Loose leaf tea loses flavor to light, air and moisture, so its packaging is chosen by how long the tea will sit before it's drunk. A kraft stand-up pouch with a zip is the everyday package, but kraft alone lets aroma escape over months. A foil-lined pouch keeps out light, air and moisture, which is what a shop shelf needs. A tin keeps tea dark and airtight and gets reused at home, so it's the gift and the first purchase, with cheaper refill pouches after. A glass jar shows the leaf but lets light in, so it suits sturdy herbal blends that sell quickly. Every package carries the label your license requires and the blend's lot and best-by date. In the example below, a tea blender on Oʻahu prices four options: 45 cents to $1.72 a package. Below are the options, the label, the example, and a free cost calculator.
The short version
- Everyday retail: a kraft stand-up pouch with a zip.
- Shop shelves and long storage: a foil-lined pouch.
- Gifts and first purchases: a tin, then refill pouches.
- Herbal blends that sell fast: a glass jar, kept out of the sun.
- Keep tea away from light, air and moisture; green teas are the most sensitive.
- Label with the required lines and put the blend's lot and best-by date on every package.
- Count the package in the cost: a tin can cost more than half a pouch of tea.
- TaroStack keeps each blend's lot and date, and the packaging in every batch's cost. More below.
The options
| Option | Light | Air and moisture | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kraft stand-up pouch | Kept out by the kraft | Zip closes it; aroma escapes over months | Retail, sold within weeks |
| Foil-lined pouch | Kept out | Kept out | Shop shelves, longer storage |
| Tin | Kept out | Airtight with an inner lid | Gifts, first purchases |
| Glass jar | Gets in | Airtight lid | Herbal blends that sell quickly |
The label
Tea is a food: its label gives the name, net weight, ingredients, allergens if any, and the name and place of business, plus Nutrition Facts unless an exemption applies. A blend's lot and best-by date let a shop rotate stock and let you trace a batch if a supplier recalls an ingredient. How the label works is in food labeling requirements for small business, and how a blend's costs work in tea business profit margin.
An example: four options for one blend
Māmaki Mana Tea, the made-up tea company on Oʻahu I use in these examples, sells a māmaki and hibiscus blend in 2 oz packages at markets, online, and to cafés and gift shops:
| Option | Parts | Per package | 150 a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kraft stand-up pouch | Pouch 38¢, label | $0.45 | $67.50 |
| Foil-lined pouch | Pouch 48¢, label | $0.55 | $82.50 |
| Tin | Tin $1.55, wrap label | $1.72 | $258.00 |
| Glass jar | Jar $1.15, label | $1.27 | $190.50 |
The retail pouches stay kraft; the gift shops' pouches move to foil-lined, because they sit on a shelf for weeks, for 10 cents more each. Tins go to the markets and the website as the first purchase, with a refill pouch on the side. The tea in a 2 oz package costs $2.74, so the tin adds 63% to it. What the business earns is in tea business plan, and every packaging cost in packaging cost per unit.
Get the calculator
Download the tea packaging calculator. Two sheets: components, each part of each option with its pack price, units, how many a package uses and waste; and compare, each option's cost per package and per week at your volume, with notes. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
Four packages for one blend means four items to stock, and every package needs the right blend lot and date. A spreadsheet of costs doesn't know which lot is in which pouch.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each blend's lot and date, and the packaging in every batch's cost.
Each blend a batch. Blending and filling is a batch with a lot and its best-by date, and the batch notes which tea and hibiscus lots it used, automatically.
Packaging in the recipe. The pouch or tin and its label are items in each package's recipe, so every batch uses them up at the price you paid.
What each channel earns. Margins show by product and by customer, so a gift shop's foil pouch and a market's tin are compared plainly.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Which lot is in a pouch | Written by hand | The lot on its label |
| Tins left | Counted when you run out | Used by every batch |
| What a shop's pouches earn | A guess | Margin by customer |
Lots, batches, recipes and true cost are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.