TEEKANNE Quality promise
TEEKANNE stands for unparalleled tea enjoyment, carefully selected products and exacting processing standards. Josh Feitelson visited the different TEEKANNE plantations to compile an impressive visual tale of how our teas are made.
Along the way on the plantations
This is Josh Feitelson, an up-and-coming film maker with great talent.
He visited plantations around the world and met the TEEKANNE employees who work there. Join him on this impressive visual journey.
Careful selection
TEEKANNE procures most of its key raw materials from monitored contract growers to ensure a consistently high level of quality.
The value creation chain is monitored by TEEKANNE agricultural engineers in the countries where the tea is grown, starting with the selection of the optimal growing areas by our experts. These areas are chosen on the basis of many factors including climate, soil conditions, hours of sunshine and clean water. Holistic cultivation conceptThe TEEKANNE agricultural engineers then assist the selected growers with planning their fields, choosing the best planting stock and ensuring the optimal processing of the harvested leaves. Subsequent growing operations and harvests are inspected by TEEKANNE staff on site. The company places value on a holistic cultivation concept that takes account of the needs of people, nature and the environment. For example, special soil tests allow our experts to recommend the best fertilisation options. Plant protectants are only used when necessary, and only contain the active agents approved in the EU.Monitoring compliance with the strict standardsThe processing of the harvested leaves, including the wilting, rolling, fermentation, drying and storage, are governed by rules and processes stipulated by TEEKANNE. TEEKANNE conducts regular inspections to ensure compliance with strict environmental and hygiene standards.
Selection of the best growing areas
The value creation chain is monitored by TEEKANNE agricultural engineers in the countries where the tea is grown, starting with the selection of the optimal growing areas by our experts. These areas are chosen on the basis of many factors including climate, soil conditions, hours of sunshine and clean water.
Further production
The processing of the harvested leaves, including the wilting, rolling, fermentation, drying and storage, are governed by rules and processes stipulated by TEEKANNE. TEEKANNE conducts regular inspections to ensure compliance with strict environmental and hygiene standards.
Quality controls
TEEKANNE has a dedicated quality assurance and product development unit with 29 employees at its headquarters in Düsseldorf. Its processes are DIN EN ISO 9001:2000 and International Food Standard certified.
TEEKANNE also has a dedicated quality control laboratory where 12 employees conduct over 20,000 analyses every year. The facility is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and goes far beyond the legal requirements in its testing.
Quadruple quality inspections
All raw materials go through four quality inspections: before they are purchased, when the shipments are received, after they are blended, and after production.
These inspections catch and reject any goods that do not meet the stringent TEEKANNE requirements and that can therefore not be used in our products.
Sensory tests
In addition to the laboratory tests, all raw materials are also subjected to sensory tests to assess their appearance, scent and flavour. Our in-house tea tasters and their assistants check the goods samples and delivered raw materials at every stage of the production process in Düsseldorf. This ensures that every product meets the sensory requirements before it is dispatched for sale.
Hygiene
A disinfection system ensures that our herbal and fruit teas meet our hygienic standards. A gentle process is used to preserve the valuable active substances.
Packaging quality
Even the packaging used for TEEKANNE’s products is subject to exacting quality requirements. We only use packaging that contains no recycled materials and that meets our sensory and laboratory requirements. In order to ensure the quality of the TEEKANNE products, all raw and packaging materials are purchased by one unit.
Product development
Much needs to be done before the individual raw materials can be turned into a finished tea blend. Each individual component has a unique character, and that makes it extremely difficult to come up with a tea composition that is harmonious and that has a well balanced flavour. Long experience and a knack for tea are also indispensable. We are happy to rise to the challenge:
Every TEEKANNE product has a unique, incomparable flavour – created using only all natural ingredients. And to make sure that this doesn’t change, we have assembled a team of trained tasters who use their extremely fine sense of taste to ensure that popular TEEKANNE blends always have the same flavour.
Our product developers create many different new products every year.
But before the final blend is set, over 500 different samples are mixed and tasted. Because our recipes are refined and refined again until our product developers are absolutely satisfied.
Then, the recipes are presented to internal and external panels made up of trained and untrained consumers for tasting and scoring. If the results of these panel reviews are not satisfactory, the recipes are reworked again by our product developers until every nuance is just right. No recipe is approved for production until our product developers and our internal and external panels are entirely satisfied.
