What is needed to produce tea. Tea plant equipment. Sales of finished products and business profits
Ivan tea has been used since ancient times as an alternative to Indian tea. And today, when interest in natural products has increased on the market, the production of Ivan tea is gaining new wave revival.
The scientific name of Ivan tea is angustifolia fireweed. This is a perennial herb that has a narrow leaf, a thick rhizome and a long, up to 40 cm, inflorescence raceme. It grows up to one and a half meters in height, and can grow in one place for up to eight years. It reproduces by rhizomes and seeds, which can produce up to several thousand per flowering. By the way, its flowers are excellent honey plants, so the production of Ivan tea can complement the honey production business.
Why Ivan-tea
The plant has excellent taste, aroma and color when brewed. In addition, it goes well with other medicinal plants, such as oregano, chamomile, mint. Therefore, the production of Ivan tea is good alternative imported flavored analogues. Especially considering that the plant tolerates any experiments with it well, maintaining its healing properties. Some manufacturers have been able to produce up to 15 different varieties of finished products based on Ivan tea.
The medicinal properties of the plant have been known since ancient times. Many years ago, it was prepared in approximately the same way as now - through fermentation technology. It was believed that tea could cure almost all diseases. Today it has been proven that the plant contains very valuable vitamins and microelements and does not contain caffeine, which ordinary teas can boast of. A drink from this plant not only soothes and tones, but also relieves headaches, scars ulcers and even helps treat cancer. The advantage of tea is that it is not a medicine and you can drink it constantly.
Features of production organization
How to organize a business depends on your capabilities and investment. The plant grows freely in the wild, so it can be collected by hand and prepared with improvised means. In a day, one person with certain skill can collect about 30 kg of Ivan tea. This will not require any capital investments, but the production volumes will be negligible, and it is unlikely that you can build a serious business on them.
You can organize the purchase of raw materials, and deal with its subsequent processing yourself: drying and fermentation. The only problem is that there are no wholesale suppliers of raw materials; you will have to hire assemblers or announce purchases in nearby villages. However, in this case there is no guarantee that the leaves will be collected in accordance with the requirements of the production technology. It must be collected during flowering only in the morning, when there is no dew on the leaves. There is no way for the population to monitor the assembly during procurement, and this factor affects taste qualities tea and his medicinal properties.
Therefore, many include in their business plan the organization of a full production cycle, that is, the acquisition of land for planting, sowing and growing, self-harvesting and fermentation. This way you can be guaranteed to receive high-quality raw materials and avoid the costs of purchasing them. Although some experts consider this approach economically unjustified.
Manufacturing technology of Ivan tea
The production of Ivan tea begins with the collection of leaves. Procurement time is from late June to early August, depending on the climatic conditions of the region where the business is organized. The leaves are collected in bags and immediately put into processing, since when folded they can darken and lose the desired properties.
The production technology of Ivan tea is not much different from the production technology of any other tea leaf. If desired, you can also produce different varieties: with or without the addition of other herbs, different types of fermentation, etc.
Stages of production of Ivan tea
- Preparing the leaves. They are sorted, separating debris, washed, and dried in a shaded place.
- After preparing the raw material, the process of withering begins. To do this, place it in a dark place where the sun's rays do not reach and leave it for about a day. To reduce this time, drying units are used. After a slight loss of moisture, the sheet becomes more elastic.
- Then comes the twisting stage. During processing, the leaves yield juice. This allows the tea polyphenyls to mix with the enzymes. With little home production this is done manually. For large volumes, a meat grinder is used, which makes it possible to obtain granulated tea. But when manually processed during brewing, the tea leaf gives sourness, resulting in a more tart drink.
- Fermentation. One of the most critical stages on which the type of tea, its taste and medicinal properties depend. The rolled or ground sheet is kept in a dark and cool room on aluminum sheets or wooden pallets. During this process, oxalic acid is destroyed inside the leaf, and the contained useful material. If you use special equipment, you can set it for full or partial fermentation. If you do this manually, you need to constantly monitor the process in order to stop it in time.
- Drying. This stage takes from 20 minutes to two hours depending on the method used. The fermented leaf is dried in ovens or in special drying cabinets with a flow of hot air on lattice trays. Upon completion of this process, the resulting tea is black in color with 2-5% moisture content.
- Cooling is necessary for the raw materials to acquire a characteristic aroma and acquire a typical tea shade.
- Fractionation. This process is carried out when large volumes of production have been established. Large tea is packaged, and small tea is used to make tea bags.
Possible product range
Experts recommend producing a regular variety of tea at the initial stage. Thus, a novice entrepreneur can thoroughly master the basic production technology. You can then include product line expansion in your business plan. First of all, you can diversify it thanks to various natural additives. As already mentioned, you can use other aromatic plants, such as mint, chamomile, currant leaves, lemongrass, oregano and others. In addition, various dried berries are used as additives.
But you can expand the range not only with additives. It is possible to use various ways fermentation of raw materials, which give completely different types of tea. So, the following teas are distinguished:
- Weakly fermented, so-called green, yellow, white.
- Semi-fermented teas are blue, purple, and red teas.
- Fermented - classic black.
- Over-fermented - rare and expensive pu-erhs.
All these fermentation methods give Ivan tea its special taste and aroma properties.
Paperwork
Only after deciding on the type of production and thoroughly mastering the technology, it is recommended to include official registration of the business in the business plan. The fact is that it is desirable to enter the market with a high-quality product, so it is recommended to first acquire some production experience. At the initial stage, when you prepare tea for yourself, relatives, or acquaintances from your private farming, official registration is not needed. The law allows for the possibility of selling surplus production without paying taxes.
But as soon as you decide to take your production to another level, you need to include official registration in your business plan. At least for the fact that to sell the product you will need its certification. Without accompanying documentation, your tea will not be accepted for sale in any store. To do this, it is necessary to obtain a special permit from Rospotrebnadzor for this type of activity, as well as to certify each batch of goods. The same body approves the technical conditions of production and its recipe. Over time, you can register the product line as a dietary supplement and sell it to pharmacies and sanatoriums.
However, even before this, you must register your activities with the tax office. You can choose the organizational and legal form of an individual entrepreneur. This will help avoid unnecessary paperwork. But if you are organizing a large-scale production, it is better to register an LLC. In this case, it is also recommended to create and register your own brand by developing a unique label design with the company logo.
Staff
Whether or not you will need staff depends on what type of enterprise your business plan entails. If you organize a business like a personal subsidiary plot, then you will not need personnel - all production is serviced by your family.
If you have significant production volumes that are serviced by special equipment, you will need hired personnel. First of all, tea leaf pickers. They are paid approximately 800 rubles. per day with a collection rate of six bags. Operators will also be required to maintain the equipment. The equipment is mostly automated and easy to operate, so you don’t have to look for highly qualified workers.
Skilled labor will be needed from an engineer who will control the order of work in general and the machines in particular. It is advisable to have your own electrician and mechanic to repair production lines. If the production is small, these specialists can not be hired, but their services can be used as needed. The most responsible thing will be the search for a technologist who should develop varieties of tea and control the technology for their production. There is no official training for tea production specialists in the country, so you need to look for a person who has worked in this direction for many years.
Equipment
As already noted, if you are planning a large-scale production, the business plan should provide for the purchase of special equipment. From specialized companies it is necessary to purchase the following basic production units:
- blending drum;
- tea rollers;
- drying oven;
- Packaging equipment.
Finding this equipment is quite difficult because it is not produced in Russia. And all because tea is not produced in the country. The maximum is that raw materials are imported and packaged. Therefore, equipment will have to be purchased from foreign manufacturers.
You can optimize your spending plan and save on purchases if you buy devices not individually, but as a whole production line. Depending on the configuration, degree of automation and power, it will cost from 800 thousand rubles. up to 2 million rubles It will consist of the following settings:
- leaf cutting machine,
- curing machine,
- rollerballs,
- tea lump breaking machine,
- fermentation machine,
- automatic dryer,
- bake,
- packaging and filling machine.
In addition, if you plan to make tea bags, you will need to purchase a separate unit.
Production costs
As already noted, if you organize a small business, you can do without any investments at all. For serious production, at least 80 thousand rubles must be allocated for the purchase of equipment. In addition, another 100 thousand rubles must be included in the expenditure plan. for certification, registration, purchase of tools, packaging, labels. The larger the production, the more personnel will be needed, and the salary plan will accordingly increase.
The products are usually packaged in 100-gram packages. The cost of each depends on the method of tea fermentation and the additives used. On average, Ivan tea is sold at prices ranging from 800 to 1,300 rubles. per kilogram. This is approximately 40-60% more than its actual cost. Accordingly, business profitability remains at the level of 50-100%.
It is believed that the payback plan for a business can be set for about a year. But we must take into account that the business is seasonal - the collection of raw materials can only be carried out in June-August. Therefore, for year-round production, it is necessary to prepare a sufficient amount of raw materials and think through the technology for its production. Accordingly, you need to take care of storage facilities. This is the only way to offer a quality product to the market.
Promotion of products on the market
The market demonstrates a high demand for such a product, but in order to establish wide sales channels for tea, you need to work hard on your marketing policy. You should start with small shops and private shops. And only when the product wins over its consumers can it move to large retail chains. Over time, it’s worth opening your own store.
Potential distribution channels are pharmacies, vitamin shops, motels, restaurants and other catering establishments. But these areas can only be developed when all the documentation for the products has been completed. Another reliable sales channel is the Internet. You can sell tea through bulletin boards or your own online store, if the product range allows. Also keep an eye out for all sorts of thematic fairs and festivals where you can organize tastings and retail sales of Ivan tea.
In this material:
The increased consumer interest in natural products makes the fireweed tea business very profitable. The beneficial properties of this herb have been known since ancient times. Our ancestors long ago learned to harvest this plant and use it in tea drinking and treating diseases. Unlike regular tea, this drink does not contain caffeine. You can enjoy this tea indefinitely. It perfectly calms, eliminates fatigue, irritability, headaches and simply has a pleasant aroma and aftertaste. Some experts have even noted the positive dynamics of treating cancer with a decoction of this plant.
The inflorescences and leaves have an interesting aftertaste and a breathtaking aroma. Ivan tea is successfully combined with such popular medicinal herbs as chamomile, mint and oregano. The production of tea from this perennial can be a good competitor to imported producers of aromatic drinks. This herb retains the maximum amount beneficial properties when drying and brewing. Experts have developed more than 15 different types of products based on fireweed tea.
How to distinguish fireweed from other plants? This type perennial grass has narrow leaves, long roots and beautiful inflorescences. Fireweed grows up to 1 m in height and is propagated by seeds and root shoots. This allows you to create over 1 thousand new plants in one season. It is important to note that the flower is honey-bearing, so a business based on the production of tea from this plant can be supplemented with a related business - an apiary.
How to organize a successful business?
The success of a business depends entirely on physical capabilities. The grass grows only in the wild and can be collected by hand all day long. As a rule, in 8 hours of a working day, with skills developed over time, a person can gain about 25 kg of grass. With this approach to organizing a business, you don’t need any money at all, but the volumes will be so small that you can hardly talk about serious profits.
It is better to organize the purchase of ready-made raw materials, doing only its drying and fermentation. The problem is that there are no wholesale suppliers of fireweed tea. It will be necessary to hire people to collect grass or announce the purchase of raw materials in villages. This also has its pitfalls. In order for the herb to retain all its beneficial properties, it must be collected at a certain period. Do this in the morning, when there is no dew on the grass. It is almost impossible to ensure that the collected material is of appropriate quality.
To be sure that the herb has the proper taste and healing qualities, many entrepreneurs control the entire production cycle themselves. To do this, they acquire a certain plot of land where they independently grow, collect and process the plant. This is the only way to guarantee high-quality material, while avoiding the costs of purchasing and paying assemblers.
The process of producing tea from the inflorescences and leaves of a perennial is practically no different from the technological process of producing any other tea.
From collection to sales
The technological process will be as follows:
- Collection and preparation of leaves. It needs to be carefully sorted, debris separated, washed, and dried in the shade.
- Withering of the leaf. The collection is laid out in a dark place where there is no sunlight and left for 24 hours. If finances allow, you can purchase special drying machines that will significantly speed up the process. After the process is completed, the sheet acquires special elasticity.
- Twisting stage. After this treatment, the leaves produce juice, which allows the enzymes and tea polyphenols to mix together. If the production is small, this process is carried out manually. For mass production, a special meat grinder is used. It is worth noting that manual processing gives the tea a special sourness and astringency.
- Fermentation of the collection. This stage is very important; the taste and healing properties of tea depend on it. The rolled and ground sheet is sent to a dark place to dry. It is better to lay out raw materials on wooden pallets or pre-prepared aluminum sheets. At this time, oxalic acid in the leaf is destroyed and beneficial substances are activated. Using special equipment, you can set up the process of complete or partial fermentation. If the process is carried out manually, you need to carefully monitor it in order to stop fermentation in a timely manner.
- Drying stage. The duration of this event ranges from 20 minutes to 3 hours. The prepared raw materials are dried in special cabinets on grid trays with a flow of hot air. Upon completion of drying, only high-quality raw materials with a characteristic aroma and color remain.
- Fractionation stage. This event is held mainly at large enterprises with large production volumes. Small tea is packaged in bags, and large leaf tea is packaged by weight.
How to register a business?
To start tea production, you must register as an individual entrepreneur or open a limited liability company. The choice of registration form depends on the size of the business. After all the documents have been completed at the tax office and the necessary permits have been obtained from the relevant government agencies, it is necessary to agree on the recipe and technical conditions of production. Only after this will you be given permits.
Next is resolving issues with hiring staff, purchasing specialized equipment, and renting utility rooms. The number of people involved in manual collection of grass is also determined by the scale of production. If initially technological process organize it correctly, find a wholesale buyer, then there will be no problems with the business.
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Our grandparents drank Ivan tea instead of the traditional and familiar Indian or Chinese tea today.
Fireweed (angustifolia fireweed) is a herb up to half a meter high that reproduces by seeds or rhizomes. It is a perennial plant; its characteristics are a narrow leaf, a thick rhizome, and an inflorescence raceme of 30-40 cm.
This is what Ivan tea (fireweed) looks like in free growth.When brewed, the herb gives a rich honey color and strong aroma. It goes well with chamomile, mint, oregano and has medicinal properties, in particular:
- normalizes metabolic processes in the body, heart rate, blood pressure and the functioning of the central nervous system;
- reduces cholesterol levels;
- improves peristalsis;
- reduces the risk of developing cancer;
- strengthens the immune system.
This drink does not contain caffeine, it contains vitamins and microelements.
If you want to make money making this delicious and useful product, first try to make several varieties for yourself and your friends. This way you will gain first experience and become familiar with the products, which will later help you sell your product and talk about it knowledgeably.
Collection and production technology of Ivan tea
Fireweed grows freely throughout almost the entire territory of Russia. The plant is often found in clearings, forest glades, near reservoirs, roads, wastelands. It is collected during the period of active flowering: in the southern regions it is June-July, in the north of the country it is the end of July - the beginning of September.
The collection technology requires harvesting fireweed leaves in the morning; there should be no dew on the flowers and leaves - this affects the taste and aroma of Ivan tea. Fireweed is collected in bags.
The plant is collected by hand. On average, one person can prepare up to 20-30 kg per working day.
Since self-collection will not allow you to produce the finished product in large quantities, you will need the help of other people who want to earn extra money in the summer. These could be students, schoolchildren, residents of villages and villages.
Advertisements for the purchase of raw materials can be placed in villages by posting information leaflets or advertisements in newspapers or on the Internet, in social networks.
A large volume of raw materials will allow you to deal exclusively with drying and fermentation.
If you plan to launch a full production cycle, then you need land, planting and harvesting. In this case, you can track each stage of production and product quality.
To do this, a plot of land can be rented from a municipality or rural settlement. The rental cost in this case will be minimal.
The technology for making Ivan tea does not allow it to be stored in bags for a long time, otherwise the raw material will begin to deteriorate and lose all its beneficial properties.
You can produce different varieties of the drink, adding other herbs to the traditional bouquet - oregano, cherry flowers, mint, etc.
Production stages
- Preparing the leaves.
After collection, the leaves are sorted out by hand to remove debris, washed and placed to dry in a dark place for a day. Drying units are used on a large scale - they reduce time.
Blooming Sally.
- Rolling sheets. Can be done manually or using a regular meat grinder, which allows you to produce granulated tea.
- Fermentation. At this stage, the rolled or ground sheet is scattered on wooden (aluminum) pallets and placed in a dark and cool place. In an automated process, this work is performed by a machine. The taste and medicinal properties of the drink depend on this stage.
- Drying. Fermented fireweed leaves are dried in ovens or drying cabinets on wire trays for 20 to 120 minutes, which gives the tea its aroma and color.
- Tracking.
- Fractionation, grinding and packaging.
Assortment of tea products as a way to increase income
Have you noticed that all brands that produce one or another product always expand their product line, increasing their presence in the market. If we look at existing entrepreneurs selling tea products, we will notice that they offer clients at least 10-15 different varieties of Ivan tea. You should do the same. Therefore, your task, with the help of a technologist, is to develop various options for the drink. In particular, it could be Ivan tea with the following additives:
- mint;
- chamomile;
- Linden;
- currant leaves;
- lemongrass;
- oregano.
- dried berries (cherries, currants, raspberries).
You can also expand your product line by offering customers:
- fermented (traditional black teas);
- weakly fermented teas (green, yellow, white drinks);
- semi-fermented (blue, purple, red).
Packaging development
This is the second most important stage. If you intend to sell at retail, then the finished tea variety must be packaged in a beautiful, bright box or bag that will attract customers on store shelves.
Sample packaging of Ivan-tea.
Packaging development can be outsourced to agencies or freelance designers (the latter will be cheaper). The cost of this work for a professional is about 10,000 - 30,000 rubles. On freelance exchanges (fl.ru, freelance.ru, kwork.ru, etc.) designers offer their services for product branding, and there you can also view the portfolio of specialists.
Inexpensive and popular type of packaging for Ivan-tea.
Official business registration and paperwork
Having drawn up a business plan for the production of Ivan tea and decided on the sales market, you can begin to prepare documents for the enterprise.
To officially work in Russia, you need to register an LLC or individual entrepreneur and rent production premises.
To sell food products, each type of product requires technical specifications (TS) and a declaration of conformity “On the safety of food products”, which allow the sale of the drink in the territory of the Russian Federation and states that are members of the Customs Union (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan).
You can obtain technical specifications and DS for Ivan-tea from certification centers that are certified and authorized to provide such services. It will cost about 15,000 rubles for one type of product.
To develop technical specifications, you will need to provide the certification center with:
- tea samples;
- recipe;
- packaging samples.
Specialists prepare test reports, after which they prepare documents.
After this you can get DS. To register a declaration of CU requirements, you need to submit an application, statutory documents, technical specifications, lease agreement/certificate of ownership of the production premises. The price for issuing a declaration of conformity for tea products starts from 7,000 rubles.
Working staff
Depending on the type of enterprise, payroll costs will vary. Self-employment in small production excludes the participation of other workers. However, if you are planning to build a large production facility, then you will need to hire staff.
Employees to work in the production of Ivan-tea:
Pickers. In this case, people can work under a GPC contract; their work can be paid based on personal performance (for example, 700 rubles/6 bags of fireweed leaves).
Operators, repairmen. Automated lines require qualified specialists who have experience working with similar machines. The operator controls the operation of the production line, sets the drying mode, sorting leaves, etc.
Tea production technologist. This worker organizes the production process. He must develop new recipes, update regulatory and technical documentation for new varieties, control the quality of raw materials for the production of tea products, and have practical knowledge in the field of current GOSTs and specifications.
Equipment purchase
Your business plan should contain a separate chapter that will define the type of equipment and its cost. The automated lines include the following main production units:
- blending drum;
- tea rollers;
- drying oven;
- product packaging.
An entire production line will cost on average from 1 to 3 million rubles, depending on technical characteristics - power, additional options. This machine performs the following functions:
- cutting leaves,
- withering,
- breaking up lumps of tea,
- fermentation,
- drying
- packaging.
But you can buy separate functional devices (including used ones) designed to perform individual production processes.
The fireweed roller performs the function of slicing and rolling tea leaves
.
Production costs and income plan
Self-employment in this area does not involve significant expenses. However, if you plan to enter a large market, then you will need an initial investment.
Equipment purchase will require about 1 million rubles. This is a roller for rolling tea leaves 120,000 rubles + drying cabinet 300,000 rubles + packaging machine 500,000 rubles.
Certification of Ivan-tea. Obtaining specifications and a declaration of conformity will cost about 15,000 rubles for one type of product.
LLC registration– about 15,000 rubles (you can do it yourself).
Packaging development and production – 15,000 rubles + about 30 rubles for printing a unit, depending on the volume.
The cost of a pack of Ivan tea weighing 100 grams is about 120 rubles. The cost is about 70 rubles, so the profitability of the business is about 50%. With normal monthly sales, the business will pay off within a year.
Promotion and sales of products
If you are just entering the market, start selling small. Your potential clients are shops, private stores, hotels, sanatoriums, themed cafes, fitness centers. Having received the first result, start working with pharmacies, try going to large retail chains. The latter, as a rule, make purchases in accordance with their internal rules or through tenders.
Online store. Selling goods online is one of the most promising sales channels. If you are creating a website to sell goods online, you need to understand that creating a resource and promoting it will take time and money. So, creating a website costs 10,000 - 30,000 rubles, period 1 - 4 weeks. SEO website promotion will require 15,000 rubles/month and the results can be seen in about six months; to get quick visitors to the site you need to invest in contextual advertising (this is about 15,000 rubles per month).
Another good opportunity is social networks, especially since they provide such a tool as “Products”. But developing a group or public page also requires time, strategy and significant effort. Existing groups on social networks selling Ivan tea overwhelmingly choose a similar promotion strategy, advertising their product to people interested in healthy eating, sports and self-knowledge.
An example of content submission in one of the groups selling Ivan tea and similar products.
You should also not forget about posting on bulletin boards like “Avito” (especially if you have a favorable wholesale price).
Fairs, exhibitions and festivals- an excellent place for retail sales of Ivan tea, fortunately, today such events are held very often. Ivan-tea is a product that allows you to participate in farm fairs, exhibitions dedicated to “healthy” environmentally friendly products, festivals for lovers of yoga, ancient Russian traditions, etc.
The fashion for a healthy lifestyle is aimed at making people healthier, and plus this opens up a lot of opportunities for organizing a profitable and in-demand business. Recently, food that contains all kinds of functional additives that give it medicinal properties has become especially popular. One of these varieties of such products is herbal tea.
Often, tea is a product of processing tea leaves. However, there are a huge variety of different herbal and other similar infusions that are made from raw materials that have similar properties. A good example Herbal and fruit teas can serve this purpose.
The key success factors in a business such as herbal tea production are: the use of only high-quality raw materials and innovative technologies, plus effective marketing tactics and a well-functioning management system.
In order to organize own business based on the production of herbal teas, you will need to invest considerable funds, which will be spent on the purchase of fixed assets and equipment. The latter can cost 30 – 40,000 rubles.
It should be noted that this type of business, due to its seasonal nature, is characterized by the stockpiling of raw materials. To do this, part of the working capital will have to be frozen. The payback period for such a business is about 2 years. And the profitability level ranges from 18 to 28%.
Herbal teas are a special product, so you will have to communicate quite often and quite closely with the sanitary service. The most correct solution in this case would be to assign some of the problems to your suppliers. Each batch of raw materials must necessarily have certificates of quality and compliance. In which microbiological, physico-chemical, radiological and organoleptic indicators are recorded, plus mass fraction salts of heavy metals, pesticides and mycotoxins. If for one reason or another the supplier does not have such documents, the manufacturer will have to obtain them on its own.
The raw materials for mycotoxins are often plants that contain components that are inherent in any natural tea– tannins, cahetins, caffeines, flavones, various essential oils. Suitable for preparing herbal tea are the leaves of plants such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, currants, as well as peppermint, motherwort, St. John's wort, echinacea, rose hips, creeping thyme, knotweed, etc.
The main criterion for the quality of raw materials used for the preparation of herbal teas is the content of biologically active substances in it. That is why some of the plants must be harvested during the period of their maximum accumulation:
Grass - either at the beginning of flowering, or already in full flowering;
Berries - a little earlier than full ripening;
Fruits – after full ripening;
Leaves - at the beginning of flowering;
Color and inflorescences - at the beginning of flowering.
Raw materials for herbal teas must be prepared only in dry weather; in a wet state, the raw materials are quite difficult to dry. There is no need to collect contaminated vegetation growing near highways and roads. It accumulates a large number of different harmful substances in itself. In addition, do not collect plants that are affected by diseases and pests.
The room in which raw materials will be stored must be dry, clean and well ventilated. In addition to all this, it must be protected from direct rays of sunlight, which directly affects the color of the raw material, as well as from various barn pests. To transport raw materials, it is necessary to use transport without any foreign odors.
As a rule, the purchase of raw materials is carried out at the end of summer - at the beginning of autumn. It is during this period that the greatest monetary costs occur. Because from a financial point of view, creating reserves for a year is an almost impossible task, but for six months is another matter. The cost of domestically produced raw materials is quite low. But, nevertheless, it can vary over a fairly wide spectrum. Prices primarily depend on yield, quality of raw materials and the timing of the purchases themselves.
The starting point in the production of herbal tea is quality control of raw materials. The latter, depending on the level of humidity, goes immediately to grinding or goes to drying. Each batch is assigned its own individual number. This is done so that the technological process can be debugged, taking into account its quality indicators.
After the raw materials are crushed, they are sent to the warehouse or sent to production. If the preparation of herbal teas is carried out according to a complex recipe, then its components must be blended. The resulting mixture is then sent for packaging in polypropylene bags, or in portions into filter bags. Next, the herbal tea in bags is placed in cardboard boxes, which are dated on the day the product was released. Each box is wrapped in propylene film and placed in a box.
Having gone through all the above stages, the products can be stored for 12-24 months. To produce herbal teas and service the production line, you will need approximately 10-12 workers and 1-2 technologists who will work in shifts.
The last stage is the sale of finished products. At the very beginning, you should pay most of your attention to information work, that is, take part in various exhibitions, conduct tastings, publish articles in the press, etc. All this will be aimed at increasing the level of information and awareness of your end consumers, and, of course, also business partners about the beneficial properties that herbal teas have.
The main problem in promoting herbal teas to the market is that they do not represent a strategic product for wholesale buyers, and are rather considered as an assortment item. Precisely for this reason, a very important task of marketing strategies is to increase demand for herbal teas, both among retail and wholesale structures.
The Platonov family left the noisy metropolis for a quiet family estate - to live in harmony with nature and produce an environmentally friendly drink
IT tools used by the Platonov family
- Microsoft Excel
- Google Docs
- Wordpress
Alexander Platonov studied at the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University. In the early 90s, when I had to feed my family, I learned the profession of a plumber. After moving to the estate, I began to look for an alternative income opportunity, and preparing fireweed tea became one of the options. Daria Platonova graduated from the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University. After studying, she opened her own business related to the early development of children (after moving to the Tula region, she closed the business). Now she works as an early development teacher in a children's club in Moscow, coming to the capital for 2-3 days a week and giving private lessons. He spends the rest of his time in his family settlement. In the warm season, Alexander, Daria and their three sons are engaged in collecting and producing fireweed.
How the idea of a family business came about
The Platonov family began developing land in the Tula region in 2003, and in 2006 they moved to the family estate for permanent residence. We decided to eat as healthy as possible, healthy foods. Having learned about healing properties Ivan-chaya, Daria and Alexander tried it once. “At first he didn’t impress us at all: grass is grass. But, as it turned out, the question was how to cook it. Once, when we were visiting, we were treated to fireweed tea. And we were struck to the core by how tasty and unusual it was,” recalls Daria Platonova.
Daria and Alexander became interested in Ivan tea. It turned out that this drink has many useful properties, for example, strengthening the immune system and hair, eliminating pain from migraines, lowering body temperature and others. This was one of the reasons why the couple began collecting and preparing fireweed for their family.
It took several years to collect information about this drink, search for ancient recipes and discover the taste of herbal tea. Daria studied specialized literature, found information on the Internet, and wrote down recipes for teas that pilgrims she knew brought from their trips to monasteries. “We collected the necessary information bit by bit,” she recalls.
“If there had not been such a strong positive reaction to our tea from relatives and friends, we would not have started doing this “for sale”
The Platonovs collected tea for themselves and also treated their friends and relatives to it. The results pleased everyone, including connoisseurs of this drink. Even those who also collected tea “for themselves” admired their product and recommended “expanding”. “If there had not been such a strong positive reaction to our tea from relatives and friends, we would not have started doing this “for sale,” says Daria.
Daria and Alexander began selling fireweed tea in 2012. The first clients were friends and their acquaintances who asked to sell them this or that collection of plants.
At the same time, the Platonovs began to study Ivan tea drinks from competitors in order to understand whether their own products corresponded to similar products on the market. Conclusions drawn after purchasing from various manufacturers, turned out to be ambiguous. “Some manufacturers make a good quality product, they revive old recipes. But at the same time, many suppliers have appeared on the market, the quality of their tea does not stand up to criticism. Their “work” can be called discrediting the product and devaluing the idea itself healthy eating", says Daria. She and her family rely on healthy and high-quality tea, collected and processed by hand.
How is fireweed produced?
Making fireweed tea is a rather complex technological process. Tea prepared by the Platonov family goes through six to eight stages of processing.
The first stage is the actual collection. The Platonovs collect wild plants near their ancestral settlement, on the border of the Tula and Moscow regions near the Prioksko-Terrasny Nature Reserve. This is an ecologically clean place in which fireweed grows in natural conditions, and is not specially planted by humans. There it is adjacent to other plants, which is very important for taste finished product. Harvesting occurs within strictly defined periods - during flowering (June-July). This is a fairly short period, about a month. There is a lot of work at this time, and you have to work 16-18 hours a day. If the weather permits, the Platonovs go out for collection early in the morning, as soon as the dew disappears - at 3-4 o’clock.
The collected leaves are then dried to remove excess moisture. Afterwards comes the sorting, as a result of which the future tea is manually freed from foreign plants and insects, which also love fireweed. “The process of careful manual sorting is very labor-intensive and long, but without it there is no way to get a high-quality drink,” says Daria Platonova.
“Experts say that our tea has amazing energy. Of course, this is the result of the handiwork and love with which we make tea. A machine will never give such a result. It will also be delicious, but it’s completely different.”
Next, the plants are crushed (also by hand) and placed for fermentation. After which the sheet is cut, dried and sifted into different fractions. Ready tea blended (flowers or other plants are added) and stored for ripening. One batch of tea goes through all these stages in about a week. Ivan tea is packaged immediately before sale.
The Platonovs do all their work by hand; they do not use any industrial equipment. Although it exists and can facilitate the production process. Due to its cost, the equipment is not yet available to families whose business is only in its infancy and is seasonal. For example, a machine for rolling tea leaves costs from 200 thousand rubles.
“Experts say that our tea has amazing energy. Of course, this is the result of the handiwork and love with which we make tea. A machine will never give such a result. It will also be tasty, but this is completely different. Handmade is handmade. Many will understand what I'm talking about."
The family plans to purchase a leaf-rolling machine to increase production, but will definitely continue to stock handmade teas.
Economics of the project
When the Platonovs began producing tea for sale, they spent about 100 thousand rubles to open their own business, some of which were borrowed. Product certification alone cost approximately 30 thousand rubles. But now all tea from the Platonovs has a certificate of conformity. The rest of the money was spent on the production of a drying cabinet, pallets for drying sheets, branded packaging and labels.
The drawing for the label was given to the Platonovs by an artist friend. I came to visit them and, after trying the drink, drew a sketch. Now this drawing is on all natural paper bags in which tea is packaged. “When you buy from us, you can open, look, smell – in a word, feel the product with all your senses to understand what you are buying. For stores, our packaging may not be the best good option. But we are ready to change in this regard, to look for something new,” explains Daria.
The weight of one package is 60 or 100 grams. Since Platonov’s tea is hand-rolled, it takes up a lot of space when dried. Therefore, more than 100 grams cannot be placed in one package. If tea is compacted into a bag, the product may lose some of its properties: the leaves will crumble or become wrinkled. The cost of packaging is 400-500 rubles, depending on the variety.
There are eight Platonovs in total different options tea. This year, at the request of customers, new products have appeared. These are mixtures of fireweed with other plants: meadowsweet, which gives an almond aroma, currant leaf, cherry or mint. There are both subtle and more tart fruit flavors. “Variety of assortment is an incredibly important point. We are constantly open to new recipes, ideas and experiments. But on the other hand, if people like a particular taste, they often ask for it next time. Therefore, it is very important to “age” certain varieties, i.e. produce them with the same taste from batch to batch,” notes Daria.
The Platonovs supply their products to two Moscow restaurants, as well as to the first Russian restaurant, working exclusively on local products - “Mark and Lev” in the Tula region. “We love this restaurant very much. Well done guys! Great idea and great execution."
The Platonovs actively participate in fairs and festivals, which are now the main promotion channel. There, in addition to sales, they organize tastings of their teas. The Platonovs also collaborate with organizers of ethno-festivals and events dedicated to a healthy lifestyle.
Plans and prospects
The family does not have a permanent store, because... there are no large sales volumes. “Unfortunately, it is simply impossible to increase the volume to “store volume” without losing the quality of the product, we have already understood this. Maybe this is maximalism, but I don’t know of any other ways to make a product tasty and of high quality. We are capable of producing, at best, several hundred kilograms of tea per season. This is not a volume for Moscow,” says Daria.
“Now our task is to cooperate with several more restaurants in Moscow or the region. I think that a restaurant with really high-quality food should definitely have traditional Russian Ivan tea in its tea list. In addition, our tea can be brewed several times - this is also a plus for restaurant customers. Our production volumes allow us to work to order for several restaurants: when there is a pre-order from a restaurant in terms of volume and assortment, it is much easier to plan production. Next year we plan to hire people for the collection, but we will prepare the tea ourselves,” the Platonovs share their plans for the future.
The Platonov family also sees its task as creating an online store through which it will be possible to order fireweed. “But the problem is that we are far from Internet technologies, and for us this is a rather difficult goal,” admits Daria. Her children, more confident computer users, are now working on creating their own website and pages on social networks.
The business dream of the Platonov family is to put their product on the tables of all lovers of healthy and tasty food. “Our tea, compared to store-bought tea, is like strawberries from the garden versus strawberries from retail chains. Our whole family and our friends have already switched to our own Ivan tea and don’t drink anything else,” says Daria.