About Us

Tea Connexions is an established company with an exciting history. This section provides you with highlights of our business from its early stages to present.

Birth of Tea Connexions (1994 - 2001)

Humble beginnings, Tea Connnexions started at the kitchen table of our Founder, Sanjay Gupta. This marked the start of his first business, Connexions Trading International (CTI). Armed only with dreams and goals, Sanjay set out to build an international business. CTI was officially incorporated in 1995 and up until 1998 focused on helping other businesses export their goods. In 1998, Sanjay traveled to India seeking products that he could import into North America. After several trips to India, he made the decision to import gourmet teas beautifully packaged. In 1999, just married, his wife, Suruchi picked out the first 15 products. They brought in their first import of gourmet teas beautifully packaged just in time for the Christmas season. This marked the birth of Tea Connexions.

Double Digit Growth (2001 - 2004)

This was a very exciting period for Tea Connexions because the business grew tremendously. Based in the heart of the prairies, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, the middle of North America, Tea Connexions began importing teas from India and China and shipping to customers throughout North America, even shipping to Jamaica, Mexico, Europe, and Australia. During this period, the product line expanded from 15 to more than 200 and the business had to move three times to accommodate the growing number of shipments that were coming in from overseas. The business grew so much that Tea Connexions was nominated for Business and Exporter of the Year by the local Chamber of Commerce.

No Guts No Glory (2005 - 2007)

Having established a strong customer base in the United States, Sanjay thought he could continue to run the operations from Canada. However, increased government regulations caused by 9/11 made it increasingly more difficult to ensure that customers received their shipments on time. This was a difficult period because something needed to be done to ensure that current US based customers continued to be served at the high standards set by the company. In 2006, Sanjay decided to move the operations and after extensive research decided on Kingston, ON, a border town located about 30 minutes from the US border. This marked a period of intensive investment and business disruption, but the move was successful and Tea Connexions re-established their HQ in Kingston and warehoused their product in Upstate, NY. Yet, there was still something missing, a permanent base of operations and management TEAm in the United States.

The American Dream (2008 - 2009)

To establish a permanent base of operations in the United States, discussions were initiated with Tea Connexions' top customers. This marked the birth of Sanjay's American Dream and the formation of Tea Connexions USA. August, 2009 marked the beginning of Tea Connexions USA, an American based company formed by Daniel Johnson, President, based in Missouri (Midwest region); Joseph Arnette, Vice President, based in Georgia (Eastern region); and Michelle Davenport, Vice President, based in California (Western region). These three individuals have combined their collective knowledge and experience in the tea industry to provide Americans with a unique business opportunity using the high ethical standards set forth by the Founder of Tea Connexions. To learn more about the formation of Tea Connexions USA, please click here. Also, to read the news release issued by the World Tea Expo, please click here.

The Future is Golden (2009 and beyond)

Based on the successful formation of Tea Connexions USA, Sanjay is planning to expand operations throughout the world by working with other licensee partners. Currently, we are in the process of forming Tea Connexions Europe and looking for operational partners in Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Middle East.

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