A note from Jennifer...

Eight years ago, I started Pluck Tea with a vision to ‘fix restaurant tea.’ Armed with a credit card, $5000 that I had saved up from my job selling office furniture, a freshly minted Tea Sommelier Certificate, and my mom’s hand – me – down hatchback, my early Pluck days were spent meeting with chefs, bartenders and baristas, visiting local farms and food makers, and blending teas with local ingredients at my kitchen table for delivery the next day.

Once we had confidence that I was on to something (this tea company idea may just work!) my family put it all on the line. We sold our house, rented an apartment around the corner, and went ‘all in’ with my husband’s income carrying our family expenses including those of our three kids. 

As the company grew over the years, Pluck Tea added dozens and eventually hundreds of new restaurant customers (including those of several top chefs across Canada), office customers, and select retailers.

We won some prestigious industry awards, invested in a gorgeous, light – filled production facility in the GTA (that we are still operating in today), and built an incredible team of eight awesome full time employees. Every dollar we earned was reinvested into building our vision of the bravest and boldest tea company in the world.

And then COVID happened. In a matter of days, the foundation of the business simply evaporated. The restaurants we relied on were shut. If they weren’t closed, they were offering takeout or delivery only, but tea isn’t an ideal takeout or delivery option. (Unless you’re one of the big guys.) Unfortunately, as a result of declining sales we had to lay off half our staff, and reduce hours for those who remained.

The definition of Pluck:  noun  ‘Spirited and determined courage.’

The past many months have been truly transformational. Our team has dug in, rethought, reimagined, and rebuilt. Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say.

I am happy to report that today, thanks to the support of customers like you (and to the incredible effort put forth by our team) we have been able to bring almost everyone back to work full time. Our new website is now live and is getting more traffic by the day. We have also introduced Pluck loyalty points as well as emissions – free delivery (by bike or electric car) for customers in Toronto.

Thank you on behalf of our whole team for supporting small business. It truly means the world to us.

Be well,

Jennifer

Founder + CEO

Pluck Tea Inc.