Ivan tea has been used since ancient times as an alternative to Indian tea. And today, when the interest in natural products has increased on the market, the production of Ivan-tea is receiving a new wave of revival.
The scientific name of Ivan-tea is narrow-leaved fireweed. This is a perennial herb that has a narrow leaf, a thick rhizome and a long, up to 40 cm, inflorescence brush. It grows up to one and a half meters in height, and in one place can grow up to eight years. Propagated by rhizomes and seeds, which can produce up to several thousand in one flowering. By the way, its flowers are excellent honey plants, so the production of Ivan tea can complement the honey production business.
Why Ivan Chai
The plant has excellent taste, aroma and color when brewed. In addition, it goes well with other medicinal plants such as oregano, chamomile, mint. Therefore, the production of Ivan tea is a good alternative to imported flavored analogues. Especially when you consider that the plant tolerates any experiments with it well, retaining its healing properties. Some manufacturers were able to bring out up to 15 different varieties of finished products based on Ivan-tea.
The medicinal properties of the plant have been known since ancient times. Many years ago, it was harvested in much the same way as it is now - through fermentation technology. It was believed that tea can cure almost all diseases. Today it has been proven that the plant contains very valuable vitamins and trace elements and at the same time does not contain caffeine, which ordinary teas can boast of. A drink from this plant not only soothes, tones, but also relieves headaches, scars ulcers and even helps to treat cancer. The advantage of tea is that it is not a drug and you can drink it constantly.
Features of the organization of production
How to organize a business depends on your capabilities and investments. The plant grows freely in the wild, so it can be harvested by hand and harvested with improvised means. In a day, one person with a certain skill can collect about 30 kg of Ivan-tea. This will not require any capital investment, but the production volumes will be negligible, and you can hardly build a serious business on them.
You can organize the purchase of raw materials, and deal with its subsequent processing: drying and fermentation. The only problem is that there are no wholesale suppliers of raw materials, you will have to hire assemblers or announce purchases from nearby villages. True, in this case there is no guarantee that the leaves will be collected in accordance with the requirements of the production technology. It must be collected during flowering only in the morning, when there is no dew on the leaves. There is no way to monitor the assembly during purchases from the population, and this factor affects the taste of tea and its medicinal properties.
Therefore, many include in the business plan the organization of a full production cycle, that is, the acquisition of land for planting, sowing and growing, self-harvesting and fermentation. So you can be guaranteed to get high-quality raw materials and avoid the cost of its purchase. Although some experts consider this approach economically unjustified.
Manufacturing technology of Ivan-tea
The production of Ivan tea begins with the collection of leaves. Harvesting time - from the end of June to the beginning of August, depending on the climatic conditions of the region where the business is organized. The leaves are collected in bags and immediately put into processing, because when folded they can darken and lose the desired properties.
The production technology of Ivan tea is not much different from the production technology of any other tea leaf. If desired, you can also produce different varieties: with or without the addition of other herbs, various types of fermentation, and so on.
Stages of production of Ivan-tea
- Leaf preparation. They are sorted out, separating the garbage, washed, dried in a shady place.
- After preparing the raw material, the process of its withering begins. To do this, it is placed in a dark place where the sun's rays do not fall, and left for about a day. To reduce this time, dryers are used. After a slight loss of moisture, the sheet becomes more elastic.
- Then comes the twisting stage. During processing, the leaves give juice. This allows the tea polyphenyls to mix with the enzymes. With a small home production, this is done manually. For large volumes, a meat grinder is used, which makes it possible to obtain granular tea. But with manual processing during brewing, the tea leaf gives sourness, a more tart drink is obtained.
- Fermentation. One of the most important stages, on which the variety of tea, its taste and medicinal properties depend. The rolled or ground sheet rests in a dark and cool room on aluminum sheets or wooden pallets. During this process, oxalic acid is destroyed inside the leaf, and the beneficial substances contained are activated. When using special equipment, you can set it up for full or partial fermentation. If you do it manually, you need to constantly monitor the process in order to stop it in time.
- Drying. This step takes from 20 minutes to two hours depending on the method used. The fermented leaf is dried in ovens or in special drying cabinets with an influx of hot air on trellised pallets. At the end of this process, a tea with a 2-5% moisture content of black color is obtained.
- Cooling is necessary for raw materials in order to gain a characteristic aroma and acquire a typical tea shade.
- Fractionation. This process is carried out in the case when large volumes of production are established. Large tea is packaged in packages, and small tea is used to make tea bags.
Possible product range
Experts recommend at the initial stage to produce a regular variety of tea. So, a novice entrepreneur can thoroughly master the basic production technology. Then you can include the expansion of the product line in the business plan. First of all, it can be diversified thanks to various natural additives. As already mentioned, you can use other fragrant plants, such as mint, chamomile, currant leaves, lemongrass, oregano and others. In addition, various dried berries are used as additives.
But you can expand the range not only with additives. It is possible to use different methods of fermentation of raw materials, which give completely different varieties of tea. So, there are such teas:
- Weakly fermented, the so-called green, yellow, white.
- Semi-fermented - these are blue, purple, red teas.
- Fermented - classic black.
- Overfermented - rare and expensive pu-erh.
All these fermentation methods give Ivan-chai special taste and aroma characteristics.
Paperwork
Only after deciding on the type of production and having thoroughly mastered the technology, it is recommended to include official business registration in the business plan. The fact is that it is desirable to enter the market with a quality product, so it is recommended to first acquire some production experience. At the initial stage, when you will prepare tea for yourself, relatives, acquaintances on the basis of personal subsidiary plots, official registration is not needed. The law allows for the possibility of selling excess production without paying taxes.
But as soon as you decide to take your production to another level, you need to include official registration in your business plan. At least for the fact that in order to sell the product you will need its certification. Without accompanying documentation, your tea will not be accepted for sale in any store. To do this, you must obtain a special permit from Rospotrebnadzor for this type of activity, as well as certify each batch of goods. The same body approves the technical conditions of production and its recipe. Over time, you can arrange a product line as a dietary supplement and sell it to pharmacies, sanatoriums.
However, even before that, you must register your activities with the tax office. You can dwell on such an organizational and legal form as an individual entrepreneur. This will help you avoid unnecessary paperwork. But if you are organizing a large-scale production, it is better to register an LLC. In this case, it is also recommended to create and register your own brand by developing a unique label design with the company logo.
Staff
Whether or not you need staff depends on what type of business your business plan envisions. If you are organizing a business as a personal subsidiary farm, then you will not need staff - all production is serviced by your family.
If you have significant production volumes that are served by special equipment, you will need hired personnel. First of all, tea leaf pickers. They are paid about 800 rubles. per day at a collection rate of six bags. Operators will also be required to service the equipment. The equipment is mostly automated and easy to operate, so there is no need to look for highly skilled workers.
Skilled labor will be needed from an engineer who will control the order of work in general and the machines in particular. It is advisable to have your own electrician and a mechanic for the repair of production lines. If the production is small, these specialists can not be hired, but their services can be used as needed. The most responsible will be the search for a technologist who should develop tea varieties and control the technology of their production. There is no official training of specialists in the production of tea in the country, so you need to look for a person who has worked in this direction for more than one year.
Equipment
As already noted, if you are planning a large-scale production, the business plan should provide for the purchase of special equipment. In specialized companies, it is necessary to purchase the following main production units:
- blending drum;
- tea rollers;
- drying oven;
- Packaging equipment.
Finding this equipment is quite difficult, because it is not produced in Russia. And all because tea is not produced in the country. Maximum - raw materials are imported and packaged. Therefore, equipment will have to be purchased from foreign manufacturers.
You can optimize the cost plan and save on purchases if you buy devices not individually, but as a whole production line. It will cost, depending on the configuration, degree of automation and power, from 800 thousand rubles. up to 2 million rubles It will consist of the following settings:
- leaf cutter,
- wrapping machine,
- rollerballs,
- tea lump breaking machine
- fermentation machine,
- automatic dryer,
- bake,
- packaging machine.
In addition, if you plan to make tea bags, you must purchase a separate unit.
Production costs
As already noted, if you organize a small business, you can do without investments at all. For serious production, at least 80 thousand rubles must be allocated for the purchase of equipment. In addition, another 100 thousand rubles must be included in the expenditure plan. for certification, registration, purchase of tools, packaging, labels. The larger the production, the more staff will be needed, respectively, the wage payment plan will increase.
Products are usually packaged in 100 gram packages. The cost of each depends on the method of tea fermentation and the additives used. On average, Ivan tea is sold at a price of 800 to 1,300 rubles. per kilogram. This is about 40-60% more than its real cost. Accordingly, the profitability of the business is kept at the level of 50-100%.
It is believed that a business payback plan can be set for about a year. But keep in mind that the business is seasonal in nature - the collection of raw materials can only be carried out in June-August. Therefore, for year-round production, it is necessary to procure a sufficient amount of raw materials and think over the technology of its production. Accordingly, it is necessary to take care of storage facilities. This is the only way to bring a quality product to the market.
Promotion of products on the market
The market demonstrates a high demand for such a product, but in order to establish wide sales channels for tea, it is necessary to work hard on the marketing policy. You should start with small shops and private shops. And only when the product wins its consumer, you can move to large retail chains. Over time, it is worth opening your own shop.
Potential sales channels are pharmacies, vitamin stores, sanatoriums, restaurants and other catering establishments. But it is possible to develop these directions only when all the documentation for the products is completed. Another reliable distribution channel is the Internet. You can sell tea through bulletin boards or your own online store, if the product range allows. Also, keep an eye out for all sorts of themed fairs, festivals, where you can arrange tastings and retail sales of Ivan-tea.
Ivan-chai is a wonderful alternative to the usual Indian tea. This drink has been known to people in our country for a very long time, but over the past century its popularity has declined markedly. Only at the present time, when more and more people are paying attention to healthy natural products, Ivan tea is returning to people's homes. The production and fermentation of Ivan tea is a profitable and promising business. It requires a minimum amount of financial costs, since you can buy equipment for the production of willow tea in any nearby store.
About the product
This plant has a rich taste and aroma. It is the taste that makes this drink popular. In addition, Ivan tea has a large number of useful properties that have a beneficial effect on human health. It contains a huge amount of vitamins and minerals needed by the body. Unlike Indian tea, it does not contain caffeine, so Ivan tea can be consumed by almost all people without restrictions. It is noteworthy that the plant retains its beneficial properties even after processing and fermentation.
The following positive effects from drinking the drink can be distinguished:
- Relieves headaches;
- Promotes wound healing;
- Tones the body;
- Increased immunity;
- Promotes the removal of toxins;
- It has an antitumor effect.
Despite the therapeutic effect, tea is not a medical remedy. It can be used without any additional consultation with a doctor.
Ivan tea production
The Ivan tea business is attractive in that its organization of the fermentation process does not require serious costs. At the same time, the plant itself is extremely unpretentious and is able to grow even in relatively unfavorable conditions.
Ivan-chai grows in the wild and its production can be established through manual collection. With appropriate preparation, a person can collect about thirty kilograms of a plant in one day. However, this is not a large enough volume to organize a full-fledged business. Self-collection and harvesting of willow-tea leaves will not allow you to establish an industrial level of production. The only advantage of this approach is the almost complete absence of financial costs.
You can also buy raw materials, and concentrate on the process of processing and fermentation yourself. However, to date there are no large wholesalers of the plant. To arrange the supply of raw materials, you will need to hire pickers or buy raw materials in the villages.
The disadvantage of this approach is that you do not always have the opportunity to control the quality of raw materials. The technology for the production of willow tea suggests that the collection of the plant should be carried out exclusively in the morning during its flowering. During the collection of willow-tea, dew should not be on its leaves. Violation of this condition significantly reduces the taste and health properties of the product.
That is why the most preferred option for organizing a business is to create a complete production chain. In other words, it is recommended to purchase your own land for planting a plant. Only in this case, the manufacturer can be sure of the quality of their products. At the same time, the cost of Ivan tea will be much lower than with self-collection or wholesale purchase of raw materials.
However, due to the small market, this approach is also not always justified. To organize a full-fledged production, it is necessary to have a well-established mechanism for marketing products.
Production technology
Industrial production of Ivan tea in Russia is still quite rare, but the number of manufacturers continues to grow steadily. However, regardless of the method of tea production, the technology of its production remains unchanged, and includes the following steps:
- Collection of plant leaves. It is carried out in the summer, from the end of June to August. Depending on the specific region and climatic conditions, this period may shift somewhat in one direction or another. The leaves collected in bags are not stored for a long time, as their quality begins to deteriorate in this state. The processing process should begin as soon as possible after collection;
- Before fermentation begins, the leaves should be sieved to remove all debris;
- Drying leaves. The leaves are washed and left to dry in the shade. It is highly not recommended to dry the leaves in the sun, as this negatively affects the taste and health qualities;
- After drying, they begin to twist the sheets. Twisting is carried out in order to extract juice from the leaves. If the volume of production is small, then it is better to carry out this process manually, since the final product has a richer taste. However, on an industrial scale of production, a meat grinder is used;
- Fermentation. This is the most important stage in the preparation of any tea leaf, including Ivan tea. If the fermentation conditions are not fully observed, then the final product will be of poor quality. Initially, the rolled sheet should lie in a dark place at a temperature of 10-15 degrees Celsius. Use aluminum or wooden pallets for storage. At this moment, oxalic acid breaks down inside the tea leaves and active release of useful substances. There is special equipment used for fermentation. It controls the process and is able to stop it at the right time. If you do everything manually, then you need to constantly monitor the state of the twisted tea leaf in order to determine the degree of fermentation.
- Drying. After the end of fermentation, it is necessary to dry the leaves again. However, this step should be short. Drying after fermentation takes no more than 20 minutes. Most often - 10-15 minutes. The procedure is carried out in the oven or special cabinets. At the end of the process, the moisture content in the sheets should not exceed 5-15%.
- Fractionation. If production volumes are small, then this stage can be omitted. On an industrial scale, granulated willow tea is separated from small sheets that are used to make bags.
Product types
If you decide to open a mini-factory for the production of willow tea, then you should think about the range of products in advance. This drink goes very well with various herbs that complement the taste and make it even more beneficial for the human body. In addition, creating different herbal combinations will allow you to gain a competitive edge by selling more original products.
The following products are great additions to Ivan tea:
- Mint;
- Chamomile;
- Currant;
- Lemongrass;
- Dried berries.
In addition to additives, there are other ways to diversify the assortment. Using special equipment for fermentation, you can get different varieties of tea.
- Weakly fermented tea. It has the most beneficial properties for the body for humans;
- Semi-fermented tea. It is quite rare, it is an intermediate form between weakly fermented and fermented tea;
- fermented tea. The classic form, has a rich taste.
Strongly fermented willow-tea is made much less often.
Despite the possibility of using a variety of additives, at the very beginning it is recommended to concentrate on the manufacture and sale of ordinary tea. The sale of willow-herb with a classic degree of fermentation should be the basis of your business, and the rest of the assortment should only expand it.
Equipment
As mentioned above, the manufacturing process of this product is possible without the use of any additional equipment. It is even possible to ferment Ivan tea at home. However, if you are aiming for high production volumes, then special tea leaf processing plants will come in handy.
In this case, the price of the equipment should be included in your business plan:
- Blending drum;
- tea rollers;
- Drying oven;
- Plant for fermentation;
- The device for automatic cutting of leaves;
- Packing machine.
You will have to buy all the equipment abroad, since the domestic manufacturer does not produce its analogues today.
Meat grinder for Ivan tea
As mentioned above, manual twisting of tea leaves can be avoided. In this case, Ivan-tea is fermented through a meat grinder. In this case, the collected and dried tea is passed through a grinding plant, resulting in granules. This method is actively used when making Ivan tea at home, in the absence of special equipment. The meat grinder for willow-tea must be pre-cleaned. It is advisable to use a separate meat grinder for this procedure.
For the fermentation of the pellets obtained after the meat grinder, it is highly recommended to use wooden pallets. Fermentation methods using metal utensils should not be used.
You can also use a slow cooker for fermentation. In this case, the granules should be put into the heating mode for several hours.
Modern people have become more concerned about their health. Therefore, they prefer to use only natural products. This also applies to tea.
Useful properties of tea
On the shelves of stores you can see a wide range of different teas with various artificial flavors. But they are not in high demand. Basically, consumers buy products made on the basis of natural ingredients. Such teas have a beneficial effect on human health. For example, mint and oregano soothe the nerves, while calendula and chamomile act as an anti-inflammatory agent.
Since ancient times, people in Russia drank Ivan-tea. According to popular beliefs, this plant should be collected on the night of Ivan Kupala. A drink made from young shoots of willow-herb has a special power and can protect against 100 diseases. To achieve a unique taste and unique aroma, the ancestors dried Ivan tea in a special way. The sheet was first dried, then slightly kneaded and twisted. After that, it was kept for some time at a certain temperature. Only after that the sheets were dried. This technology of tea production is called fermentation. Let's look into this matter in more detail.
Features of the production of Ivan tea
Raw materials are collected on special plantations in ordinary bags. In a day, one person can collect about 30 kg of this amazing plant. Since the leaves in the bags can warm up and darken, it is necessary to immediately put the raw materials into processing.This product is made according to traditional technology, like other types of teas, so ordinary tea production equipment can be used for business.
The recycling process is as follows:
- First, the leaves are crushed. You can also do this manually. The plant must be ground until it gives juice. If you decide to start producing willow tea at home, you can skip the leaves through a meat grinder. In this case, you will get excellent granulated tea. Some freeze raw materials, but after defrosting, it may lose its useful qualities;
- Withering. The tea leaf is placed in the shade and withered for 10-24 hours. If you use special dryers, the process can be reduced to 5-8 hours. During this time, about 55% of moisture comes out of the tea leaf. After dehydration, the raw material becomes less brittle and more elastic;
- In the process of twisting, the juice is squeezed out of the tea leaves. Due to this, tea enzymes are mixed with tea polyphenyls. This is the main condition for high-quality fermentation. Twisting is performed manually and using special equipment;
- Fermentation. This process is carried out in darkened cool rooms. Wooden pallets or aluminum sheets can be used as a substrate for raw materials. The fermentation process is stopped by drying;
- After drying, you will get raw materials with a moisture content of 2-5%. The process takes only 15-20 minutes. Large ovens with hot air are used to dry tea.
Scheme: production of different types of tea
As mentioned above, the technology for the production of black tea is practically no different from the process of making natural Ivan tea. If you properly organize the production process, you can produce high-quality products of different varieties and get excellent profits from this.
Paperwork
To engage in tea production in Russia, you need to register as an individual entrepreneur or open an LLC. The choice depends on the size of the enterprise.After you register with the tax office, you should obtain the necessary permits for the production of tea. Rospotrebnadzor coordinates the recipe and production specifications. After that, you will be issued permits.
Staff
Before you draw up a business plan for the production of Ivan tea, you need to decide on the type of enterprise. If you plan to purchase special equipment, you need to hire several workers to maintain it. The number of employees for manual production depends on the volume of products produced.
In addition, you need to hire workers to collect raw materials. The norm per person is 6 bags per day. Payment for this work is about 800 rubles.
You also need to hire a person who will control the production process.
Equipment
Equipment for the production of Ivan tea can be purchased from specialized companies.
You will need the following technique:
- Blending drum;
- Rollers for tea;
- Drying oven;
- Packaging equipment.
For many years, Ivan-chai was made using exclusively manual labor. To establish this amazing drink, you will have to use a lot of staff, so at certain stages it is more advisable to use the technique. If you are planning to open a large-scale enterprise, you can purchase a fully automated production line. This will allow you to set up the production of black tea in parallel, which will significantly increase the profitability of the business.
In our country, it is quite difficult to find specialized equipment for such a business. The fact is that tea production in Russia is developed at a low level, therefore, mainly finished products are imported from abroad, and at domestic enterprises they are only packaged and packaged. Therefore, it is better to order equipment for production from foreign suppliers.
Expenses
It will take 100 thousand rubles to open a home business for the production of Ivan tea. A third of them will have to be spent on product certification. The rest of the money will be used to purchase the necessary tools and equipment, as well as packaging and labels. For the purchase of powerful production equipment, it is necessary to raise start-up capital of 0.5-2 million rubles.
One package contains no more than 100 g of tea. This product must not be tamped, so as not to crumble and crush the leaves. Such a package costs 400-500 rubles. Based on this, it is easy to calculate the profitability of the project.
Promotion of products on the market
Natural teas can be supplied to restaurants that work exclusively with local products.
In addition, you should constantly take part in various festivals and fairs. Here you can find the main distribution channels. You can also arrange promotions for product tasting. Collaborate regularly with organizers of events that promote healthy lifestyles.
Summing up
The production of Ivan tea is a very real and quite promising business. Products can be sold to vitamin shops,
The business associated with the production and sale of loose leaf tea is highly profitable. Despite the high competition in this market, the segment of expensive natural types of tea is still of great interest to investors. In a year, one average Russian consumer drinks almost 120 liters of various types of tea.
There are several classifications of this product. In our country, tea, depending on its type and quality of raw materials and technologies used in the production, is divided into:
- sheet (long leaf);
- pressed (leaves along with shoots);
- granulated;
- flavored;
- extracted (dried or aqueous extracts).
Long leaf tea, in turn, can be green, red, black or yellow, depending on the degree of fermentation of the tea leaf. This division is associated not only with the difference in appearance or color of tea, but also with various production features. For example, with an intensive course of oxidative processes during the processing of fresh tea leaves, a long fermentation occurs, which, as a result, gives black tea.
In the production of green tea, a fresh leaf is heated under high temperature. As a result, at the very beginning of processing in raw materials, redox processes are stopped. Red and yellow teas are semi-fermented varieties. Red teas have more fermentation than yellow teas.
Pressed tea is available in the following types: brick (green), tablet (black and green) and slab (black).
Extracted teas are concentrated liquid or dry extracts of green and black tea.
Granulated tea is produced by granulating tea crumbs or dust, which are formed during the processing of black long leaf tea. Unlike other types of tea, granulated tea contains sugar, which is added during the granulation process to increase the stickiness.
Often, black, red and less often green teas are flavored with jasmine, lemon, cloves and other special additives, which gives them a pleasant aroma and unusual taste.
Depending on the raw materials and methods of processing, the following types of teas are distinguished: loose or long leaf (as a rule, it is black, yellow or green), pressed (green and black brick teas and green brick), tableted (green and black), extracted ( extracts of green and black tea), tea in paper bags for single brewing.
In terms of popularity in Russia and the CIS countries, black tea is the leader (about 80-85% of total sales). On a global scale, green tea accounts for about 25% of the total production of green teas, and red tea accounts for no more than 2-3%. The growth rate of the domestic tea market is estimated at 20-25%.
The main tea producing countries are China, Taiwan, India, Indonesia, Ceylon, Kenya. Almost every country has its own "specialization". So, in China there are four main tea production regions (southern, southwestern, Yanbei and Yangtze), producing green teas of various varieties. Red teas are grown in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces. However, China mainly exports black and red teas, which are not in high demand in the local market.
Red teas are also produced in Taiwan. A small part of this country's exports is green tea.
In Japan, tea is grown on the islands of Shikoku, Honshu and Kyushu. The country is famous for its best varieties of green tea.
The four main regions in India where tea is grown are Assam, Darjeeling, North and South India. This country, like Ceylon and Indonesia, "specializes" in black tea. Kenyan tea is considered the strongest, due to the high content of tinin in it.
In our country, tea is grown only in the Krasnodar Territory.
Please note: each batch of raw materials must have all the necessary certificates of quality and conformity. They indicate microbiological, radiological, physicochemical, organoleptic indicators, mass fraction of salts of heavy metals and pesticides.
Tea production is a rather long and laborious process. Consider it on the basis of the manufacture of the most popular types of tea - long leaf black.
The production technology consists of several stages: withering, twisting, fermentation and drying. Withering is necessary in order to give the tea leaf softness and elasticity. It is natural and artificial. In the first case, the sheets are exposed to sunlight for at least 18-20 hours at a temperature of 20-25 degrees Celsius and a relative humidity of 70%. Of course, not every country has the conditions for such a procedure (as a rule, this method is used in Sri Lanka). Therefore, most often, manufacturers prefer artificial withering, which is carried out in special chambers with controlled temperature and humidity.
Then the sheets are rolled in rollers: they are placed in a drum, where, by rotating the mixer, twisting takes place. During this stage, cell sap is released on the surface of the leaf, which is exposed to enzymes. This is where the fermentation process begins. In order to completely separate the sheet into fractions, it goes through this procedure 2-4 times. After each of them, the leaves are sorted and moved.
The premises where the factory is located must meet certain requirements. They maintain high relative humidity and a certain temperature (22-26°C). Usually the room where the tea leaves are processed and fermented is located on the north side of the factory, where direct sunlight does not penetrate.
The final stage of tea leaf processing is drying in a stream of hot air. This procedure is necessary in order to remove excess moisture and preserve the properties in the tea leaf that are formed in it during the fermentation process. Under the influence of high temperature, the work of enzymes stops. Drying usually takes place in two stages: the first at a temperature of 90-95 degrees Celsius, and the second at 82-87°C.
The semi-finished tea product obtained after fermentation and drying is sorted - delicate tea leaves are separated manually from coarse ones, resulting in teas of factory standards. Excessively large particles are crushed. Leaf fractions are used for the production of loose leaf tea, and small fractions (crumbs) are pressed into brick tea.
Finally, different grades of tea, according to the standards of certain grades, are mixed in a mixing (blending) drum. The uppermost parts of the shoot go to the production of higher grades of tea.
So, for the production of tea, you will need the following equipment: several types of mixers, dryers, presses, machines for crushing dry components, twisting lines, screeners, tedders, homogenizers, blending containers, tippers, as well as filling and packaging equipment and / or processing lines, production and packaging of black and green teas, as well as tea bags. The cost of the simplest line for the production of tea starts from 700 thousand rubles.
Products such as tea are subject to mandatory certification with a declaration of compliance with GOST requirements:
- GOST 3716-90 Bulk green tea. Specifications";
- GOST 1939-90 Packed green tea. Specifications";
- GOST 12810-79 Brick green tea for export. Specifications";
- GOST 3483-78 “Green brick tea. Specifications";
- GOST 1940-75 “Black slab tea. Specifications";
- GOST 1937-90 Bulk black tea. Specifications";
- GOST 1938-90 Packed black tea. Specifications".
To obtain a declaration of conformity, you must contact the certification body and submit the following documents for consideration: the company's statutory documents, information about the manufacturer / seller, product catalog and name, technical documentation, laboratory research and examination protocols.
At the same time, separate certificates are issued for green and black tea. In addition, you will need to obtain a sanitary-epidemiological conclusion.
Since the business of producing and selling tea is seasonal, it is necessary to create stocks of raw materials for such production. Therefore, you will need large premises not only for placing equipment, but also for organizing warehouses for storing raw materials and finished products.
The payback period for this type of business is at least two years. The level of profitability is not less than 40%.
Sysoeva Lilia
- portal of business plans and guidelines
Many enterprising businessmen have already turned their attention to the production of natural products. And not in vain - today it is used among the population, due to the dominance of low-quality artificial products, in high demand. And looking for an idea of just such an orientation, it is worth thinking about buying equipment for the production of Ivan tea and starting its mass production. Ivan-chai has long been called "Russian tea". This plant was previously exported in large quantities abroad. From the dried stems, leaves and flowers of willow-tea, you can get a delicious drink, which is also famous for its beneficial properties - the prevention of many diseases, a sedative.
Our business valuation:
Starting investments - from 0 rubles.
Market saturation is low.
The complexity of starting a business is 4/10.
The production of Ivan tea as a business will be beneficial to the entrepreneur from the point of view that it does not require large investments. Let's say more - you can get the finished product right at home, without spending money on the purchase of special equipment. Making Ivan tea at home is not difficult at all, and, following the technology, you can end up with a product that does not differ in quality from what is produced in a full-fledged plant.
Will business registration be required?
Whether it is worth registering your activity, you need to look at the circumstances. If an entrepreneur sells only surpluses from his own subsidiary plot, and Ivan tea is sold only to friends and closest neighbors, then it is hardly worth spending money on processing a package of documents. But with non-certified products, it will not be possible to enter larger markets and conclude profitable supply contracts! Do you want to deliver a quality product, with labels and packaged in original packaging, to store shelves? Then, observing all the rules prescribed in the legislation, you will have to deal with the registration of activities. In order to produce granulated Ivan tea, since we are talking about the food industry, you will need to obtain permission from Rospotrebnadzor to conduct activities and certify the products planned for release. Also, an entrepreneur may think about obtaining a special certificate for the production of a line of healthy teas as dietary supplements.
It does not matter what organizational and legal form the entrepreneur chooses to conduct business. To avoid paperwork, you can first issue an IP.
A mini plant for the production of Ivan tea will supply original products to store shelves if you register your own brand. Here you have to develop your own logo and label design.
What range of products can be produced?
While the technology is only being mastered, an entrepreneur can only produce ordinary tea. But as practice shows, the product is also in demand on the market in a mixture with other components - dried berries and leaves of currants, raspberries, lemongrass. There are a lot of variations, and for a variety of assortment, you can expand the product line.
There is another classification. Depending on what were the fermentation conditions for Ivan tea, the following types can be distinguished:
- Weakly fermented - white, yellow, green.
- Semi-fermented - red, purple, blue.
- Fermented - black.
- Fermented - pu-erh.
And even fermentation of Ivan tea at home will allow you to get different types of product at the output.
Where to get raw materials?
The raw material for the production of natural tea is the plant willow-tea angustifolia. Surely everyone saw it in their own dacha or in the field - very often it grows like a weed. It turns out that there are plenty of raw materials for further production. Of course, it is useless to look for dried leaves from suppliers - as a rule, Ivan tea is collected and prepared on its own.
Depending on the specific region, the collection of plants is carried out from June to August. Moreover, it is better to pluck the plants in the early morning - when the dew has just evaporated.
If you believe the experts in this field, then in an hour it is quite possible to collect up to 5 kg of fresh raw materials. But the preparation of Ivan tea leaves should be carried out in a timely manner, because if you leave it for a long time in bags, the leaves will begin to darken and lose their beneficial properties.
To get tea at home, you can collect plants yourself. But if we talk about the industrial scale of production, then in order not to miss the harvest of Ivan tea and in a short time to provide the enterprise with large reserves of raw materials, one cannot do without additional labor. Payment to hired workers can be made by the volume of raw materials collected or by the hour.
Tea production technology
Ivan tea production technology is very simple. And in industrial conditions, the process is almost completely automated.
What stages can be distinguished here?
- Withering. Removal of moisture from leaves to create optimal conditions for further processing of raw materials.
- Preparation of raw materials. Leaves, stems and flowers are cleaned of debris, if necessary - sorted.
- Rolling leaves. The goal is to destroy the cell walls and give the leaves the desired shape.
- Aerobic fermentation. Exposure of leaves under certain temperature and humidity conditions.
- Drying. The goal is to complete the fermentation process.
- Roasting. Processing a product under certain conditions to give it final properties.
- Package. The product can be packaged in containers of any volume.
And at home, getting the finished product is not difficult at all. To do this, freshly picked and slightly dried plants need to be crushed in their hands so that the leaves release juice. It is also possible to ferment Ivan tea through a meat grinder. And this option is even better, since all biochemical processes will go much faster in the future. Wet leaves are “packed” in gauze and placed under oppression in a dark place (up to 2 days). Next, the leaves of Ivan tea are dried. You can do this outdoors in partial shade or in the oven.
What equipment is used to produce Ivan tea?
If we talk about a home business, then in the process of obtaining a finished product, you can use improvised “inventory” - knives, a meat grinder, an oven, baking sheets, containers. But the industrial method will necessarily require the availability of special machines, since considerable volumes of raw materials will be processed here. The price of equipment for the production of Ivan tea will vary in a wide range (800,000-2,000,000 rubles), depending on the power, degree of automation and configuration.
The complete line includes the following names of machines and devices:
- leaf cutter,
- wrapping machine,
- rollerballs,
- tea lump breaking machine
- fermentation machine,
- automatic dryer,
- bake,
- packaging machine.
To get tea packaged in disposable bags at the exit, you will need to purchase a special machine separately.
The industrial production of Ivan tea in Russia is still poorly developed, but some domestic companies already offer machines for sale to obtain a quality product. A specific line should be chosen based on the planned sales volumes of tea and available investments.
The issue of sales and profitability of the enterprise
The product is in demand on the market, so there should be no problems with its sale. True, at first, most likely, you will have to cooperate only with private shops and shops, and not with large retail chains.
The payback period will depend on the investments invested in the business. If there is a meat grinder for Ivan tea and an oven, then starting a home business may not require any investment at all. Industrial production of the product can be established by spending at least 1,500,000 rubles.
The fermentation methods for obtaining tea are different, and therefore the price of the finished product also varies. On average, Ivan tea is sold at a price of 800-1300 rubles / kg. At the same time, its cost is lower by 40-60%. These are excellent indicators of the profitability of the planned business.
