Tazo

Tazo Tea Company is a tea and herbal tea blender and distributor founded in Portland, Oregon, now a division of Unilever based in Kent, Washington.

This article is about the tea distributor. For the 1990s collectible toys, see Tazos.
Tazo Tea Company
Subsidiary
IndustryBeverage
Founded1994 in Portland, Oregon
FounderSteven Smith[1]
Headquarters
Kent, Washington
,

United States
Area served
Global
ProductsTeas and herbal teas
Number of employees
Approximately 50 (2010)
ParentUnilever (2017–present)
Websitewww.tazo.com

History

Tazo (/tɑːˈzoʊ/) Tea was founded in 1994 by Steven Smith.[1] The manufacturing and distribution was maintained by North American Tea & Coffee, a Canadian-based food manufacturing company.[2]

Tazo approached Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz in 1998, seeking further investment partners. The company was purchased by Starbucks in 1999 for $8.1 million.[3]

Starbucks opened the first Tazo-branded tea shop in November 2012.[4] It closed a year later and was converted into a Teavana store.[5]

In November 2017, Starbucks sold Tazo to Unilever for $384 million.[6]

Marketing
A selection of Tazo teas, showing the pre-2006 logo.

The company uses "New Age"-style marketing and product labeling. For example, every box of tea was once labeled as "blessed by a certified tea shaman" and an original tag line was "The Reincarnation of Tea."

Until 2013, the logo used the Exocet typeface, slightly modified. For example, the T in Tazo was changed for readability purposes in 2006 by sliding the cross-piece toward the top of the letter.

See also

References
  1. Roberts, Sam. (2015, March 25). "Steven Smith, a 'Marco Polo' of American tea, dies at 65," The New York Times. Accessed: March 29, 2015.
  2. "North American Tea".
  3. "Starbucks will buy Tazo tea company". Puget Sound Business Journal. January 13, 1999. bizjournals.com. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
  4. Candice Choi; Sarah Skidmore (November 14, 2012). "Starbucks Buys Teavana". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 2015-04-23. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  5. "Starbucks to open first 'tea bar' in New York City". New York Daily News.
  6. "Starbucks sells Tazo tea brand to Unilever, focuses on Teavana instead". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2017-11-03.
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