Press + Media

When you stop and think about it for a second, as entrepreneurs we are ALWAYS pitching. We are pitching ourselves and our services, our products and offers, we are pitching partnerships, sponsorships, features, endorsement deals, we’re pitching potential employers, new acquaintances, and in some cases we’re even pitching for funding.

Several years ago, Tracy and Rory Bell had a health scare in their family that launched a search for healthy teas rich in anti-oxidants. Everything turned out okay, but that process led them down an entrepreneurial path to the launch of a new business, Millennia TEA.

Millennia TEA co-founder Tracy Bell said working with a Canadian grocery giant rooted in the Maritimes to bring a Maritime innovation across the county was a natural partnership, especially with Covid-19 forcing the company to pivot its business plans.

The round was led by Natural Products Canad (NPC), a group of private investors, and SOSV, an international venture capital firm that is also home to Food-X, considered the world’s leading food and beverage accelerator that Millennia TEA took part in last year. The exact amount of the round is not being disclosed, but the company confirmed they did exceed their $500,000 target.

Millennia TEA are the makers of a flash-frozen tea line that best preserves its antioxidant qualities. After a few years of growing the business and customer base in Atlantic Canada, co-founder and CEO Tracy Bell says now that they have secured suppliers and found their product-market fit, they are ready to take things to the next level with their first round of investing, also known as a “pre-seed” round.

SAINT JOHN – Though many of us would love to believe otherwise, beer is very tasty but not the most healthy beverage out there.
But a new creation by a New Brunswick tea company and a master brewer may prove that wrong.

The annual awards gala honours the Saint John region’s most dynamic and significant contributors in seven categories: Business Excellence, Entrepreneurial Achievement, Emerging Enterprise, Young Entrepreneur, Big Heart, Chair’s Award and the Passion for Change award. This year’s gala takes place Thursday, October 11.

SAINT JOHN – The Canadian Health Food Association trade show in Toronto in September was the biggest event of the year for Saint John-based Millennia TEA. Founder and CEO Tracy Bell didn’t have to do anything in advance but board a flight to get there because of the work done by Tiphaine Morin, an MBA student from the University of New Brunswick in Saint John.

A few years ago Tracy and Rory Bell had a cancer scare in their family, and they were told by health professionals to find the most antioxidant-rich teas you can, “and drink them all day long,” says Tracy.

Five years after a health scare prompted a New Brunswick couple to reimagine the most consumed beverage in the world after water, their category-creating innovation has attracted the attention of one of the biggest and most premium natural-food grocery chains in the world.

Sometimes you’re given a gift. A purpose. A knowing that you’ve been given the chance to do something that both lights you up inside – and something that has the potential to do some real good in the world.

I am feeling that deep level of love and appreciation right now. I’ll tell you why in a sec. First though, some context.

It’s been a long and sometimes difficult road from that nursery through the launch and early growth of Millennia Tea. But the company recently announced its products – including flash-frozen loose tea – will be carried in Sobeys stores nationwide, growing out of Sobeys’ Support Local program. The Bells, from the company’s office in Saint John, New Brunswick, are celebrating it as a milestone.