

Supplies for tea distributors and wholesalers include everything from merchandising items like special tea product packaging, store displays and custom shippers to production items like teapots, brewers and dispensers. Serving items like cups, straws and lids are also good to stock to provide to your customers as well.

1. Find quality wholesale teas and merchandising supplies to offer, while familiarizing yourself with all the loose tea, bagged tea and tea flowers that are available.

2. Add production supplies to the inventory you offer clients to help sales and ensure proper use of your tea distribution company's products.

3. Provide the items your clients need when serving the tea they buy from your tea wholesale company.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Offer quality wholesale teas and appropriate merchandising supplies to your clients

Before deciding which wholesale teas to carry, you need to decide whether you want to carry loose tea, bagged tea, specialty teas like organic blends or tea flowers for tearooms, sushi, Asian cuisine or other cafes, or even specialty food stores. You may also choose to carry mass-consumable tea like that sold by restaurants or convenience stores in industrial tea brewers. If selling your products to grocery or specialty food or kitchen shops, you'll also want to consider merchandising supplies or display racks for your products.

I recommend: Adagio Teas Wholesale sells loose, bagged and other teas to tea wholesalers in a wide variety including black, herbal, green, flavored and oolong teas. Island Teashop provides a wide assortment of teas at bulk or wholesale pricing. Look to Primula Products for wholesaling opportunities of tea flowers and the tea supplies needed to make this specialty tea. Wireline.net offers standard display units as well as customized displays based on your specifications and imagination.

Provide your clients with the proper production tools they need to make the wholesale teas you sell

For your customers to properly make the teas they buy from you, you as the tea distributor can offer them the right production tools for brewing or steeping tea. You can either sell them these supplies or include them as an incentive for a certain sized order.

I recommend: RestaurantEquipment.com sells 3 and 5-gallon commercial tea brewers. Short Order carries the Bunn-O-Matic iced tea brewer and recommends dispensers and filters you can buy from them for this equipment. Buy stainless steel iced tea brewers and dispensers as well as drop-in water softening and filtering cartridges from Coffee Wholesale USA. Fante's Kitchen Wares Shop sells specialty items for hot tea like infusers, filters, tea balls and strainers, good options for loose tea distributors to carry.

Offer the appropriate serving supplies to your tea distribution company's customers

Whether your customers serve mainly hot tea, iced tea or only cold beverages to go, they'll need the proper serving teacups, glasses or disposable cups for the type of tea they serve.

I recommend: Buy glassware, plastic tumblers, drink station dispensers and cup management holders for the dispensing of disposable cups from National Hospitality Supply. QwikStock.com carries a wide range of hot and cold cups, stirrers, straws, beverage carriers and even "green" options of all these items. For whimsical to elegant tea service options, order teapots, tea sets, Asian teaware and tea kettles from The Stash Tea Company.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Tea wholesale distributors should be well-versed in all the tea varieties they carry as well as the proper ways to prepare and serve it. Being knowledgeable in 'all things tea' adds depth to the customer service you provide.

Wholesale tea distributors can help you set your coffeehouse apart from your competitors by supplying you with more than the traditional tea products. Many coffeehouses, including major national brands, only offer basic tea bags to their customers. It's not surprising that business owners fail to recognize that tea options can easily outnumber coffee choices on their menus.

Tea wholesalers offer many options you'll want to consider because tea is growing in popularity. The wide variety of tea options available from wholesale tea distributors include:

1. White tea, green tea, Rooibos tea, oolong, and herbal wholesale teas.
2. Loose leaf teas.
3. Flowering teas that are like a work of art.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Consider the type of tea you want to offer before contacting tea distributors and tea wholesalers

Be realistic about what you can offer your customers. Tea bags are undoubtedly the easiest option for your employees to prepare, and they're the most familiar type of tea, but loose leaf teas taste fresher and flowering teas offer an aesthetic experience to customers. Clearly identify exactly how many varieties of each type of tea you want to offer customers.

I recommend: If you like the convenience of tea bags but still want to offer a unique experience, consider tea sachets from Harney & Sons. Numi Organic Tea offers a foodservice program that includes more than 20 flowering teas that are sure to be a hit with customers. The only drawback is that you need glass tea pots for serving flowering teas.

Find online tea distributors, tea wholesalers and loose tea distributors

Buying tea and tea accessories from online tea distributors and tea wholesalers is beneficial because local options are usually pretty limited.

I recommend: The Metropolitan Tea Company Ltd. sells wholesale teas and accessories. They don't sell directly to consumers, so your customers will be getting a product that they can't get anywhere else. Teavana is a great company to try if you're looking for incredibly unique tea varieties, but you don't need bulk quantities. While Teavana is not a tea distribution company or tea wholesale company, they sell such a diverse variety of teas that are too unique to pass up.

After buying from tea wholesale distributors, don't neglect proper tea storage

Pay attention to proper tea storage because it'll affect how the final cup of tea tastes, and this is very important to your customers. Usually the loose tea distributors and wholesale tea distributors you buy from will provide you with recommendations.

I recommend: Familiarize yourself with tips on how to properly store tea and guidelines for the recommended shelf life. If you store tea properly, it'll keep much longer and taste better when brewed. Also pay particular attention to any instructions your tea distributor provides.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  The great thing about loose leaf tea from loose tea distributors is that you can combine two different varieties for a unique blend, which increases your menu choices without requiring additional product space.
• •  Keep in mind that tea, just like coffee, tastes better when prepared with filtered or spring water. Check with your tea distributor for additional preparation recommendations.
• •  Store each tea variety separately to prevent one flavor from contaminating another.

The world of tea distributors and wholesalers is quickly changing with a wider-than-ever array of tea-based products now being offered. The public's increasing demand for tea, thanks in part to its purported health benefits, is resulting in the steady development of everything from new blends for loose tea distributors to ready-to-drink flavored tea products. This increase in product development puts a greater demand on tea product wholesalers to educate themselves on these trends so they can provide the best service possible to the stores, restaurants and tearooms they service.

Information about tea distributors and wholesalers news and trends is available from a variety of general or specialized formats. To keep up with the latest industry news, a tea distributor should:

1. Read general news from online sources about wholesale teas and trade journals about the tea industry.

2. Learn about trends in both resurgent old traditions of Victorian-style tea rooms and Chinese and Japanese green and herbal teas and how these impact wholesale tea distributors' product lines.

3. Subscribe to specialized news sites that provide current information about the food and beverage industry that is pertinent to tea wholesalers.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Check news sources and trade journals for the latest in information affecting tea wholesalers

Online news sources and trade journals dedicated to the wholesale teas industry offer news about every aspect of tea distribution. Find reports on everything from the latest blends and tea making accessories loose tea wholesalers need to know about to information on the most modern read-to-drink tea brands.

I recommend: World Tea News is a weekly online newsletter updating anyone in the industry - independent retailers, wholesalers and even growers - on the most current news about this growing market. Wholesale tea distributors can subscribe to Tea & Coffee Trade Journal to read news, features and specialty items about the tea industry. TeaTrends is a page provided by tea distribution company Adagio Teas where tea wholesalers can access the latest in tea flavors, labels, and research and development. Wholesalers can also stay current with tearooms throughout the country by accessing the TeaMap page.

Find specialty information about resurgent old traditions like tearooms and Asian tea products

Victorian-style tearooms are enjoying a resurgence as people long for 'the good old days' and with it, the availability of a wide variety of nostalgic products, new loose leaf and bagged tea blends and publications dedicated to this business sector. Also enjoying renewed media and consumer interest is green tea, consumed by Asian cultures for centuries but now a staple in grocery and speciality stores and even some restaurants because of its reported health benefits.

I recommend: The Tea House Times is published online as well as being distributed six times a year via mail by The Tea Bureau to provide the latest news, business and service directory, tea trade links and access to a tea industry speakers bureau. The Bureau also provides access to information about the World Tea Expo. Green-Tea-Health-News.com offers articles discussing green tea news, blog entries, RSS feeds and health reports.

Subscribe to news feeds specializing in beverage and food industry news to inform the tea wholesaler

While specialized publications cater to very specific sectors within the tea wholesale industry, new services covering all aspects of the beverage and food industry also provide access to news items pertinent to tea wholesale distributors.

I recommend: Beverage Industry Today is a news service from EIN News that provides the latest news about coffee and tea distribution and trends. Register for a trial membership. FLEXNEWS provides business news for the food industry in general and for the tea industry specifically.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Some news providers offer free access while others charge a membership fee or a download fee per article or report. Tea wholesalers should look for trial memberships so they can guarantee the information fits their specific needs before investing in a paid membership.

For smart business people, an understanding of tea distributors and wholesalers key terms is increasingly important. In 2008, the tea trade generated $7 billion, and it's expected to reach $10 billion by 2010. Tea is big business. As you explore the world of buying and selling tea, you'll find the business has its own special lingo. Some terms refer to where the tea is grown, others to the quality (or grade) of the tea and still others to the way the tea is processed. Here are a few of the most common terms you're likely to come across.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

World Tea Expo

The World Tea Expo is a yearly trade event for the tea industry. The expo focuses on premium and specialty teas, which are at the heart of the growing tea trade. The expo also offers opportunities to examine products, learn about services and gain education.

I recommend: The website of the World Tea Expo offers complete information about the expo, including instruction on how to participate.

Pekoe

Pekoe refers to a high-grade black tea from a pekoe plant. The young leaves around the buds are used for pekoe tea.

I recommend: WiseGEEK offers an interesting article about the origin of the term pekoe, how pekoe is graded and the difference between pekoe and orange pekoe teas.

Fannings

Fannings (also called tea dust) refer to small, broken-down tea leaves. Fannings are the lowest grade of tea and are really suitable only for tea bags.

I recommend: Learn-About-Tea.com discusses the history of the tea bag, what fannings are and why they are most suitable for tea bags.

Orthodox

Orthodox tea refers to the method by which tea was processed up until recent times: by hand. Some exceptional orthodox teas can still be purchased.

I recommend: OrthodoxTea.info explains in detail how hand-processed tea differs from machine-processed tea. The site also offers a few links to articles about the superiority of orthodox tea.

Darjeeling

Darjeeling is a region of India, located in the Himalayan foothills. Darjeeling is world famous for its high-quality tea, which is often believed to be the most expensive in the world.

I recommend: Thunderbolt Tea provides many interesting articles about the history and modern use of Darjeeling tea; read its FAQ article as a primer.

Ceylon

Ceylon is better known as Sri Lanka, an island near India. Once famous for its coffee, Ceylon is now well-known for its tea.

I recommend: The Tea Man discusses the nature of Ceylon tea and its various grades.