The Proud Tradition of Red Rose Tea Briefly Recounted

Today I thought it might be interesting to write a little bit about the history of Red Rose Tea, a tea that I enjoy on a regular basis.

Red Rose began as a primarily Atlantic Canadian company in 1894. It was created by a man named Theodore Harding Estabrooks, who was born in Wicklow, Carleton County, New Brunswick in 1861. Estabrooks was a local business leader in St. John, New Brunswick who came up with the idea of selling a quality tea that was consistent from cup to cup (at that time, tea was sold loose from large tea chests shipped from the Far East by local merchants and the quality of the tea varied a great deal).

From Atlantic Canada, Red Rose Tea expanded into other parts of Canada and the United States. Distribution in the United States was initially found in border cities such as Portland, Buffalo and Detroit. By 1929, the company was producing bagged tea suitable for single servings.

In 1932, a new chapter began for Red Rose Tea. The company was bought by Brooke Bond and Company of England. (See my post written on April 22, 2008 for a discussion of the history of Brooke Bond). Following the Second World War, Brooke Bond established their Canadian business in Montreal, Quebec; by the 1970s, the Red Rose brand was available in much of the United States and Canada. In 1985, Brooke Bond was bought by Unilever, which subsequently sold the United States rights to Redco Foods Inc. Unilever retained Red Rose rights in Canada and other parts of the world.

Red Rose tea contains black teas from Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon) Kenya, India and Indonesia.