Fermented fireweed willowherb tea. Business on growing fireweed. All stages of production Business on home preparation of Ivan tea

Modern people have become more concerned about their health. Therefore, they prefer to use only natural products. This also applies to tea.

Beneficial properties of tea

On store shelves you can see a wide range of different teas with various artificial flavors. But they are not in great demand. Consumers mainly buy products made from natural ingredients. Such teas have a beneficial effect on human health. For example, mint and oregano calm the nerves, while calendula and chamomile act as an anti-inflammatory agent.

People in Rus' have been drinking Ivan tea for a long time. According to popular beliefs, this plant should be collected on the night of Ivan Kupala. A drink made from young shoots of fireweed has special powers and can protect against 100 diseases. To achieve a unique taste and unique aroma, ancestors dried fireweed in a special way. The sheet was first withered, then kneaded a little and twisted. After this, it was kept for some time at a certain temperature. Only after this the sheets were dried. This tea production technology is called fermentation. Let's look at this matter in more detail.

Features of Ivan tea production

Raw materials are collected on special plantations in ordinary bags. In a day, one person can collect approximately 30 kg of this amazing plant. Since leaves in bags can heat up and darken, it is necessary to immediately put the raw materials into processing.

This product is made using traditional technology, like other teas, so your business can use conventional tea production equipment.

The processing process is as follows:

1. First, the leaves are kneaded. You can also do this manually. The plant must be ground until it produces juice. If you decide to start producing Ivan tea at home, you can pass the leaves through a meat grinder. In this case, you will get excellent granulated tea. Some people freeze raw materials, but after defrosting they may lose their beneficial qualities;
2. Withering. The tea leaves are placed in the shade and dried for 10–24 hours. If you use special dryers, the process can be reduced to 5–8 hours. During this time, approximately 55% of the moisture leaves the tea leaf. After dehydration, the raw material becomes less brittle and more elastic;
3. During the rolling process, the juice is squeezed out of the tea leaves. This allows tea enzymes to mix with tea polyphenyls. This is the main condition for high-quality fermentation. Twisting is done manually and using special equipment;
4. Fermentation. This process is carried out in dark, cool rooms. Wooden pallets or aluminum sheets can be used as a support for raw materials. The fermentation process is stopped by drying;
5. After drying, you will receive raw materials with a moisture content of 2–5%. The process lasts only 15–20 minutes. Large ovens with hot air are used to dry tea.

Scheme: production of different types of tea

As mentioned above, the technology for producing black tea is practically no different from the process of producing natural Ivan tea. If you organize the production process correctly, you can produce high-quality products of different varieties and make excellent profits from it.

Paperwork

To start producing tea in Russia, you need to register as an individual entrepreneur or open an LLC. The choice depends on the size of the enterprise.

Once you have registered with the tax office, you should obtain the necessary permits for tea production. Rospotrebnadzor approves the recipe and production specifications. After this, you will be given permits.

Staff

Before drawing up a business plan for the production of Ivan tea, you need to decide on the type of enterprise. If you plan to purchase special equipment, you will need to hire several workers to maintain it. The number of employees for manual production depends on the volume of products produced.

In addition, you need to hire workers to collect raw materials. The norm per person is 6 bags per day. Payment for this work is approximately 800 rubles.

You also need to hire a person who will control the production process.

Equipment

Equipment for the production of Ivan tea can be purchased from specialized companies.

You will need the following equipment:

• Blending drum;
• Tea rollers;
• Drying oven;
• Equipment for packing.

For many years, Ivan tea was produced using exclusively manual labor. To set up this amazing drink, you will have to use a lot of personnel, so at certain stages it is more advisable to use technology. If you are planning to open a large-scale enterprise, you can purchase a fully automated production line. This will allow you to set up parallel production of black tea, which will significantly increase the profitability of your business.

In our country it is quite difficult to find specialized equipment for such a business. The fact is that tea production in Russia is developed at a low level, so basically finished products are imported from abroad, and at domestic enterprises they are only packaged and packaged. Therefore, it is better to order production equipment from foreign suppliers.

Expenses

To open a home business producing fireweed tea, you will need 100 thousand rubles. A third of them will have to be spent on product certification. The rest of the money will be used to purchase the necessary tools and equipment, as well as packaging and labels. To purchase powerful production equipment, you need to raise start-up capital of 0.5–2 million rubles.

One package contains no more than 100 g of tea. This product should not be compacted to avoid crumbling or crushing the leaves. This package costs 400–500 rubles. Based on this, it is easy to calculate the profitability of the project.

Promotion of products on the market

Natural teas can be supplied to restaurants that work exclusively on local products.

In addition, you should constantly take part in various festivals and fairs. Here you can find the main distribution channels. You can also organize product tasting events. Constantly collaborate with organizers of events that promote a healthy lifestyle.

Let's sum it up

The production of fireweed tea is a very real and quite promising business. The products can be sold to vitamin shops, sanatoriums or. Its implementation can also be established via the Internet. The production of Ivan tea as a business can be opened at home. The company needs to purchase a production line. Additional funds will be needed to expand production. In this case, the initial investment will pay off in about a year. After this, your business will generate a stable net income.

Don't forget that the tea business is seasonal. If you plan to work all year round, you need to take care of stocks of raw materials. To do this, you will need spacious warehouses in which you can also store finished products.

For people looking for ways to make money at home, this is perfect. You will find many interesting ideas for earning money on our website. Good luck.

In this material:

The increased consumer interest in natural products makes the fireweed tea business very profitable. The beneficial properties of this herb have been known since ancient times. Our ancestors long ago learned to harvest this plant and use it in tea drinking and treating diseases. Unlike regular tea, this drink does not contain caffeine. You can enjoy this tea indefinitely. It perfectly calms, eliminates fatigue, irritability, headaches and simply has a pleasant aroma and aftertaste. Some experts have even noted the positive dynamics of treating cancer with a decoction of this plant.

The inflorescences and leaves have an interesting aftertaste and a breathtaking aroma. Ivan tea is successfully combined with such popular medicinal herbs as chamomile, mint and oregano. The production of tea from this perennial can be a good competitor to imported producers of aromatic drinks. This herb retains the maximum amount of beneficial properties when dried and brewed. Experts have developed more than 15 different types of products based on fireweed tea.

How to distinguish fireweed from other plants? This type of perennial grass has narrow leaves, long roots and beautiful inflorescences. Fireweed grows up to 1 m in height and is propagated by seeds and root shoots. This allows you to create over 1 thousand new plants in one season. It is important to note that the flower is honey-bearing, so a business based on the production of tea from this plant can be supplemented with a related business - an apiary.

How to organize a successful business?

The success of a business depends entirely on physical capabilities. The grass grows only in the wild and can be collected by hand all day long. As a rule, in 8 hours of a working day, with skills developed over time, a person can gain about 25 kg of grass. With this approach to organizing a business, you don’t need any money at all, but the volumes will be so small that you can hardly talk about serious profits.

It is better to organize the purchase of ready-made raw materials, doing only its drying and fermentation. The problem is that there are no wholesale suppliers of fireweed tea. It will be necessary to hire people to collect grass or announce the purchase of raw materials in villages. This also has its pitfalls. In order for the herb to retain all its beneficial properties, it must be collected at a certain period. Do this in the morning, when there is no dew on the grass. It is almost impossible to ensure that the collected material is of appropriate quality.

To be sure that the herb has the proper taste and healing qualities, many entrepreneurs control the entire production cycle themselves. To do this, they acquire a certain plot of land where they independently grow, collect and process the plant. This is the only way to guarantee high-quality material, while avoiding the costs of purchasing and paying assemblers.

The process of producing tea from the inflorescences and leaves of a perennial is practically no different from the technological process of making any other tea.

From collection to sales

The technological process will be as follows:

1. Collection and preparation of leaves. It needs to be carefully sorted, debris separated, washed, and dried in the shade.
2. Withering of the leaf. The collection is laid out in a dark place where there is no sunlight and left for 24 hours. If finances allow, you can purchase special drying machines that will significantly speed up the process. After the process is completed, the sheet acquires special elasticity.
3. Twisting stage. After this treatment, the leaves produce juice, which allows the enzymes and tea polyphenols to mix together. If the production is small, this process is carried out manually. For mass production, a special meat grinder is used. It is worth noting that manual processing gives the tea a special sourness and astringency.
4. Fermentation of the collection. This stage is very important; the taste and healing properties of tea depend on it. The rolled and ground sheet is sent to a dark place to dry. It is better to lay out raw materials on wooden pallets or pre-prepared aluminum sheets. At this time, oxalic acid is destroyed in the leaf, and beneficial substances are activated. Using special equipment, you can set up the process of complete or partial fermentation. If the process is carried out manually, you need to carefully monitor it in order to stop fermentation in a timely manner.
5. Drying stage. The duration of this event ranges from 20 minutes to 3 hours. The prepared raw materials are dried in special cabinets on grid trays with a flow of hot air. Upon completion of drying, only high-quality raw materials with a characteristic aroma and color remain.
6. Fractionation stage. This event is held mainly at large enterprises with large production volumes. Small tea is packaged in bags, and large leaf tea is packaged by weight.

How to register a business?

To start tea production, you must register as an individual entrepreneur or open a limited liability company. The choice of registration form depends on the size of the business. After all the documents have been completed at the tax office and the necessary permits have been obtained from the relevant government agencies, it is necessary to agree on the recipe and technical production conditions. Only after this will you be given permits.

Next is resolving issues with hiring staff, purchasing specialized equipment, and renting utility rooms. The number of people involved in manual collection of grass is also determined by the scale of production. If you initially organize the technological process correctly and find a wholesale buyer, then there will be no problems with the business.

Order a business plan

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Every resident of our country drinks up to 3 cups of tea daily. On store shelves there is a huge assortment of different varieties of this drink based on tea leaves. Due to the revival of fashion for natural products, buyers are increasingly choosing herbal infusions for brewing.

Ivan tea or angustifolia fireweed is a plant whose taste and aroma is familiar to almost every person. It has long been brewed and drunk in Rus', believing that it can cure many diseases. Many entrepreneurs living in rural areas are engaged in the production of fireweed. They are attracted by high profitability and minimal investment in opening their own company.

Collection of fireweed tea

Experienced entrepreneurs prefer to purchase finished raw materials from village residents at wholesale prices. The mixture can only be dried and fermented. In the first year of operation, the company is recommended to release traditional varieties. In the future, the range is expanded with the help of various additives, such as berries or medicinal plants.

Drying fireweed

There are companies in Russia that carry out the full production cycle: from growing fireweed to its processing and packaging. With this approach, the resulting material will be of high quality. In addition, companies save on the wages of grass pickers and the purchase of production materials.

Legal registration

Russian legislation allows citizens to sell surplus crops obtained from their own plots of land without paperwork. But in order to sell fireweed on a large scale, it is necessary to register the organization with the tax authority. Individual entrepreneur or LLC should be chosen as the organizational and legal form of activity.

At the second stage of paperwork, the businessman must certify the product. Without the permission of Rospotrebnadzor, it is impossible to conclude contracts with retail chains.

Angustifolia fireweed is used as a medicine. A businessman can register a product as a dietary supplement and supply it to pharmacies or sanatoriums.

Equipment

It is impossible to make goods at home without special equipment. Production equipment is sold in
online stores. Domestic companies do not produce devices, so the main production units are bought abroad. These include:

• Mixer for raw materials;
• Rollerballs;
• Automatic dryer;
• Apparatus for packaging finished products.

If the herbal mixture is produced in disposable bags, you will need to purchase additional equipment. Some manufacturers offer full-fledged lines for the production of tea drinks. Their cost depends on the configuration and power, and on average is about 1 million rubles. The necessary equipment is selected after the entrepreneur has decided on the volume of production.

Where to sell fireweed?

The product is in high demand and is in demand in the market. Despite this, the issue of product marketing should be taken seriously. At the first stage, you can cooperate with small health food stores and private sellers. Having gained a reputation as a responsible manufacturer, you need to strive to work with large retail chains.

Many entrepreneurs sell their products via the Internet and social networks. Having established delivery, you can send goods to all regions of the country, thereby increasing the sales market. The agricultural fair is another trading platform. Companies often organize drink tastings. This allows consumers to learn about the beneficial properties of the product and evaluate its taste.

Ivan tea production technology

The production of tea drinks begins with the collection of leaves. Raw materials are harvested in the summer months - from June to August. Assembled
Fireweed is placed in bags, but it is not recommended to store it - the plant may darken and lose its beneficial properties.

The technology for making herbal tea includes the following steps:

• Preparation of raw materials. The leaves are sorted, cleaned of foreign debris and weeds;
• Withering tea leaves. The plant is placed in a dark place for a day. Using a professional drying oven will reduce this period to 8-10 hours;
• Removing juice. When rolled, the fireweed leaf releases a liquid that mixes enzymes and polyphenols. Villagers perform this step manually. The company uses special meat grinders to produce granular material;
• Fermentation of raw materials. This is the main stage on which the taste of the drink and its variety depend. The blank material is laid out on aluminum or wooden pallets and sent to dry in a dark room. During this process, oxalic acid is destroyed in the plant;
• Drying. At this stage, manufacturers stop the fermentation process. Fireweed is placed in drying ovens for 1 – 3 hours. The moisture content in the leaves is reduced to 2%.

Note! Large enterprises complete the manufacturing process by fractionation - sorting the resulting collection before packaging.

Business plan for production

Planning is of great importance for every entrepreneur. With the help of a business plan, you can understand whether it is profitable to produce herbal teas in rural areas. Using the example of a small home business, we will calculate the costs of opening and approximate revenue.

The collection is packaged in packages weighing 100 grams. The cost of the product depends on the variety and additives, and on average is 800 rubles per 1 kg. From the sale of 300 kg of herbal drink, the entrepreneur will receive an income of 240,000 rubles. The profitability of this area is at the level of 50-70%. The initial investment will pay off within the first year of operation.

Call for any questions! Phone: 8 911 52-00-400 (Alena)

When and where to collect Ivan tea leaves?

The procurement of plant raw materials in our region begins in mid-June, this is the so-called early harvest. The collection of raw materials is also carried out during the flowering of Ivan tea and continues until the end of July. During this period, fireweed leaves contain many useful substances.

The main thing is to choose environmentally friendly gathering place. Be sure to be away from cities, industrial zones, and away from highways. This is explained by the fact that plants accumulate everything that is in the atmosphere.
The environmentally friendly leaf is collected at a distance of at least 30 kilometers from the city.
The best place to collect raw materials will be a clearing or edge near the forest.

Collection time depends on the weather

Ivan tea begins to bloom earlier in hot weather, later in cold weather.

It is also worth noting that in leaf collection is not carried out in wet weather. This is because the fermentation process is very important for the taste and quality of the finished product, and the raw leaf ferments very poorly.

It is necessary to collect Ivan tea in dry weather in the morning, as soon as the dew has dried.

Technology of manual collection of Ivan tea leaves

Red islands among the green meadows are visible from afar, so finding Ivan-tea is not difficult. The collection process itself is done manually.

There is nothing difficult about collecting the sheet. With one hand the plant is taken at the top, in the place where the flowers begin, and with the other hand the leaf is collected moving down the stem.
Collect leaves in clean polypropylene bags without compacting them. so as not to crumple and the sheet does not become steamed or wither. It is also worth noting that the most useful leaves are located closer to the top of the head, so you need to collect them, leaving those that are at the bottom.

It is necessary to control the quality of raw materials already at the collection stage!

Sick, dry, dusty or contaminated leaves should not be collected.
They are not suitable for the production of Ivan tea.
It is necessary to control the quality of raw materials already at the collection stage!

Note!

Besides fireweed angustifolia you can also find its variety - .
In appearance, it is very similar to Ivan tea, but cannot be collected as raw material.
You can distinguish angustifolia fireweed from forest fireweed by its appearance.
Ivan-tea has a height of 70 to 200 cm, forest fireweed reaches a height of only 15 cm.

We accept fresh leaves of Ivan tea (angustifolia fireweed) in the Vologda region, season June-July 2017, from 50 kg.

The price per sheet for qualified collectors is 15 rubles. per kilogram
A qualified assembler must:

• know and follow the rules for collecting leaves,
• know and follow the rules for storing and transporting sheets

Company tea leaf collection points
“Vologda Ivan-tea”

• Belozersk(Belozersky district)
• Shola(Belozersky district)
• Lipin boron(Vashkinsky district)
• Maza(Kaduisky district)
• Kaduy(Kaduisky district)
• Totma(Totemsky district)
• Tarnoga(Tarnozhsky district)
• Ustyuzhna(Ustyuzhsky district)
• Churovskoe(Sheksninsky district)
• Chebsara(Sheksninsky district)
• Kharlamovskaya(Cherepovets district)

At the collection points, the collected sheet is the first thing checked for quality, presence of weeds and dead leaves. The price of taking Ivan tea leaves depends on this. If you have to spend time selecting grass and weed leaves, the price is reduced. Afterwards, the sheet is laid out in an even layer, cleaned of impurities that accidentally entered the raw material during collection. Then the sheet is twisted using special equipment, and then the natural fermentation process takes place under special conditions. In order for the workshop to operate at full capacity, the availability of raw materials is necessary. Therefore, during the tea leaf harvesting season, responsible, efficient, hardy people who are focused on results are required.
The Russian Ivan-tea company invites everyone who is looking for work or has free time, who is not embarrassed by working in the open air, to cooperate. Tea leaf pickers are required for June-July.

The price of admission depends primarily on the quality of the tea leaf!

• Highest category- clean, beautiful, healthy green without any weeds - 15 rubles kg.
• First category- there is an admixture of weeds or withered leaves - 10 rubles kg.
  In this case, you have to spend time picking out weeds and dead leaves.
• Second category if in addition the sheet begins to steam

Dirty, dusty, and not clean tea leaves will not be accepted!

Beauty is all around us! Let's go to the collection of Ivan tea, friends!

The Platonov family left the noisy metropolis for a quiet family estate - to live in harmony with nature and produce an environmentally friendly drink

IT tools used by the Platonov family

• Microsoft Excel
• Google Docs
• Wordpress

Alexander and Daria Platonov moved from Moscow to the Tula region several years ago to live on their family estate. The collection and production of fireweed tea became for them both a “job for the soul” and a family business, while being as different as possible from city work. Now the family supplies tea to restaurants in Moscow and the Tula region, is considering the possibility of opening an online store, and plans to expand production.

Alexander Platonov studied at the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University. In the early 90s, when I had to feed my family, I learned the profession of a plumber. After moving to the estate, I began to look for an alternative income opportunity, and preparing fireweed tea became one of the options. Daria Platonova graduated from the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University. After studying, she opened her own business related to the early development of children (after moving to the Tula region, she closed the business). Now she works as an early development teacher in a children's club in Moscow, coming to the capital for 2-3 days a week and giving private lessons. He spends the rest of his time in his family settlement. In the warm season, Alexander, Daria and their three sons are engaged in collecting and producing fireweed.

How the idea of ​​a family business came about

The Platonov family began developing land in the Tula region in 2003, and in 2006 they moved to the family estate for permanent residence. We decided to eat as healthy and nutritious as possible. Having learned about the healing properties of Ivan tea, Daria and Alexander tried it. “At first he didn’t impress us at all: grass is grass. But, as it turned out, the question was how to cook it. Once, when we were visiting, we were treated to fireweed tea. And we were struck to the core by how tasty and unusual it was,” recalls Daria Platonova.

Daria and Alexander became interested in Ivan tea. It turned out that this drink has many useful properties, for example, strengthening the immune system and hair, eliminating pain from migraines, lowering body temperature and others. This was one of the reasons why the couple began collecting and preparing fireweed for their family.

It took several years to collect information about this drink, search for ancient recipes and discover the taste of herbal tea. Daria studied specialized literature, found information on the Internet, and wrote down recipes for teas that pilgrims she knew brought from their trips to monasteries. “We collected the necessary information bit by bit,” she recalls.

“If there had not been such a strong positive reaction to our tea from relatives and friends, we would not have started doing this “for sale”

The Platonovs collected tea for themselves and also treated their friends and relatives to it. The results pleased everyone, including connoisseurs of this drink. Even those who also collected tea “for themselves” admired their product and recommended “expanding”. “If there had not been such a strong positive reaction to our tea from relatives and friends, we would not have started doing this “for sale,” says Daria.

Daria and Alexander began selling fireweed tea in 2012. The first clients were friends and their acquaintances who asked to sell them this or that collection of plants.

At the same time, the Platonovs began to study Ivan tea drinks from competitors in order to understand whether their own products corresponded to similar products on the market. The conclusions drawn after purchasing from various manufacturers turned out to be ambiguous. “Some manufacturers make a good quality product; they revive old recipes. But at the same time, many suppliers have appeared on the market, the quality of their tea does not stand up to criticism. Their “work” can be called discrediting the product and devaluing the very idea of ​​healthy eating,” says Daria. She and her family rely on healthy and high-quality tea, collected and processed by hand.

How is fireweed produced?

Making fireweed tea is a rather complex technological process. Tea prepared by the Platonov family goes through six to eight stages of processing.

The first stage is the actual collection. The Platonovs collect wild plants near their ancestral settlement, on the border of the Tula and Moscow regions near the Prioksko-Terrasny Nature Reserve. This is an ecologically clean place in which fireweed grows in natural conditions, and is not specially planted by humans. There it is adjacent to other plants, which is very important for the taste of the finished product. Harvesting occurs within strictly defined periods - during flowering (June-July). This is a fairly short period, about a month. There is a lot of work at this time, and you have to work 16-18 hours a day. If the weather permits, the Platonovs go out for collection early in the morning, as soon as the dew disappears - at 3-4 o’clock.

The collected leaves are then dried to remove excess moisture. Then comes the sorting, as a result of which the future tea is manually freed from foreign plants and insects, which also love fireweed. “The process of careful manual sorting is very labor-intensive and long, but without it there is no way to get a high-quality drink,” says Daria Platonova.

“Experts say that our tea has amazing energy. Of course, this is the result of the handiwork and love with which we make tea. A machine will never give such a result. It will also be delicious, but it’s completely different.”

Next, the plants are crushed (also by hand) and placed for fermentation. After which the sheet is cut, dried and sifted into different fractions. The finished tea is blended (flowers or other plants are added) and left for ripening. One batch of tea goes through all these stages in about a week. Ivan tea is packaged immediately before sale.

The Platonovs do all their work by hand; they do not use any industrial equipment. Although it exists and can facilitate the production process. Due to its cost, the equipment is not yet available to families whose business is only in its infancy and is seasonal. For example, a machine for rolling tea leaves costs from 200 thousand rubles.

“Experts say that our tea has amazing energy. Of course, this is the result of the handiwork and love with which we make tea. A machine will never give such a result. It will also be tasty, but this is completely different. Handmade is handmade. Many will understand what I'm talking about."

The family plans to purchase a leaf-rolling machine to increase production, but will definitely continue to stock handmade teas.

Economics of the project

When the Platonovs began producing tea for sale, they spent about 100 thousand rubles to open their own business, some of which were borrowed. Product certification alone cost approximately 30 thousand rubles. But now all tea from the Platonovs has a certificate of conformity. The rest of the money was spent on the production of a drying cabinet, pallets for drying sheets, branded packaging and labels.

The drawing for the label was given to the Platonovs by an artist friend. I came to visit them and, after trying the drink, drew a sketch. Now this drawing is on all natural paper bags in which tea is packaged. “When you buy from us, you can open, look, smell – in a word, feel the product with all your senses to understand what you are buying. For stores, our packaging may not be the best option. But we are ready to change in this regard, to look for something new,” explains Daria.

The weight of one package is 60 or 100 grams. Since Platonov’s tea is hand-rolled, it takes up a lot of space when dried. Therefore, more than 100 grams cannot be placed in one package. If tea is compacted into a bag, the product may lose some of its properties: the leaves will crumble or become wrinkled. The cost of packaging is 400-500 rubles, depending on the variety.

In total, the Platonovs have eight different tea options. This year, at the request of customers, new items have appeared. These are mixtures of fireweed with other plants: meadowsweet, which gives an almond aroma, currant leaf, cherry or mint. There are both subtle and more tart fruit flavors. “Variety of assortment is an incredibly important point. We are constantly open to new recipes, ideas and experiments. But on the other hand, if people like a particular taste, they often ask for it next time. Therefore, it is very important to “age” certain varieties, i.e. produce them with the same taste from batch to batch,” notes Daria.

The Platonovs supply their products to two Moscow restaurants, as well as to the first Russian restaurant working exclusively on local products - “Mark and Lev” in the Tula region. “We love this restaurant very much. Well done guys! Great idea and great execution."

The Platonovs actively participate in fairs and festivals, which are now the main promotion channel. There, in addition to selling, they organize tastings of their teas. The Platonovs also collaborate with organizers of ethno-festivals and events dedicated to a healthy lifestyle.

Plans and prospects

The family does not have a permanent store, because... there are no large sales volumes. “Unfortunately, it is simply impossible to increase the volume to “store volume” without losing the quality of the product, we have already understood this. Maybe this is maximalism, but I don’t know of any other ways to make a product tasty and of high quality. We are capable of producing, at best, several hundred kilograms of tea per season. This is not a volume for Moscow,” says Daria.

“Now our task is to cooperate with several more restaurants in Moscow or the region. I think that a restaurant with really high-quality food should definitely have traditional Russian Ivan tea in its tea menu. In addition, our tea can be brewed several times - this is also a plus for restaurant customers. Our production volumes allow us to work to order for several restaurants: when there is a pre-order from a restaurant in terms of volume and assortment, it is much easier to plan production. Next year we plan to hire people for the collection, but we will prepare the tea ourselves,” the Platonovs share their plans for the future.

The Platonov family also sees its task as creating an online store through which it will be possible to order fireweed. “But the problem is that we are far from Internet technologies, and for us this is a rather difficult goal,” admits Daria. Her children, more confident computer users, are now working on creating their own website and pages on social networks.

The business dream of the Platonov family is to put their product on the tables of all lovers of healthy and tasty food. “Our tea, compared to store-bought tea, is like strawberries from the garden versus strawberries from retail chains. Our whole family and our friends have already switched to our own Ivan tea and don’t drink anything else,” says Daria.