Newby’s storage, blending and packing takes place at our production facility near Kolkata, India. Today, we’re talking about why we chose this location and what goes on inside.

Most major tea-growing regions are in Asia – India, China, Nepal, Sri Lanka - so it was a natural choice to create a production facility close to these. This facilitates a faster transit time from source to factory, maintaining the product’s freshness. It’s important that teas are stored in cool and dry ambient temperatures all year round, especially in tropical climate zones. This is why our production facility is climatically controlled, and has arrangements to maintain the freshness of the air inside the factory.

Special cold rooms have been built where the temperature is maintained at between 8-12o C, used to store green and herbal teas. Green teas do not undergo the fermenting and high temperature drying process which black teas do, making them vulnerable to warmer climates resulting in the leaves turning browner or greyer and showing a decline in cup quality. Therefore, they are kept in the cold rooms until taken for production, where they are sealed in high-barrier packing materials to retain the freshness of the tea until opened. Our team also inspects the vehicle which brought the tea to the factory, with each package checked for any damage or stains – in which case the Quality Control (QC) department will inspect it further. At the point of receipt, each particular tea is assigned with a PIN number for ease of traceability. Tea sacks are carefully overwrapped for extra protection and then stored at pre-designated locations. Fresh samples called landed samples are drawn and again tested against the pre-shipment samples for quality. Hand-blended options are made and comparative tasting done, with samples sent for approval in London. After its sensory approval, each is sent to a certified lab to check it complies with the EU’s MRL (Maximum Residue Level), and India’s FSSAI (Food Safety & Standards Authority), rules. A blend can only be replicated from hand-blend to commercial if it has been cleared on all counts.

Our packing methods are equally important. Tea is highly susceptible to light, moisture damage and air contamination, and this was the impetus behind the selection of aluminium and PET as materials in our packaging. Our tea bag laminate is a multi-layered material containing both and, although it’s expensive, we believe it’s worth it to give our customers the optimal tea drinking experience. We put our enveloped tea bags through extensive in-house tests to check their barrier property – such as soaking an enveloped tea bag in water for over 48 hours. Even after all that time, the tea bag inside won’t show any traces of water or staining. These are just some of the factors which contribute to our plant’s consistent ‘A’ ratings since 2005, with the British Retail Consortium’s ‘Global Standards for Food Safety’.