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Website: www.herbalgram.org
Member Advisory
Tea Expert and Entrepreneur Steven Smith Dies at 65
Steven Smith, who co-founded household tea brands including Tazo, Stash, and Steven Smith Teamaker, passed away on Monday, March 23rd, in Portland, Oregon from complications due to liver cancer.
A philanthropist as well as a tea visionary, Smith worked tirelessly to create new and different tea blends for his company while giving back to the communities in India where many of the ingredients were sourced. Smith created some of Tazo’s most recognizable blends, including the Awake breakfast tea and Zen green tea; he and his partners eventually sold the company to Starbucks in 1998 for a reported $9.1 million dollars. Today, the company is worth over $1 billion. Smith continued in the high-end tea business, opening Steven Smith Teamaker with his same philosophy of quality and compassion.
Smith “has been a friend and mentor for many years,” said Ray Wolfson, co-owner of Matrix Marketing, a veteran natural foods industry brokerage firm for over 40 years, and a long-time friend of Smith’s. “His knowledge, humor and open humanity have been an inspiration to me and all who have had the honor of knowing him. We will miss his guidance and most of all his presence.”
“Steve was truly one of the most remarkable, passionate, compassionate, and genuine people I’ve ever met in the herb community,” said Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of the American Botanical Council. “He was a good friend and great supporter of ABC’s nonprofit educational mission. All of us in the herb community have lost a true friend and brilliant champion for tea and many other herbs.”
More information on Steve’s life can be found in the story published online today in The Oregonian, available here. He is survived by his wife Kim, his daughter Carrie, and his son Jack. The family suggests contributions in Smith's memory be made to Mercy Corps’ School Education Retention Program, in which Smith was personally involved, to aid the people and communities that grew his tea.
