Getting to know...

Mayde Tea; a VanillaFood favourite. This established tea company was founded in Byron Bay by beautiful Kate Dalton. Everything from their unique tea blends, thought out packaging and their ethics has VanillaFood’s support. We asked Kate and the Mayde ladies to answer a few questions about sustainability and what it means to be organic in the tea industry.

Grab a cuppa and enjoy the read.

Can you tell us a little bit about your small business and how/ why you started?  

Almost 7 years ago now, I was creating herbal blends for myself for digestive and nervous system problems while I was learning about herbal medicine at uni. I was so excited with how much it helped me that I really wanted to share this with everyone! So I started the business with a whole heap of knowledge of the medicinal properties of herbs, but with zero knowledge on running a business- so that was an interesting learning curve and I’m of course still learning! It’s the best thing I've ever done, so challenging but it makes me so happy

Organic? Is being certified a big deal in your industry? 

To be certified organic is a huge deal in the tea industry, it’s a costly exercise but it is worth it showing transparency to the conscious community. We’re proud knowing all our blends are 100% organic, providing the richest nutritional benefits in each cuppa.

Have you found being sustainable has become the norm more recently in your industry? 

I feel sustainable practices in the tea industry have always been apparent. Tea with all its health benefits generally comes with sustainable minded consumers and or smaller business’ like us here at Mayde have always strived to educate our community of sustainable living practices.

Is your small business considered sustainable or what makes you stand out in your industry? 

Teabags! Are they bad for the environment?

When tea originated in 2737BC, it was used as a medicinal drink. Now, a lot of tea companies add artificial colours and flavours – which is taking it far from its purpose of being to heal the body. Using a tea bag means chemicals are bound to leech into your brew. The teabag then ends up in landfill. For a teabag to be sealed, most require a plastic lining. And plastic is, once produced, here forever – polluting our earth. So Mayde produces only loose leaf tea blends.

What does sustainability mean to your company? and how is it implemented in everyday practices? 

Sustainability is a focus in both our office and warehouse teams, we want to lessen our amount of waste as a business. We contact suppliers asking them to minimise the use of plastic packaging. If we do receive bubble wrap or other plastic packaging, we reuse it, and then encourage the next receiver to do the same. 

We limit our amount of waste as a business to that of a small household (being an established business, this is tough!). If our waste increases, our staff then workshop ways to minimise any unnecessary waste, recyclable or not. We compost all green and food waste, and reuse whatever packaging we can.

Packaging is a big thing in any industry; you want to catch the consumers eye but at the same it’s important to think about how much of an impact it will have on the environment. Although we want our customer’s experience to be beautiful when receiving an order from us, we don’t send out excessive packaging to add to this. After all, we believe the customer’s experience is also influenced by the amount of environmental impact they have from what they consume.

We package our tea in reusable packaging that lasts, and once empty, we recommend our jars to be used for pantry storage, as a flower vase or a water bottle.

What is your favourite product that you have created/ sell? 

The first two blends I ever made to help with these health issues I had, were Digest and Serenity. These still exist today and are of our most loved blends!

The Digest blend is also a VF staff favourite and is becoming loved around Noosa. Jump online and checkout Mayde’s full range of teas and all the other goodies they have available. The Mayde tea infuser is a must have (purchase online or pop in to VanillaFood’s flagship cafe in Noosa Heads to grab one for yourself).