Zealong

What Zealong does

Zealong is a New Zealand-based, privately held producer of 100% domestically grown, organically certified tea, founded in 2003 and headquartered in Gordonton. The company's core activity is the cultivation, processing, and sale of premium New Zealand-origin tea, with "organically certified" and "New Zealand grown" serving as the primary product attributes.

Beyond the core tea product, Zealong operates a guesthouse and offers farm tours, bundling agritourism and hospitality into the same estate. This creates a multi-revenue-stream model in which the physical tea estate is monetized both through packaged tea sales (likely via the company's website and selected retail/distribution) and through on-site visitor spending on accommodation and guided tours. The agritourism component functions both as a direct revenue line and as a brand-building channel that reinforces the origin and authenticity claims attached to the tea.

Operationally the company is small, with a headcount in the 11–50 range, and is founder-led — Vincent Chen serves as Founder and CEO. No information on funding history, ownership structure, distribution partners, or disclosed financials is present in the source material, limiting visibility into capitalization, channel mix, and segment economics.

Name

Zealong

Website

https://zealong.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Zealong is a privately held New Zealand producer of 100% domestically grown, organically certified tea, operating from an estate in Gordonton that also hosts a guesthouse and farm tours for visitors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Tea

NAICS

Coffee and Tea Manufacturing (311920)

SIC

Beverages (2080)

akta.pro primary industry

Tea Blending & Flavoring (AFAFADAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Tea, Coffee & Cocoa Farming (Beverage Specialty Crops) (AFAGAGAG)

Keywords

• Organic tea production
• Specialty tea estate
• Farm tours hospitality
• Oolong tea farming
• Agritourism accommodation

Headquarters

HQ city

Gordonton

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales

Core offering

Zealong produces 100% New Zealand grown, organically certified tea, including oolong, green, and black varieties, at its estate in Gordonton, Waikato. The company also operates an on-site guesthouse and farm tours, offering visitors a hospitality experience alongside its tea production.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Zealong Organic Tea 100% New Zealand grown, organically certified tea produced at the Zealong estate in Gordonton, including oolong, green, and black varieties. Sold to individual consumers through direct channels.
• Zealong Guesthouse Accommodation On-site guesthouse lodging at the Zealong tea estate in Gordonton, Waikato, offered to domestic and international visitors as part of the agritourism experience.
• Zealong Farm Tours Guided tours of the Zealong tea estate in Gordonton, allowing visitors to see the tea cultivation and processing operation firsthand as part of the agritourism offering.

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• T2 Tea: Specialty tea brand offering blended and flavored teas with a strong retail and gifting identity; comparable to Zealong as a branded specialty tea company competing for premium consumer spend.
• Dilmah: Sri Lankan family-owned single-origin tea producer with strong brand storytelling, estate tours, and a premium positioning analogous to Zealong's NZ-origin, vertically integrated model.
• Mariage Frères: French heritage tea house blending and retailing premium teas with tea-room experiences; structurally analogous to Zealong's premium tea + on-site hospitality concept.
• Harney & Sons: US-based premium tea blender and producer with a strong estate/quality narrative; comparable to Zealong as a specialty branded tea house targeting premium and hospitality channels.
• The Republic of Tea: US specialty tea company emphasizing premium, organic, and single-origin offerings; comparable to Zealong as a small branded player competing on quality and story.

Broad incumbents

• Teavana: Mass-market premium tea brand (now under Starbucks) that built a retail tea-house experience; overlaps with Zealong's tea-plus-experience positioning but at far greater scale.
• Twinings: Established global tea brand with broad black, green, and herbal offerings; competes with Zealong in the same product category but at much larger scale and broader portfolio.
• Fortnum & Mason: Iconic UK retailer selling premium teas and operating tea salons and hospitality; overlaps with Zealong's premium tea retail + guesthouse/tea-room concept.

Regional players

• Zealana: New Zealand-based premium natural fiber brand; comparable to Zealong as a fellow NZ-based premium consumer-goods producer leveraging the 'made in New Zealand' provenance story.

Emerging players

• Clipper Teas: UK-based organic and Fairtrade tea brand; comparable to Zealong through its organic certification-led positioning in the mainstream specialty tea market.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/zealongtea
• Facebookfacebook.com/zealongtea
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/zealong-tea

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Zealong