About Us

 

About Us

"Lo" in the Gilaki language means origin, and considering that a significant part of Iran's tea production owes its heritage to the people of East Gilan over the course of 100 years of tea crafting in Iran, we believe that each package of Lo Tea can serve as a reminder of the hard work of the people of this region and the origin of Gilan.
Lo Tea commenced its journey in 2017 with the goal of producing and offering high-quality Iranian whole-leaf tea. Our tea production system has been research-oriented and dynamic from the start, consistently elevating its quality standards through the integration of modern sciences.
To gain a precise understanding of Lo Tea's operational system and to comprehend its differences from other manufacturing activities in Iran, it is essential to briefly review the tea production system in Iran.

Commencement of Activity

In tea crafting, the pivotal role in processing top-grade products lies in the quality of green leaves. To achieve this, the connection between the farming unit and production is self-evident. In the past years, the tea production system in Iran was such that the green leaves were pre-priced by the government, and factories purchased these green leaves at the government-approved prices. From our perspective, this practice reduces farmers' efforts to produce quality green leaves and maintains the quality of all tea production units at an exaggerated level of green leaves.
The absence of a free market for purchasing green leaves, particularly the lack of suitable equipment, eradicates the operational foundation for manufacturing endeavors aimed at producing qualitatively distinct teas, except for farmers who traditionally handpick leaves from their own gardens to craft tea. These teas usually possess higher quality than the commonly found teas from Iranian factories, which has led to their popularity in the Iranian market. This traditional method, prevalent among the people of the north for 100 years, has been passed down from generation to generation.
The production of this type of tea using traditional methods acted as the catalyst for the formation of Lo Tea. In the beginning, experimentally, we modernized the traditional Iranian tea crafting technique with the knowledge of contemporary tea production, and the fusion of these two outputs had a highly fragrant and exciting outcome. This led us to contemplate establishing a workshop for producing this type of tea. In the year 2017, we established the Lo workshop and over the past years, we have implemented a system of open green leaf purchase. After identifying orchards with suitable climatic conditions and placing orders with the farmers, green leaves are handpicked based on an agreed-upon arrangement and purchased at higher rates than those set by the government. This not only ensures the quality of the tea but also paves the way for future producers.

 

Machinery

Producing tea using handpicked green leaves and unconventional methods in the country necessitates various specialized machines. Initially, the absence of such machinery was one of the main challenges for Lo Tea. To overcome this issue, we first attempted to modify and enhance the existing conventional industry machinery in Iran to align with our needs and our understanding of tea crafting. However, ultimately, we were compelled to develop our own machinery. We now proudly have the privilege not only to fulfill our own requirements but also to create models of rolling machines, drying machines, and sifting machines for other workshops in the province, along with their installation and operation.
Lo Tea's machinery provides producers with the capability to extract the utmost quality from top-grade green leaves, considering the garden's capacity and production volume, with the least compromise in quality.

Production of Whole Leaf Tea for the First Time in the Country

In the past years, our focus has primarily been on the production of black tea, and we have consistently strived to enhance the final outcome. Our production system has pioneered the manufacturing of specialized whole leaf teas with high-quality standards for the first time in the country.

Engagement with Stakeholders and Production Factors

The innovative tea production system requires collaboration from all entities and factors involved, including garden estates, harvesting personnel, production elements, and sales entities. We have strived to make this collaboration transparent and tangible for our stakeholders. For instance, in Iran, there is no established institution for granting a fair trade seal, but our tea production system operates with negotiated prices, offering a clean system with minimal risk of involvement for sales entities in industrial systems. This tangible aspect leaves no path for stakeholders other than actively participating in the production process.
To achieve this, Lo Tea has consistently organized cooperation and collaboration programs for stakeholders in recent years, aiming not only to raise awareness about our production system but also to draw strength from your friendly companionship through the creation of such programs.
Currently, Lo Tea is a dynamic tea production system comprised of gardeners, producers, and experts. We process tea using the latest global knowledge and the expertise of our gardeners, with the goal of providing quality and healthy Iranian tea while maintaining a fair interaction with gardeners.
Another goal of Lo Tea is to ensure the safety of the tea. Therefore, the green leaves used in our workshop are sourced from gardens that uphold the highest standards of safety. We continue our efforts to identify your preferences and employ the best and healthiest raw materials, coupled with specialized processing, to create the finest tea products from Iranian tea leaves for your enjoyment.

 

In the following, you can read the article that was published in Eighty Degrees Magazine , read about the history of tea in Iran and the formation of our work.

Eighty Degrees magazine is one of the most reliable magazines in the world of tea, whose content is about tea and of course the traditions formed around it. In the seventh edition of this magazine, there is an interview about the production process and the differences in tea production in Iran, and at the beginning of this interview, we have written an article about how the Iranian tea industry was created. This article is published on 10 pages under the title of IRANIAN TEA