The success story of “Purpose Tea”
Chi Nguyen - a Vietnamese woman, immigrated to the US in 1978 with her family, grew up in Grand Prairie/Texas (USA). After graduating from college, Chi Nguyen worked as an executive director for a brand strategy company for many years, before founding “Purpose Tea”.
Purpose Tea, founded in Dallas in 2017, is a purple tea-based beverage with a mission: to help some of the world's poorest women working in the tea industry escape poverty.
Initially, Chi Nguyen did not focus on a specific product, with a very simple business mindset: “I am not too concerned about what the company sells. We have so many things in this world. For me, the important thing is to have a profitable business.”
Realizing that in Dallas (USA), the startup ecosystem is developing very strongly, especially in the food and beverage sector, with a lot of support from industry associations, Chi Nguyen began to be interested in this field and looked for a niche market to pursue in a competitive context.
Chi Nguyen’s search for the ideal tea for her startup took her to Kenya, “because it’s the third-largest region in the world for smallholder farms.” That’s where she stumbled upon purple tea and the impoverished women who work in its production.
“In my research, I discovered that 85-90% of tea leaf pickers and those who do most of the farm work are women,” Chi Nguyen said. After meeting many women and talking to them about their lives and the challenges they face, Chi Nguyen was inspired to start “Purpose Tea,” which would “create a model for social impact.”
Chi Nguyen's Dallas-based startup now sells bottled and ready-to-drink purple tea products sourced from Kenya.
Profits from Purpose Tea’s business are being used to fund three key areas in Kenya: training and education (many women do not complete primary school); scholarships for their children (school fees are two-thirds of their annual salary); and access to land (nearly 98% of land in Kenya is owned by men, so the ability to lease agricultural land gives women a huge economic advantage).
Recently, Chi Nguyen’s brand and mission have gained a lot of buzz. In August 2023, Chi Nguyen was one of the winners of the Dallas regional round of the “TiE Women Global Pitch 2023” competition.
She is a finalist in the global competition, to be held in Singapore this November, for potential investment.
What is purple tea?
Unlike black or green tea, purple tea offers a blend of mild flavors that are said to be free of bitterness and astringency. Grown only in Kenya, at altitudes between 1,300-2,300m, purple tea starts out green like most other teas, but gradually turns purple as it matures.
Some early research has noted the anti-cancer and natural fat-burning properties of purple tea. It has a mild to medium flavor, with a sweet aftertaste. Because it is grown at high altitudes, this tea variety has a higher content of anthocyanins, a type of antioxidant.
Also thanks to being grown at high altitude, the plant is exposed to more sunlight, thereby creating the unique color and composition of purple tea.
In addition to providing higher levels of antioxidants than blueberries or green tea, purple tea also helps improve nerve cell function and lower blood sugar levels, making it ideal for those struggling with diabetes.
(According to Gardenuity)
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