Who Makes Trader Joe’s Tea? (Are They Good?, Reviews + More)

For a decent selection of healthy beverages, Trader Joe’s has a nice array from which to pick. They have tea concentrates and traditional blends in bags.

They’re delicious and come with the company’s guarantee of pure, healthy food.

But, who makes Trader Joe’s Tea? Well, we know that no products with the Trader Joe’s name on it come from a factory that the company manages. They have contracts with manufacturers and suppliers who create and package products for them. The filling and shipping comes out of Trader Joe’s distribution center.

Unfortunately, Trader Joe’s doesn’t reveal who that is. But, we can make an educated guess that it’s between one of the top five tea suppliers: Mother Parkers, Florida Food Products (previously Amelia Bay), Ikeda Tea World, Sugimoto Tea Company, or Private Label Specialties, Ltd.

Why Don’t We Know Who Makes Trader Joe’s Tea?

While there are some products for Trader Joe’s where we can guess at who produces it due to the ingredients, it’s not the same for tea.

Any potential tea supplier will cater various blends to the specifics and wishes of Trader Joes. These will be proprietary and you won’t find them anywhere else.

It’s entirely likely they have contracts with a few of them given what these manufacturers offer. However, we simply don’t know for sure because Trader Joe’s guards and suppresses this information.

Apparently, they take their private label partnerships seriously and keep that secret.

Read also: Does Decaf Tea Have Caffeine? (Best Tips!)

What Do the Various Potential Manufacturers Offer?

The best way to make an educated guess about who makes Trader Joe’s tea is to review the five most popular ones along with their potential offerings:

1. Mother Parkers: Since 1912, Mother Parkers has been a notorious business for producing quality coffee and tea. They offer a range of various teas like oolong, rooibos, white, green, black or a range of flavors.
2. Florida Food Products: Offering a wide range of teas, Florida Food Products has everything from oolong, dark and black teas to white and green. They can make teas specific for things like boosting immunity, aiding digestion, increasing energy, reducing stress, and strengthening cognitive function, among many others.
3. Private Label Specialties, Ltd.: In the way of bottled beverages, Private Label Specialties, Ltd. has its own line of iced tea for major retailers.
4. Sugimoto Tea Company: Sugimoto Tea Company specializes in Japanese matcha green tea powder and green tea blends for private labels.
5. Ikeda Tea World: Another specializing in Japanese tea, Ikeda Tea World deals solely with matcha green tea powder, sencha, hojicha powder.

What Are the Kinds of Tea Sold at Trader Joe’s?

While the selection of Trader Joe’s brand teas is narrow, they are very diverse in their offerings. They have typical black and green teas but they also have herbal teas like blood orange rooibos and ginger turmeric.

To get a better clue about who might produce their private label teas, it’s a good idea to review the ingredients and compare them to the most likely manufacturer. Consider the table below.

Tea Name	Ingredients	Potential Manufacturer
Organic Blood Orange Rooibos	organic hibiscus, orange oil, rosehip, orange peel, natural flavors, and rooibos	Mother Parkers or Florida Food Products
Organic Earl Grey	organic black tea and bergamot oil	Mother Parkers or Florida Food Products
Organic Ginger Turmeric	organic orange oil, orange peel, turmeric, ginger, licorice, black pepper	Mother Parkers or Florida Food Products
Organic Moroccan Mint Green Tea	organic spearmint, lemongrass, and green tea	Mother Parkers or Florida Food Products
Matcha Green Tea Powder	pure matcha green tea powder	Ikeda Matcha or Sugimoto Tea Company
Golden Oolong Tea (bottled)	oolong tea, ascorbic acid and water	Private Label Specialties, Ltd. or Florida Food Products
Organic Cold Brew Black Tea Concentrate (bottled)	organic black tea, citric acid and water	Private Label Specialties, Ltd. or Florida Food Products
Spiced Chai Black Tea Concentrate (bottled)	black tea, filtered water, natural ginger flavor, citric acid, sugar, chai extract (Gum Arabic, cinnamon oleoresin, clove oil, ginger oleoresin, cardamom oil, nutmeg oil, rosemary oleoresin, all spice oil, black pepper oleoresin)	Private Label Specialties, Ltd. or Florida Food Products

Why Pair These Manufacturers with Trader Joe’s Various Teas?

While these are by no means solid or verifiable, there are several reasons why the manufacturers listed above are the suspected suppliers.

First and foremost, all of these are some of the most popular and trusted companies that have the capacity to supply proprietary blends specific to retailers.

Also, certain manufacturers advertise their capacity to create the teas that Trader Joe’s features on their label or within the list of ingredients.

Even though this is speculation, it’s an interesting rumination nonetheless.

Process of Reasoning

For instance, Mother Parkers specifically lists rooibos as one of their selections for retailers, which is one of the highlights of the Blood Orange flavor.

Plus, Trader Joe’s Matcha Green Tea description coincides with the mission statements of both Ikeda Tea World and Sugimoto Tea Company.

Private Label, Ltd., is notorious for making bottled beverages. So, it’s entirely likely they produce the black tea concentrates that Trader Joe’s offers.

Read also: How Much Caffeine Is In Decaf Earl Grey Tea (Real Facts Explained!)

Conclusion

Regardless of where the tea variety comes from, all of what Trader Joe’s has is excellent in taste and price.

Every possible manufacturer takes pride in sourcing their ingredients, ensuring they are free of chemicals, pesticides, and GMOs. Ergo, no matter who makes it, you will enjoy a tasty cup of tea.

References

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/category/coffee-and-tea-194