For College of Idaho history professor Jeff Snyder-Reinke, necessity has been the mother of invention — and in this case, that invention has come in the form of hot, high quality, organic fruit tea.
After he began to experiment with fruit infusions in his kitchen last spring, Snyder-Reinke founded Voće Tea, a handcrafted fruit tea with an emphasis on the use of responsibly-sourced organic fruits and spices with no added sugar, artificial colors or preservatives. What was originally envisioned as a way to provide a low-sugar and healthy drink for his son Ike, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes about four years ago, has quickly become a growing business for the history professor, who has recently purchased a tea-bagging machine from China capable of packing 1,000 bags per hour to keep up with consumer demand.
“I don’t think any of us knew how big this would get,” Snyder-Reinke said. “We’ve been as successful as we could have hoped to have been by this point.”
Inspired by a combination of his son’s diagnosis, his wife’s taste for fruit-flavored drinks and distaste for certain herbal teas, and a concern about the safety of food products with Chinese and Indian origins (where he has personally seen tea grown in heavily polluted areas toxic with pesticides), Snyder-Reinke began Voće Tea as a means to address the need for a hot tea option using certified organic ingredients, many of which he is able to pick up locally.
“Idaho is a great place to start a tea company,” Snyder-Reinke said. “There are so many places here that sell American grown organic fruit. All I have to do is go to Nampa and I can find a lot of what I need.”
After experimenting with various combinations of flavor profiles, Snyder-Reinke has developed nine different flavors of tea, from the popular Mango Pineapple Coconut to Strawberry Orange Mint — with more flavor possibilities on the way. Snyder-Reinke, with the help of friends and C of I alumni, has hand packed the teas in biodegradable teabags at the University of Idaho’s Food Technology Center in Caldwell.
“My wife was my first tester, and my kids have come along for the ride,” Snyder-Reinke said. “Early on, it took a lot longer to figure out what worked — not because the flavors themselves are very complicated, but because it can take a bit to get the portions in each recipe down.”
Even in the midst of summer — a time Snyder-Reinke said is the most challenging to market hot tea — consumer response has been largely positive. Snyder-Reinke said he has received regular feedback from buyers every Tuesday at the Ketchum Farmers’ Market and has maintained steady online sales at www.vocetea.com, where he maintains ingredient lists and countries of origin for each of his flavors. Voće Tea is also now available on the shelves of the Boise Co-op at both its North End and Village locations.
Snyder-Reinke considers the current rate of growth an accomplishment. He hopes to continue focusing on e-commerce sales while maintaining positive relationships with local customers and storefronts with the aid of word-of-mouth advertising.
“I’ve never been in business like this before, but it’s been really fun and interesting getting this started,” Snyder-Reinke said. “What’s important now is just making sure we can grow in a controlled manner — I would rather take things slower on the front end and take a much more systematic approach to how we keep moving forward.”
After appearing on KTVB’s “Keepin’ It Local” with Dee Sarton to showcase his tea along with his sons, Snyder-Reinke began to receive more attention from friends at the C of I who hadn’t heard about his new business venture. Snyder-Reinke said he received a number of bewildered emails from colleagues and students who were surprised at the news and eager to try the tea for themselves. He said it has served as a means of getting in touch with former students, both as a means of catching up with how they’ve been since graduating as well as spreading his business.
“It’s not only encouraging from a business perspective, but it’s so nice to be able to connect with students I haven’t seen for many years and see what they’re doing,” Snyder-Reinke said.
Snyder-Reinke assured that he has no intentions of leaving the C of I to focus on tea full time, even as he heads into what he calls the “tea season” of September through March.
“It’s all just been fun,” he said. “It would take a lot of sales for me to consider going anywhere.”
To learn more about Voće Tea and to purchase some for yourself, visit www.vocetea.com, and follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The College of Idaho has a 127-year-old legacy of excellence. The C of I is known for its outstanding academic programs, winning athletics tradition and history of producing successful graduates, including seven Rhodes Scholars, three governors, and countless business leaders and innovators. Its distinctive PEAK Curriculum challenges students to attain competency in the four knowledge peaks of humanities, natural sciences, social sciences and a professional field—empowering them to earn a major and three minors in four years. The College’s close-knit, residential campus is located in Caldwell, where its proximity both to Boise and to the world-class outdoor activities of southwest Idaho’s mountains and rivers offers unique opportunities for learning beyond the classroom. For more information, visit www.collegeofidaho.edu.