Meet Annabel Kalmar, founder of Tea Rebellion
Tea Rebellion was founded by Social Venture Entrepreneur & Sustainability Strategy Consultant Annabel Kalmar to change the way tea is traded and to connect tea drinkers with tea farmers.
Annabel developed a passion for improving farmers market access and incomes while studying agriculture and working in the fields of El Salvador and Dominican Republic, harvesting coffee and interviewing farmers.
Having noted that coffee and chocolate seemed to get all the love from consumers - and that while coffee drinkers cared deeply about the origin of their coffee, most tea drinkers knew little about the tea they bought - she set out to raise tea drinkers’ expectations.
A believer in transforming things that don’t work, Annabel made it her mission to wean tea drinkers away from always buying the same low-quality blended teas and demonstrate that the range and subtle differences in the taste of teas are comparable with that of wine.
She decided it was the perfect time to shake things up in this traditional industry and create a social enterprise to change how tea is traded, marketed and consumed.
Today, Tea Rebellion products are on sale online, in grocery stores, coffee shops, Not on the High Street and Amazon in the UK and also in Canada, the US and Europe. Tea Rebellion also works with coffee shops, restaurants and offices, providing tea offerings that deliver a sustainable and authentic tea experience.
In 2022, Tea Rebellion was nominated Best Tea Company at the London Coffee Show after previously winning 22 blind tasting tea awards at festivals from Paris to Toronto.
There’s always a lightbulb moment before the beginning of a new venture. What was that moment for you?
My lightbulb moment was when working as a student in the Dominican Republic interviewing female banana growers. I was researching how the WTO trade liberalisation was impacting smallholders in the West Indies. There I met this amazing female farmer who was a single head of household with four kids who grew organic bananas. Sadly, by the time her bananas reached the UK grocer shelf at Sainsbury's none of her unique story would be there for consumers to connect with. Her story got lost in the way commodity trade works. This gave rise to my idea of launching a food venture with direct trade partnership that conveys all the grower stories to the end consumer and builds direct connections that empower, educate and ultimately transform the status quo.
Tell us about your experience prior to launching your business?
I studied agriculture with a focus on environment & gender and later did a Masters in agricultural economics. I started my career working on microfinance and rural finance with the World Bank and then later on joined the OECD aid committee looking at effective aid for agriculture and infrastructure. I then realised I needed a change and decided to get an MBA and work in the private sector - mainly because I was really drawn to a different people & performance culture and the development & innovation this enables. I became a strategy consultant and was fortunate to work on climate & sustainability strategies for consumer and retail companies.
What inspired you to launch your business and what is the end goal?
I am here to bring about fundamental change in the tea industry- by providing tea lovers who care about fair trade with single origin, farm-direct, award winning teas. Lets take a step back - if you turn a wine bottle around you know its origin and you would not dream of adding milk, spices or sugar. I am committed to the same experience being available for tea lovers. I want people to know where their tea comes from. I want the farmer to be recognised and I want tea lovers to be able to taste good quality tea. The end goal is to become the "go to tea brand for sustainable, transparent, award winning tea".
How did you conquer those moments of doubt that so often affect entrepreneurs or stop many with great ideas – what pushes you through?
No question, what pushes me through my doubts are my travels and stays on my partner farms and my involvement in what happens for them on the ground and the initiatives that I am able to support through Tea Rebellion and our COVID farm fund. I am humbled that I am able to work with so many awesome human beings, entrepreneurs and innovators on each farms. I love connecting with everyone and strive to understand the local ecosystem that each of the tea farms is a part off. I enjoy learning about the new climate, nature & people practices on their farms and help to share what I am learning from one farm to another.
What keeps you motivated as an entrepreneur when you hit bumps in the road?
We all hit bumps. It's the nature of being a human being and being up to things that matter to us. And it's the nature of being an entrepreneur. I strongly believe all great innovators did not just have a great idea but saw it through without giving up when the going got tough. Generally, I believe not enough credit is being given to a businesses’ ability to execute and stick with it. Basically, I try to acknowledge the stumbling blocks, learn what there is to learn and then move on without dwelling on them for the future. That is easier said than done sometimes though ☺
What does your business offer its target audience?
We offer tea lovers connection with growers and partner farms and the experience of tasting amazing pure tea while knowing that their tea is sourced in an empowering, impactful way. Our customers care about good and healthy tea and food as well as people and making a difference with the money they spend. They are committed to voting with their money as it were and helping us spread the rebellion for fiercely authentic tea and driving #teachange in the industry.
What’s the single most important decision that you made, that contributed to your business?
Our single most important decision was to co-brand with our farms. This means that any of our packages represent the farmers – the makers of our tea. Co-branding with single farms has enabled us to make long term commitments to a select number of partners and built long term value partnerships with each of our farms. This is differentiating in the tea industry which blends products and mixes ingredients together. Saying No to blending and flavouring and embracing tea quality and origin has helped us clearly define what Tea Rebellion does and what it does not. We found there is power in saying no to blending & flavouring!
What impact would you like to have on women around the world through your business?
Many women smallholders and tea workers have double demands on their time (household chores and child rearing in addition to paid work). There is also the issue of sanitation access, benefits, safety) for women and girls while working on larger scale plantations. On top of this, the climate crisis is already impacting female headed tea farms and female workers for example in Kenya and Malawi with shorter growing seasons, less income and lower yields. To drive impact, I choose to work with tea farmers that have a clear goal of either being female run farmers or committed to the empowerment & wellbeing of women in their operations.
Why do you think your business has had such a positive impact across your industry?
Our business shows that a direct, transparent tea supply chain is possible. As a B Corp certified tea venture with 100% direct and transparent sourcing, Tea Rebellion shows that that you can you can pay properly and fairly for specialty tea. It shows that its possible to stop this race to the bottom that the commodity tea market is experiencing which results in no returns for farmers and halts the investment into the regenerative tea practices that we need to restore the planet and climate. The power lays in showing the way to larger companies who buy more tea. We want tea tycoons to become inspired by seeing that a new way of tea buying and partnering is possible and that the traditional model is obsolete in 2022. This is what we are aiming for.
What’s the most important question entrepreneurs should be asking themselves?
I think a key question I ask myself is what am I committed to? Usually this brings it back to that key question of what impact I am driving with my venture. This helps me stay focused. Then I ask myself if I like what I am doing and I get an enthusiastic yes! I think it’s very important to only get involved in a venture where you are 1000% behind because the opportunity costs of one’s time (our one life!) is too big otherwise. Finally I also ask myself whether my time is well spend on some priorities vs others ad where I can pull in expertise from others and delegate. All three have been very helpful to me on my journey.
Entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey. How are you combating that feeling whilst pushing forward?
I really enjoy working with people and working in teams so yes my first few months as an entrepreneur were indeed a bit lonely until I got involved in different food communities and networking groups. I really enjoy collaborating especially with other food founders. I have found that women’s start-up forums are a great platform for sharing and mutual learning and support.
Why do you think now is the right time for the world to begin exploring and adopting technology that aids sustainability?
Why is this the right time? Because we have at our fingertips tools to estimate the carbon, nature and people impact of our business models. When completing the B Corp Impact assessment (which is freely accessible and a great tool to know your impact in the world even without getting certified) you can learn so much about how to improve one’s business model. A few years ago, these tools were not available this easily and they were not user friendly. Another great tool is blockchain technology which can help ensure products are tracked back to their actual origins and there is full transparency for more complex business models than ours. All these tools are empowering and will help us transform the food system at scale and hopefully reimagine business for the better.
