Background

Numi Organic Teas arrived on the US business scene in 1999 with an innovative concept of introducing premium-quality, full-leaf organic and Fair Trade Certified teas from Europe and the Middle East. The geniuses behind this amazing find are brother and sister team, Ahmed and Reem Rahim. Leveraging Ahmed’s past experiences as an owner and operator of teahouses in Europe and Reem’s creative background —- as well as their mutual desire to inspire well-being of mind, body and spirit and to build a sense of community — they set upon on a journey to create a vibrate and thriving business located in the Embarcadero Cove area of Oakland.

Their vision for enriching the tea experience has gone far beyond introducing exotic and fabulous tea blends — it has been and continues to be about educating and influencing others to make a difference through their individual experiences with Numi’s products, services, creative packaging, and tea gardens. Celebrating its 10th year in business, Numi Organic Teas offers not only a vibrate space that hosts Tea Garden events, but also markets their products in Whole Foods Markets, Safeway’s Organic Marketplace, other natural food stores, as well as internationally. The story behind the success of Numi Organic Teas and their commitment of global community enrichment caught the attention of ICA.

Business Challenge

In 2004, ICA approached Numi Organic Teas, co-founder Reem Rahim, during one of her public speaking events. At that time, Numi Organic Teas had 25 employees, was located in a 25,000 square-foot warehouse in Oakland near Jack London Square, and had a strong presence in the local community. What ICA discovered, during that chance meeting, was that Numi Organic Teas had a great blueprint for success, but were going through the typical challenges that small businesses experience:

• Strategic guidance and coaching to help them manage the pace of growth
• Financial analysis of loan term sheets and profit & loss statements
• Identify and secure a working line of capital to fund and sustain their growth
• Advise and guidance to address operational issues

How ICA Helped

As Numi Organic Teas began to meet and work with the ICA team, Board of Directors and Advisors the benefits were quickly realized. ICA Advisors provided support and guidance to enable Numi Organic Teas to work through budgeting and forecasting activities, address operational issues, hire the right people to support their vision, conduct a business valuation, secure additional capital, as well as to share their business expertise to help navigate Numi Organic Teas through the various stages of business growth. Most importantly — it was ICA’s own leadership, infrastructure, focus, quality service, and commitment to their mission that served as a model, which inspired the creative brother and sister team to carefully evaluate how they were conducting business and serving the both the local and global communities.

Results

Numi Organic Teas is indeed an amazing success story. In celebration of their 10-years in business, they have launched over 6 products both nationally and internationally, opened their Tea Garden to host local events to create a greater sense of community, created 40 jobs, actively participate in social programs that focus on job creation, safe neighborhoods and parks, and philanthropic and education programs. Like ICA, Numi Organic Teas is committed to their mission and vision in the development of sustainable values that cultivate long-lasting friendships with other business, government and community leaders.