Our Tea Story
A TALE OF TWO TEACUPS
Like any great story, ours began with a thing called love.
From living separately in densely populated cities holding corporate jobs, we found each other, got married, and moved to a coastal town in Agusan del Norte, Mindanao, Philippines.
Here, surrounded by lush farmlands, we began a life, we began to dream!
But as much as dreaming was fun, the reality gave us a few, err… a lot of hard knocks. It hadn’t been a smooth-sailing ride. We went from one failed business after another (from rice trading to opening a silog carinderia). It felt like we were grasping at straws, having enough successes to inch ourselves forward, only to have as much failures to get us back down.
But we didn’t give up. In 2019, just as we were becoming more health-conscious, we realized we needed to create something that will do other people and the planet good. With this vision, the first sprouts of Nature’s Apothecary began to grow.
OUR TEA-SCOVERY
We started a small online shop, selling locally-sourced and produced raw ingredients and superfoods from the Mindanao region. Honey, tablea, salabat, coco sugar, anything that’s natural and good for the body.
By then, we knew we were onto something. We were working with a spring in our step, because besides helping the region’s small businesses, we were proud of, and enjoyed the products ourselves.
Just as we were getting our bearings, a chance encounter with a curiously blue flower changed the course of our dream. Something about the blue butterfly pea enthralled us!
Suddenly, we were tirelessly researching teas, from floral to herbal, to varieties from around the world. It amazed us that such a simple beverage, derived from Mother Earth, could be so life-nourishing.
Forging an adventure into the great unknown, we found our calling. Tea-obsessed, we started pivoting Nature’s Apothecary into a local loose-leaf tea company. With our vision in place, our journey began.
A TEA PARTY
Throughout this journey, we’re so lucky to have met many people along the way, people we consider the spirit and force behind the brand.
In Agusan del Norte, it literally took a village to create loose leaf tea products. From our trusted suppliers, to the local farmers who toil under the sun to plant, harvest and dry the flowers. The warehouse operations, who diligently fill pouches, pack and package the teas, and make sure the labels are applied perfectly. From the other end, receive and dispatch orders, guarantee the right products are shipped to the customers, and ultimately, make our customers happy.
But it’s not only about customer satisfaction, but also the whole package that comes with Nature’s Apothecary, the whole tea adventure experience -- from the moment you stumble across us on social media, to the moment you open the box, to when you sip a fragrant cup. We have our lean marketing team to thank for that. These people are as tea-obsessed as we are, creating content that are as vibrant and colorful as the wonderful world of tea!
From our past failures, we’ve learned and grown, and are still growing, together with this wonderful group of people, who all came to the party and shared our dream.
BREWING WITH LOVE
Our dream, then until now, is to be a local tea company dedicated to enriching the lives of Filipinos through loose leaf teas.
We believe not only in tea's contribution to our own, and our customers’ health and well-being, but also in its potential to uplift the lives of the people we work with in our rural community.
We assure you that as long as you drink tea, we’ll always be here crafting your favorite loose leaf tea, and thinking of creative ways to make your tea adventure all the more exciting and inspiring.
Love,
JJ, Danica, and the Nature’s Apothecary Team