JOE TEA was started to do one thing - make awesome tasting teas. During the Summer of 1998, I started selling JOE TEA in Hoboken and all over small beach towns on the Jersey Shore. At first, the store owners were reluctant - then they tasted the tea. One by one, we opened up accounts and JOE TEA started to flow. By the fall, JOE TEA expanded to many of the better independent food retailers around
the New York Metro Area. Each day I loaded up my truck with JOE TEA and went to new towns and in doing so, created routes throughout NJ, NY, CT and Eastern Pennsylvania. And we've kept busy over the last few years. Along the way, JOE TEA came to be known at "The Original Off Road Tea". We've got accounts in so many remote locations and back roads that you need a 4x4 to get to some of them! I like to think of our brand as a symbol of "rugged independence". When we set off to do things, we don't ask for permission - we just go! Every day we take customers away from the big companies and switch them over to JOE TEA. Now, we are in many of the coolest cafes, coffeehouses, funky farm stands and our fleet of JOE TEA trucks are bouncing into cities and towns all over the Metro Area. One day I got in the van, loaded with Joe Tea, and set off for Vermont. Vermont has become one of our favorite markets and making Joe Tea available in the general stores and country stores on the back roads of Vermont became a mission for us. Joe Tea has always been a brand with somewhat "restricted" distribution. In other words..."not being available everywhere" has become a strength - not a weakness. Usually you will find Joe Tea in interesting and eclectic places. In addition to the independent retailers (many of whom we have worked with for years) that sell Joe Tea, we feel fortunate that our products are now available at all of the Whole Foods Markets in the New York Metro area. In a world of mega-corporations and national marketing, we are proud that the Joe Tea brand has been able to build a regional identity and effectively compete against companies that dwarf us in size. Thanks for drinking Joe Tea! Also please try our new Joe Chips! We will continue to do our best to make the best products imaginab-le!
-JOE