Rising Sales At Tea Haus In Saugerties, N.Y. Due To Multiple Revenue Streams

Food & Drink Rising Sales At Tea Haus In Saugerties, N. Y. Due To Multiple Revenue Streams Gary Stern Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

I cover the restaurant industry. Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. Got it! Nov 1, 2022, 08:39am EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin At Tea Haus, located in Saugerties, N.

Y. on the way to Woodstock, elixirs and tea have led to a . .

. [+] million dollars in revenue, due to retail, e-commerce and wholesaling sales. Courtesy of Tea Haus Located on Route 212 in Saugerties, N.

Y. on the road to Woodstock, Tea Haus, which specializes in teas and elixirs, has reached a million dollars in revenue through multiple revenue streams. Launched in winter 2013 by a married couple, Jason and Corinna Geib, its business name is ImmuneSchein.

Corinna, a German immigrant, says the name means shining a light on healthy immune systems since “schein” in German means the same as shine in English. Its mission, says Corinna, is “creating a product made with authentic, real ingredients that are good for everyone’s well-being and are tasteful. ” ImmuneSchein depends on three revenue streams: the brick-and-mortar Tea Haus that produces about 40% of its revenue, its online e-commerce business about 35%, and its wholesaling about 25%.

The multiple revenue streams prove that “brick and mortar isn’t dead, e-commerce sales you can’t ignore, and wholesaling, saved our business, during the pandemic,” she explains. Regarding wholesale, it sells to a variety of outlets including natural food stores Mother Earth and Sunflower, Adams’ supermarkets, retail shop Bread Alone, resorts Emerson Resort and Mohonk Mountain House, Pete’s Fresh health food stores in the Chicago area, among several smaller stores. Its elixirs are considered healthy but aren’t marketed as supplements, Corinna says.

Its ingredients include fresh ginger, lemon juice, elderberries and honey. People take them because they’re tasty, contain no fillers such as water, juice, tea or vinegar. They can also be mixed in cocktails and mocktails.

Ginger, Corinna points out, is known for helping with “indigestion, bloating, gas, nausea and inflammation. ” One client Angela Spinelli, a Woodstock resident, says, “The elixirs are delicious on a cold winter’s day as an alternative to tea. ” She dilutes the cinnamon elixir in hot water.

MORE FOR YOU Meet The Unknown Immigrant Billionaire Betting Her Fortune To Take On Musk In Space ‘Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’ Destroys All Records With $800 Million Opening Weekend Daily Dozen | Forbes: Fraudsters’ Covid Payout; Suns Seek ‘Whale’ Buyer; Bezos’ Fortune Tumbles It also sells around 100 different blends of teas, including about 20 black teas, 35 herbal and caffeine-free teas, green and white teas. These teas are imported and blended from two companies, Octavia Tea and The Tao of Tea, and none is produced in-house. The tea products and elixirs are separate, but they connect in certain ways, Corinna suggests.

“The elixirs can be put into hot or iced tea, and they enhance the flavor,” she adds. The teas and elixirs are all stored in a rented 5,500 square feet facility in nearby West Hurley. “We handcraft all of our ginger elixirs there, along with warehousing, and all of our orders are shipped from there,” Corinna explains.

Tea Haus also functions as a gift store. It sells “local items and specialty foods from around the world,” including over 100 kinds of chocolates, fish tins that include sardines, octopus and oysters, and also handcrafted soaps and body scrubs, Corinna notes. Despite its generating a million dollars in revenue, ImmuneSchein runs lean, with about eight to ten employees.

Both Jason and Corinna work full-time, including at the retail store, which eases hiring needs. It could, she acknowledges, use a sales manager to expand revenue outside of its region. Operating a business between a husband and wife can create quite a juggling act for many entrepreneurs.

Jason and Corrina jointly run the day-to-day operations, but Jason specializes in e-commerce sales and wholesale orders while Corinna focuses on Tea Haus, procurement and staff management. The genesis of the business emanated from Corinna’s childhood in Germany. Her grandfather brewed some drinks with roots, herbs and spices.

When she discovered a book on ginger when she was a teenager, she started concocting lemon, ginger and honey brews and recognized that people found them soothing. “So we took a leap of faith and established the business in 2013,” she says. They launched with a modest $2000 investment, and whenever products were sold, the money was reinvested into raw ingredients and material.

In 2014, an investor offered some additional capital, which enabled them to ramp up their marketing. They welcomed one other investor and took out a loan to purchase the Tea Haus building. When they started at farmer’s markets, first in Asheville, N.

C. , they only offered one flavor of elixir and then grew from there. While the pandemic set back many businesses, ImmuneSchein got overwhelmed with orders, as many people stayed home and were looking for remedies.

“So we had to adjust very quickly to the increase in demand, which resulted in working more and shipping more,” Corinna explains. In 2022, it has faced supply chain issues, leading to several price hikes. “In short, it’s a constant adjusting, re-routing, getting creative, finding new ways, and communicating,” says Corinna.

Asked to describe its target market, Corinna says it varies, ranging from a “95-year-old woman who never had ginger, middle-aged healthy people who do yoga, and anyone that is curious. ” To get the word out, they advertise on local Radio Woodstock (WDST), on Yelp and spread the word at farmer market’s including the Kingston Farmer’s Market. Asked where she expects the business to be in the future, Corinna’s answer didn’t revolve around expansion, the expected response.

Instead, she replied, “We’re not against growth, but if you grow too fast, it can be a problem. We feel comfortable with a steady production and living a healthy, balanced life. ” Gary Stern Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.