{"id":92809,"date":"2025-08-18T21:37:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T21:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/92809\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T21:37:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T21:37:14","slug":"business-monday-tea-hawai%ca%bbi-co-helps-nurture-growing-industry-on-the-big-island-big-island-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/92809\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Monday: Tea Hawai\u02bbi & Co. helps nurture growing industry on the Big Island : Big Island Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\"\"<\/a>Chiu Leong walks through the tea plants at Tea Hawai\u02bbi & Company in Volcano. (Courtesy of Tea Hawai\u02bbi)<\/p>\n

Eva Lee walks through the temperate rainforest near the summit of K\u012blauea to check the thousands of tea plants growing between the trees at the estate she built with her husband over the past 25 years.<\/p>\n

Finding the plants ready for harvest, Lee begins handpicking the leaves that will be processed into white, green, oolong or black tea.<\/p>\n

Lee and her husband, Chiu Leong, founded Tea Hawai\u02bbi & Co. in Volcano in 2006 after moving to the Big Island from Los Angeles in 2000 to embark on a tea-growing venture.<\/p>\n

Tea Hawai\u02bbi & Co. employs a method of agroforestry \u2014 which integrates trees into the farming practices to enhance productivity, sustainability and resilience \u2014 to grow Camellia sinensis, the plant used for producing the four types of teas.<\/p>\n

The farm has about 8,000 tea plants spread across 2 acres nestled in a forest that is about 200 years old.<\/p>\n

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The rich volcanic soil, steady rainfall and tropical climate of the Big Island have created a fertile environment for various types of agriculture. But for about 150 years, the dominant crop was sugar cane.<\/p>\n

When the island\u2019s last sugar plantations closed in 1995, the U.S. Department of Agriculture began searching for the next crop.<\/p>\n

After conducting research with the University of Hawai\u02bbi at M\u0101noa\u2019s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, the tea plant was introduced to encourage tea cultivation on the Big Island, where coffee already was a thriving industry, with Kona coffee known worldwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were many people with conventional farming backgrounds who did not want to pursue growing tea because it is labor-intensive,\u201d Lee said. \u201cMany of us who moved to Hawai\u02bbi had no extensive backgrounds in agriculture but were simply interested in tea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tea farming is labor intensive because cultivation, harvesting and processing is all done manually, and with precision. Plants require regular pruning. Tea leaves are handpicked for the youngest leaves and buds. Then, the leaves must be rolled by hand to begin the oxidation process.<\/p>\n

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Tea Hawai\u02bbi hires subcontractors when there are more leaves to harvest or process, but Lee and Leong remain the only full-time employees.<\/p>\n

With the federal and local promotion of tea production in Hawai\u02bbi, Lee said: \u201cPeople from China, India and Japan came over with their expertise to help the industry advance rapidly.\u201d<\/p>\n

With large corporations soon recognizing the high cost of farming in Hawai\u02bbi, leading tea-growing operations mainly start as small, family-run businesses like Tea Hawai\u02bbi & Co.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A tea tasting is set up at Tea Hawai\u02bbi & Company in Volcano. (Courtesy of Tea Hawai\u02bbi)<\/p>\n

Leong and Lee\u2019s estate was born from a cultural perspective and a keen interest in tea. To this day, both are actively involved in all aspects of the farm\u2019s production, from propagation to distribution.<\/p>\n

\u201cTea plants are evergreens, meaning once they\u2019re planted, they outlive us all,\u201d Lee said. \u201cThe most successful growers are constantly busy, whether it\u2019s harvesting leaves, processing the tea, or distributing and marketing. It\u2019s never a mundane job.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Harvested and processed all by hand, Tea Hawai\u02bbi regularly offers Forrest White, Volcano Green, Mauka Oolong and Makai Black, which are all 100% Hawai\u02bbi-grown single estate whole leaf organic teas.<\/p>\n

With extensive background in the arts, Lee and Leong infuse a traditional yet contemporary approach in their business practices. <\/p>\n

Instead of viewing others as competition, the two collaborate with fellow growers, institutions, and researchers to help further Hawai\u02bbi\u2019s reach in world tea.<\/p>\n

Over the years, Tea Hawai\u02bbi has offered programs to help educate and encourage new growers, especially in processing the tea since that is the most complicated part of the process. <\/p>\n

Lee and Leong currently collaborate with local farmers John Cross, Sen Woo Fang and Mike Riley to process their tea for distribution in a collaboration similar to a co-op.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love helping new tea farmers because I don\u2019t worry about competition,\u201d Lee said. \u201cI believe Hawai\u02bbi has a significant role in advancing tea culture worldwide, so I want to advocate for the industry and have shared my knowledge when I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cIt\u2019s rewarding to be able to do that and get more Hawai\u02bbi tea across the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>An art piece that incorporates white, green, Oolong and black tea from Tea Hawai\u02bbi & Company. (Courtesy of Tea Hawai\u02bbi)<\/p>\n

Lee said any company can import tea, repackage it and sell it as a Hawaiian product, \u201cbut I don\u2019t want to see tea ever fall into that practice because there isn\u2019t anyone farming tea.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a path where 100% Hawai\u02bbi-grown tea can continue to service people around the world without question.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lee has offered to bring her knowledge and experience to new farmers and agriculture students at Hawai\u02bbi Community College with the hope that the younger generation continues to pursue tea farming.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hope is that more people learn about growing and processing for distribution to ensure the longevity of the industry in Hawai\u02bbi,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n

Even after 25 years, the work remains engaging as they continue to implement new elements to their tea estate.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Tea grows under a canopy of native trees at Tea Hawai\u02bbi & Company in Volcano. (Courtesy of Tea Hawai\u02bbi)<\/p>\n

Recently, Tea Hawai\u02bbi has begun offering tea garden tours and tastings with help from the Hawai\u02bbi Tourism Authority agri-tourism initiative, which helps preserve agricultural lands, keep farmers and ranchers viable, and diversify tourism opportunities.<\/p>\n

During the tours, visitors learn about the history of Hawai\u02bbi and experience the culture and artistry of tea while taking in the canopy of koa, \u02bb\u014dhi\u02bba and h\u0101pu\u02bbu that cover the plants with cool shade, which is the only kind of tea grown by Tea Hawai\u02bbi.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love our shade-grown trees because shade-grown tea, no matter where it is, has a higher level of L-theanine,\u201d Lee said. \u201cThis is the part of tea that sets it apart from coffee because it naturally relaxes you. Stress is reduced, and it improves your focus.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Lee, a doctor in Canada began ordering white tea from Tea Hawai\u02bbi for his patients recovering from a chemotherapy infusion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI asked him why he recommended it for his patients, and he told me it was due to the high levels of antioxidants that helped shorten recovery time from the chemotherapy sessions,\u201d Lee said. \u201cI honestly did not know how helpful our tea and the L-theanine could be, and when I think about it, it\u2019s those moments that keep us going. It was amazing to hear that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Eva Lee talks with a researcher while he tours Tea Hawai\u02bbi & Company in Volcano. (Courtesy of Tea Hawai\u02bbi)<\/p>\n

While Tea Hawai\u02bbi doesn\u2019t offer direct sales outside of the garden tour, they do wholesale to retailers across the state and internationally. The tea can be found in cafes and stores across the Big Island.<\/p>\n

Leong also sells his handmade cups and bowls used for drinking tea on the Tea Hawai\u02bbi website.<\/a> Many of the pieces represent the \u02bb\u0101ina that grew the tea.<\/p>\n

Those interested in taking a garden tour of Tea Hawai\u02bbi or have questions about purchasing tea can email teahawaii@gmail.com or visit the website.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chiu Leong walks through the tea plants at Tea Hawai\u02bbi & Company in Volcano. (Courtesy of Tea Hawai\u02bbi)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92810,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[63128,30384,63129,63130,63131,192,63132,63133,63134,63135,63136,63137,63138,63139,63140,63141,63142,79,63143,63144,44443,12839,63145,63146],"class_list":["post-92809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-agri-tourism","tag-big-island","tag-camellia-sinensis","tag-chemotherapy-infusion","tag-chiu-leong","tag-environment","tag-eva-lee","tag-forrest-white","tag-hawaii-community-college","tag-hawaii-tourism-authority","tag-aina","tag-john-cross","tag-kilauea","tag-l-theanine","tag-makai-black","tag-mauka-oolong","tag-mike-riley","tag-science","tag-sen-woo-fang","tag-tea-hawaii-co","tag-university-of-hawaii-at-manoa","tag-usda","tag-volcano","tag-volcano-green"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}