Big Heart Tea
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersSt Louis, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Big Heart Tea does
Big Heart Tea Co. is a privately held, woman-owned direct-to-consumer tea brand founded in 2012 by Lisa Govro in St. Louis, Missouri, and operated through the registered LLC Retrailer, LLC. The company sells certified organic herbal tisanes and direct-trade teas — including signature blends Cup of Sunshine (turmeric-ginger), Cup of Love (rose-tulsi), Royal Treatmint, Chai, Minty Blue, and Big Heart Breakfast Blend — sourced from small pesticide-free farms in Malawi, Japan, India, and the USA. Tea bags are made from PLA (Neo Soilon), a plant-based compostable mesh derived from non-GMO sugarcane and independently lab-tested free of microplastics, BPA, phthalates, and heavy metal catalysts, satisfying California's Prop 65 heavy metal requirements.
The product portfolio spans approximately 29 tea bag SKUs, 14 loose leaf SKUs, and a curated gift-set line priced $4–$100, including the Signature Line Bundle ($100), Chakra Tea Set ($32), and Best Seller Sample Set ($12) as a customer-acquisition entry point. The business operates an omnichannel model: a Shopify-powered DTC storefront with Subscribe-and-Save (monthly/bi-monthly/quarterly) and free US shipping over $50; Amazon marketplace; and a wholesale channel serving Anthropologie, Crate & Barrel, and Indigo/Chapters nationally, plus dozens of independent coffee shops, fine dining venues, and boutiques across the US and Canada. A South City St. Louis location supports local wholesale will-call pickup.
Revenue mechanics combine transactional DTC unit sales, subscription recurring revenue, and one-time wholesale case-pack pricing with tiered rates above 1,000 units and no minimum order requirements. The company maintains an 11-page wellness blog, active social presence across Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and Facebook, a brand ambassador program via Collabs, and an email newsletter funnel offering a 10% first-purchase incentive. Earned media placements include Oprah Daily, New York Times Wirecutter, Chrissy Teigen's Cravings, and BuzzFeed; the DTC storefront carries 681 reviews averaging 4.9 stars. Total disclosed capital raised is a single $100,000 Arch Grants award in December 2021; no institutional rounds, acquisitions, or M&A activity are documented.
Big Heart Tea firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Big Heart Tea
- Legal name
- Big Heart Tea Co.
- Website
- https://bighearttea.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Big Heart Tea industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Specialty Organic Tea
- NAICS
- Coffee and Tea Manufacturing (311920), Coffee and Tea Manufacturing (31192)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Tea (Leaf, Bagged, Instant, Concentrates) (CRADAHAE)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Tea Blending & Flavoring (AFAFADAG)
Keywords
Where Big Heart Tea is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- St Louis
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Big Heart Tea business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Others
Revenue model
- Direct-to-Consumer E-commerce: Online sales through bighearttea.com with subscription options for recurring deliveries. Products include tea bags, loose tea, and gift sets. Free shipping on orders over $50.
- Wholesale Distribution: B2B sales to retailers including Anthropologie, Indigo, Crate & Barrel, and independent coffee shops and boutiques. Tea boxes sold in cases of 8. Tiered pricing for orders over 1,000 units. No minimum order requirements.
- Foodservice: Wholesale tea for cafes and foodservice establishments including tea menu development, virtual training, and chai concentrate for St. Louis cafes.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Tea Bags (10 count) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Loose Tea |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Gift Sets |
| Subscription | Monthly | Subscription Option |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Big Heart Tea product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Big Heart Tea Co. is a direct-to-consumer tea company that sells certified organic herbal tisanes and direct-trade teas sourced from small farms in Malawi, Japan, India, and the USA. Its product portfolio spans signature tea bags (such as Cup of Sunshine, Cup of Love, Royal Treatmint), loose leaf teas (Big Heart Breakfast Blend, matcha, chai, single-origin iced teas), and curated gift sets and seasonal collections, differentiated by 100% compostable PLA tea bags made from non-GMO sugarcane.
Product overview
Big Heart Tea Co. is a Direct-to-Consumer e-commerce tea brand operating on a Shopify platform. The company offers a portfolio of organic herbal tisanes and direct-trade teas organized into two primary product formats: tea bags (29 products) and loose leaf tea (14 products), supplemented by gift sets and seasonal holiday releases. The core product portfolio includes signature blends such as Cup of Sunshine (turmeric-ginger), Cup of Love (rose-tulsi), Royal Treatmint (mint-lavender blend), and Chai, alongside specialty items like Matcha, Happy Matcha Sticks, Sunshine Dust (turmeric latte powder), and Malawi single-origin teas. The company differentiates through compostable PLA tea bags, direct-trade sourcing from farms in Malawi, Japan, India, and USA, and Ayurvedic-inspired formulations. Wholesale services for retailers and cafes are also offered.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Quantifiable outcome
- 4.9-star average rating from 681 reviews
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Big Heart Tea
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Big Heart Tea technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature2 records
Big Heart Tea partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- AnthropologiecoreNational retailer partnership for retail distribution of Big Heart Tea Co. products in Anthropologie stores and online.
- Indigo (Chapters)coreCanadian national retailer partnership for distribution of Big Heart Tea Co. products in Indigo and Chapters stores across Canada.
- Crate & BarrelcoreNational home goods retailer partnership. Cup of Love product carried by Crate & Barrel.
- Small Farm Partners (Malawi, Japan, India, USA)coreDirect-trade relationships with small, pesticide-free, biodiverse farms. Single-origin teas sourced from Malawi (Satemwa Estate), Japan, India (Assam Heritage Tea), and USA. One or two degree connection to farmers.
- Satemwa Tea Estate (Malawi, Africa)coreDirect trade partner in Thyolo, Malawi. Source of bright citrus and subtle rose tea notes used in Big Heart Breakfast Blend. Long-term partnership relationship.
- Assam Heritage Tea (Dibrugarh, Assam, India)coreDirect trade partner providing robust and malty Assam tea used in Big Heart Breakfast Blend. Heritage tea estate relationship.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Big Heart Tea competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- DAVIDsTEA: Canadian specialty tea retailer with a DTC, gift-set, and wholesale model in Canada/US — comparable to Big Heart's Canadian retail presence via Indigo.
- Harney & Sons: Premium tea company offering bagged, loose-leaf, and gift-set formats with strong wholesale presence in independent retailers and foodservice — comparable channel mix.
- Yogi Tea: Ayurvedic-inspired herbal tea brand with functional, wellness-positioned blends; competes directly with Big Heart's herbal portfolio and uses similar bagged-tea DTC and grocery distribution.
- Traditional Medicinals: Leading organic herbal tea brand in the US, with a comparable product mix of wellness-positioned herbal tisanes (including turmeric-ginger and chamomile blends) and similar grocery/natural-channel distribution.
- Republic of Tea: Specialty tea brand offering curated herbal, black, and chai blends through DTC subscription and gift sets; comparable premium positioning and gifting revenue mix.
- Teapigs: Premium DTC tea brand with whole-leaf 'tea temple' sachets and a strong gifting/subscription model; very close functional analogue to Big Heart's bagged-tea and gift-set approach.
- Numi Organic Tea: Premium organic tea brand with a comparable product portfolio of bagged and loose-leaf herbal teas, wellness positioning, and DTC-plus-wholesale go-to-market.
- Rishi Tea: Direct-trade organic tea and botanicals brand with single-origin sourcing and similar premium DTC plus wholesale (cafés/specialty retail) distribution.
Broad incumbents
- Bigelow Tea: Established US tea manufacturer with broad bagged-tea portfolio including herbal lines; relevant as a larger incumbent competing for the same wellness-aisle shelf space.
- Celestial Seasonings: Mass-market herbal tea brand owned by Hain Celestial; competes in the same wellness/herbal segment but at significantly larger scale and broader grocery distribution.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Big Heart Tea social profiles
Digital presenceBig Heart Tea compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Big Heart Tea financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Big Heart Tea leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Big Heart Tea funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Big Heart Tea M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Big Heart Tea
What does Big Heart Tea do?
Big Heart Tea Co. is a direct-to-consumer tea company that sells certified organic herbal tisanes and direct-trade teas sourced from small farms in Malawi, Japan, India, and the USA. Its product portfolio spans signature tea bags (such as Cup of Sunshine, Cup of Love, Royal Treatmint), loose leaf teas (Big Heart Breakfast Blend, matcha, chai, single-origin iced teas), and curated gift sets and seasonal collections, differentiated by 100% compostable PLA tea bags made from non-GMO sugarcane.
Is Big Heart Tea a public or private company?
Big Heart Tea is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Big Heart Tea founded?
Big Heart Tea was founded in 2012. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Big Heart Tea based?
Big Heart Tea is headquartered in St Louis, United States, in the North America region.
How does Big Heart Tea make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Direct-to-Consumer E-commerce is the primary driver. The others are wholesale Distribution and foodservice.
Who are Big Heart Tea's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are DAVIDsTEA, Harney & Sons, Yogi Tea, Traditional Medicinals, Republic of Tea, Teapigs, Numi Organic Tea and Rishi Tea. Broad incumbents are Bigelow Tea and Celestial Seasonings.
Does Big Heart Tea have an API?
No public API is recorded for Big Heart Tea.
What industry is Big Heart Tea in?
Big Heart Tea's product category is Specialty Organic Tea. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRADAHAE, Tea (Leaf, Bagged, Instant, Concentrates), with a secondary code of AFAFADAG, Tea Blending & Flavoring. Its NAICS code is 311920.