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Tazo Tea Company
Subsidiary
Industry Beverage
Founded 1994; 30 years ago (1994) in Portland, Oregon
Founder Steven Smith
Headquarters ,
Area served
Global
Products Teas and herbal teas
Number of employees
Approximately 50 (2010)
Parent Lipton Teas and Infusions

Tazo Tea Company is a tea and herbal tea blender and distributor founded in Portland, Oregon. It is now a Lipton Teas and Infusions division and is based in Kent, Washington.

History

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

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

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

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

Marketing

Selection of Tazo teas
A selection of Tazo teas, showing the pre-2006 logo
Chai tea bag
An organic chai tea bag, showing the Tazo logo used since 2013

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

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