As well as working on the tea farm we also have other careers as health professionals (Psychologists and Chiropractor) and in the finance industry.We started The Jersey Tea Company because we wanted to be involved in working with the land (in particular thinking about regenerative farming and biodiversity) and doing something different to our “day jobs”. One of us heard on Radio 4 about teas being grown in Scotland and remembered that Jersey has a history with tea, with the Oversea Trading Corporation being an important trader in tea. We then researched whether it would be possible to grow tea in Jersey (looking at average annual rainfall; soil quality; sunshine hours etc.) and discovered that this could be something that worked! So, we started experimenting with tea plants in our garden, and progressed to having two fields and a nursery of tea plants. At The Jersey Tea Company we have three main aspirations:
- For the individual: to provide to our clients a high quality wonderfully tasting tea that is grown ethically. To give the client an experience of mindful healthy tea drinking – that is a positive experience for their body and mind.
- For the community: being a Jersey business that is successful and positively represents the island and also being part of the tea community where we are learning together from other farmers.
- For the land: We are very passionate about trying to improve the quality of land and farming in Jersey. This includes: biodiversity (pollinator patches; rewilding); improving water quality (no leaching of chemicals as we do not use herbicides, pesticides, or artificial fertilisers on our crops); carbon sequestration via the tea plants; plastic free (our packaging is plastic free and compostable); and sustainability (minimal electric use; reusing materials).