Denise Atkinson is selling her unique tea product online.
Thunder Bay – Dennis Atkinson has literally never traveled the whole world, sometimes it seems.
The marketing power of the Internet has allowed the Thunder Bay entrepreneur to expand the reach of his growing artisanal tea business in Northwestern Ontario and beyond the confines of the storefront.
Ironically, when Atkinson started Tea Horse about five years ago, it was inside a traditional store in the trendy Bay Street neighborhood of Thunder Bay.
But operating a “bricks and mortar” outlet proved time-consuming and costly to boot.
“It’s really hard to make a living in the retail sector,” Atkinson recalled Tuesday.
She says the decision to sell her tea products through e-commerce venues and commercial distributors paid off, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic re-directed many consumers to retail websites instead of shopping malls.
“You can do a lot with good photography and (product) details,” she said. “I will never have a storefront again.”
Having a unique product also helps, especially in an industry that seems a little overcrowded by the big commercial brands.
Customers “know who we are,” said Atkinson, who operates her business out of her home with her partner, Mark Boehmeier.
“It’s a big market, but it’s a small world when it comes to premium teas.”
Tea Horse’s whole-leaf tea takes wild rice roasted in northern Ontario or northern Manitoba, and combines it with traditional Japanese green tea. The result is “a nutty, earthy flavor” that Atkinson describes as a “fusion of two cultures.”
“Our products are very different – that’s how we stand out,” she said.
Unlike traditional tea, which is compressed into small bags, the whole version of the leaf is left loose.
Tea Horse products are assembled and packaged in a home that has been remodeled to keep the business separate from home life.
Atkinson, who is indigenous, credits the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, as well as Thunder Bay’s Paro Center for Women’s Enterprise, for providing advice and “opening the doors”.
More information about Tea Horse and its different types of tea can be found online at teahorse.ca.
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