Interview with Fully Loaded Tea Founder
Siberian Sisters Take the Tea Market by Storm in Canada
Aug 22, 2009
If you’ve ever been to Russia, you know that the tea drinking tradition continues to be alive and well. When Siberian-born sisters Katya Popoff and Olga Lenova came to Canada 16 years ago, they felt something was missing in our tea industry. The entrepreneurial duo decided to remedy that situation by starting their own tea business and they called it Fully Loaded Tea (FLT). Thoroughly modern, fun and flavour forward, these teas take the preciousness out of tea drinking and bring it home in style. Food Trends suggests the citrus black tea as iced tea- it's the best thirst quencher on a hot summer day!
Trend Setting Flavours
The hallmark of FLT is the use of exotic berries full of vitamins and antioxidants which are mixed with premium, whole leaf green, black and white teas to create trend-setting flavours like their much copied (never quite duplicated) Goji Force Green Tea. Their all-natural ingredient teas are striking a happy chord with Canadians who are literally drinking it up!
The sisters have also smartly secured a distribution contract with Ontario-based Sun Opta Distribution Group (Canada's largest distributor of organic, and speciality food products), and US-based Kehe Food Distributors, one of the United States' largest distributors of natural and speciality food products. Katya took some time to speak with Food Trends about life in Siberia and of course, tea.
Food Trends (FT): Tea drinking is a big tradition in Russia-did you grow up drinking tea?
FLT: Yes, Olga and I grew up drinking tea everyday when we were kids. The tradition was to drink after every meal and tea drinking was a very social activity. People would be invited over for a cup of tea all the time.
FT: What was it like to grow up in Siberia?
FLT: Growing up in Siberia was very different from Canada. School was a big focus and took up a lot of time even after we came home – 3 hours of homework was standard. We spent a lot of time outdoors, in the summer and winter. Our family had a plot of land where we grew our own vegetables, fruits and berries. That’s where we learned about different fruits, herbs and their health properties. Our ancestors were from the very north of Russia – just below the Arctic Circle. Our grandma grew up there and has a great knowledge of healing properties of herbs and plants.
FT: Why did you choose to move to Canada?
FLT: Our family decided to move to Canada because we wanted to live in a place where freedom of speech and more opportunities to be successful were available. My father’s family experienced discrimination when he was growing up because of the Stalin regime. His grandfather was declared an “enemy of the people” and was sent to a Gulag camp for almost 2 decades. He was very lucky to have survived – he lived in a village of about 100 families and of all the men that were taken, he was the only one who came back alive.
FT: What was your motivation behind setting up a tea business here and whose idea was it?
FLT: Olga and I always knew we wanted to be in business – even when we were little kids, we wanted to start a dog grooming business. We are entrepreneurs from birth. We both came to the idea of being in the tea business when we were in Europe.
FT: Over the years, tea drinking has become much more popular in North America. Why do you think that is?
FLT: Tea is the #2 drink in the world, after water. North America has been into coffee ever since the Boston Tea Party and the independence from British rule. Tea is coming back because it’s a great drink, it’s healthy, it tastes wonderful and people are discovering better quality teas. Once someone tries a whole leaf tea, they understand what all the fuss is about. People also have this idea that green tea is bitter – it’s not bitter at all, unless you’re drinking poor quality green tea or you brew it too strong. The best green teas, like our Naked Strawberry and Goji Force blends, taste fresh and mild.
FT: What are some of your teas that you're most proud of?
FLT: We are proud of our Goji Force Green Tea – we were the first ones to introduce teas with the goji berry added to the tea. Of course, now, all our competitors are doing it.
FT: Any tea-trends we should keep our eyes on that are just coming up?
FLT: We think that as tea continues to gain popularity, people will be discovering new blends and new varieties of teas. We have new blends coming out soon that are going to be a sure hit.
FT: Which is better- tea or coffee? (I know- trick question)!
FLT: We are big time tea lovers – and we’re sharing our passion with the world!
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