Henrietta Lovell on The Rare Tea Company

A runner-up in this year's Website of the Year Award 2011, The Rare Tea Company was praised by the judges as being an 'easy to navigate,' 'passionate' and 'expert' site. The business was launched back in 2004 by Henrietta Lovell, who injected her unique personality into the site and is now widely known as 'The Tea Lady.' Fans of her loose tea, which she imports from independent tea gardens across the world, include Angelica Huston, Mark Hix, Heston Blumenthal and countless others who sing its praises whenever possible. We caught up with Henrietta to find out more about the business.



Explain your website

We sell the best tea in Britain - I can say that because I source it all, personally, from independent gardens all over the world.

What's your background?

I can hardly remember a time before I was the Tea-lady. I don't know where she stops and I begin. Tea is in my blood: my ancestor, Robert Fortune, was the botanist who stole the tea-bush from China in the late 1800's and began cultivation of "English tea" in India.

Where did the idea come from and how difficult was it to get off the ground?

Back in 2004 there wasn't the gaggle of online tea companies there are today. There was nothing. I wanted to bring the good stuff back to Britain- to make rare and wonderful teas available to everyone. It was easy to start the business. What was hard was during the early years when everyone looked at me with horror when I said I didn't sell tea-bags.

Who are your biggest competitors?

Oh just some fellows called Unilever and Tata Inc. There are no little men in white coats and flat caps in Yorkshire making tea - its huge industrial agri-businesses. They make your tea-bags.

What are your greatest challenges?

People have become so used to low-grade, industrial tea-bags that they think that is all there is to tea, but there is so much more. Traditional English Breakfast style black tea - what most people call "normal" can be utterly amazing, not just ordinary. Try our RAF tea alongside a cup made from a tea-bag, any tea-bag; once you try the good stuff, there is no turning back. The challenge is to get people to try it once
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Who is your business mentor and inspiration?

Jo Fairley and Craig Sams who started Green and Blacks inspired me to work directly with my farmers. There is so much more to fair trading than a logo on a label.

What was the inspiration for the site?

I wanted it to be restful and interesting not shouty and demanding.

What keeps you going each day?

Coffee. (The other tea-ladies at Rare Tea HQ think that people might not understand this is a joke. The real answer is rather obvious: gin.)

How many visits do you have per day?

Thousands. Not just to buy tea but to watch our films.

What is your motto?

De-bagging Britain

Where do you see the business going from here?

We'd like to democratise the good stuff. It would be wonderful if everyone drank one cup of proper tea a day. It would make a massive impact on the lives of tea-farmers and it tastes SO MUCH better. This little film explains a bit about what I mean.

Visit The Rare Tea Company

24th November 2011