Talking with Million Dollar Cup of Tea author and entrepreneur Tedde McMillen

In 1994, Tedde’s daughter, Heather Howitt, approached her with an exotic drink, CHAI, and said, “Mom, I think we can sell this stuff.” After agreeing to help Heather launch the business, Oregon Chai was born. For the first three years of the company and nearly one-million in sales, Tedde served as Chair of the Board of Directors. She was responsible for all manufacturing of Oregon Chai and developed six new beverages for the company of which three were finalists for best new beverage at NASFT’s Fancy Food Show in New York. Their strategy was to hire experienced professionals to help grow the business. It worked, bringing the company to profitability, the leader of a “new” beverage category and over $35 million in sales when it sold in 2004 to Kerry Group for $75 million! Tedde has been published internationally in The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal and Tea International and has written two books: Million Dollar Cup of Tea, the Founding of Oregon Chai, published by WBusiness Books and a workbook: How-To Take Your Food Product to Market. Join us as Tedde talks about her journey into entrepreneurship and what it takes to start and grow a multimillion dollar business