Suki Tea's Deal At Deanes

Belfast restaurateurs are set to satisfy the most discerning of tastes with the inclusion of a speciality locally blended tea on their menus.

Belfast-based Suki Tea, an artisan tea and infusions importer and blender, is now on offer at some of the city's best known outlets.

A range of Suki Teas is currently available at Michael Deanes, Deanes at Queen's and Deanes Brasserie.

The company has 'designed' a special tea menu for the Deanes outlets, featuring 24 of its most 'exquisite blends' including the rare Jasmine Pearls, Organic White Tea, Darjeeling and its own Fairtrade products.

"Selling our teas to such prestigious restaurants is a marvellous endorsement of the quality, variety and innovation of our product portfolio," said co-founder of Suki Tea, Oscar Woolley.

"We've already been winning business steadily in the UK from an extensive marketing campaign which has included distribution agreements with organisations such as Espresso Warehouse.

"Now, working closely with the team at Deanes Deli we have developed a unique and distinctive tea menu.

"This was a tremendous experience which we hope to repeat with other gourmet customers in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

"What we are offering is the same sort of variety and excitement usually associated with the contemporary coffee business, so that restaurant and café customers can now sample a very diverse range of teas," said Oscar.

Formed in 2005 by good friends Oscar Woolley and Anne Rooney, Suki Tea now sources, blends and packages tea from all over the world and then markets to customers worldwide through a distribution network and internet sales.

Anne said: "We won an award at the IFEX trade exhibition and that just opened the door to lots of hotels, restaurants and cafes.

"Their owners contacted us and said our loose leaf teas were different and they wanted them for their customers.

"As we started getting more and more orders, we decided not to follow our original plan of setting up a teahouse but instead focus the business on being a wholesale supplier of teas to the hospitality industry, this way we can raise the bar for tea as it’s been left by the wayside for such a long time."

A number of outlets such as Donnybrook Fair in Dublin have also taken the company's upmarket accessories such as a distinctive and branded Suki Tea and tray for sale in its supermarket.

The company has achieved SALSA (Safe and Local Supplier Approval) accreditation, an assessment process for smaller food companies, which ensures consistently quality services for customers.

Suki Tea has already built a burgeoning business providing the 'complete loose leaf tea solution' on the back of its initial success at farmers' markets - including St George’s Market, Covent Garden Irish Food Market and the Continental Market in Belfast.

See: www.suki-tea.com

(BMcC)