| 3 Zealong Estate a haven for tea lovers Virginia Wright The Teahouse invites people to sit and enjoy their organic tea while looking out over the tea terraces. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Zealong Estate PHONE 07 846 1294 EMAIL allensunited@xtra.co.nz www.al lensuni ted.co.nz Proud to support Zealong Estate ALLENS UNITED RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL SOLUTIONS YOUR ONE-STOP SHOP FOR TRADE WASTE SERVICING & REMOVAL. ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE & HYDROEXCAVATION, NON DIG TECHNOLOGY HAMILTON 021 605 864 quote@grimeoff.co.nz TAURANGA 0274 994 237 roger@grimeoff.co.nz BUILDING AND HOUSEWASHING SPECIALISTS IN HAMILTON & TAURANGA With our passion for washing and obsessive service, we'll improve the presentation of your property while protecting your asset and making it an easy experience for you. Proud to support Zealong Estate with their property cleaning requirements. 07 8236 214 For all your Hydroseeding, Irrigation & Lawn & Turf Requirements Among the many things that makes Waikato based Zealong Estate more than simply a producer of top quality organic teas is the relationships they maintain with local tertiary institutions. Ten years ago that’s how their now General Manager Sen Kong first came to Zealong Estate. They were part of the research he was doing for an international marketing paper as part of his Masters of Management Studies at the University of Waikato, and that’s where he returned on the completion of his studies. Over the years he’s worked his way around the business as it has gradually matured into the three key areas it operates today: the tea estate which grows, processes, packages, sells and exports organic tea products; the food and beverage department which includes the restaurant, functions and events centre; and the recently opened on-site accommodation. He works with the wider team across all areas but his primary area is growing sales and international exports. “Establishing and building relationships around the world including North America, across Europe and into Asia,” says Sen. “Export New Zealand offer a fantastic resource especially when you’re exploring a new territory, they have a lot of contacts and they know the export and customs regulations so they can really save you a lot of time.” When Sen started Zealong had not long released its brand and opened its doors to the public. “It was a very small company looking to do really big things for New Zealand.” Having a restaurant on site was part of their vision of creating a destination, of not only exporting their product and showcasing New Zealand to the world, but also bringing the people of the world to New Zealand. “It’s about showcasing the best our region has to offer,” says Sen. Five minutes north of Hamilton the Teahouse invites people to sit and enjoy their tea while looking across the abundance of tea terraces stretching across 48 hectares of land now home to 1.2 million tea bushes producing 20 tonnes of tea annually, It’s been there from the beginning to create a reason for people to come and see what Zealong is doing. According to Sen the Waikato region’s climate is ideal for growing their certified organic tea. “It provides the perfect level of stress, the perfect balance of hot days and cool nights that provide optimal growth conditions for tea leaves to push all the nutrients to the top three leaves of all the shoots that then get picked. We take the best of what nature provides: clean water, fertile soils, sunshine, and clean air and we just pick the best of what we grow and package it to the best of what we can offer.” Over ten years of research and a lot of technical expertise had already been invested in Zealong before the brand was launched and brought to the market, and has only been refined and added to since. When you infuse a cup of whole grade Zealong tea leaves, (harder to see if you’re using one of their compostable tea-bags) you should be able to see the product, those three top leaves, unfurl and expand in the tea-pot. If you purchase a blend or a flavoured tea you can be confident that the flavours come from whole organic ingredients whether its rose petals or pieces of lemon myrtle. The name Zealong comes from the first tea produced by Zealong Estate, a New Zealand made oolong tea which is the top three leaves, green when picked, allowed to partially oxidise. Green tea is closest to its natural state, black tea the furthest. The tea bush is a member of the camelia family, and when the man behind Zealong Estate, the tea-loving Vincent Chen, came to New Zealand from Taiwan in 1996 and saw the flowering camelia bushes in his backyard it set him on this journey to produce a cup of tea he could enjoy with peace of mind about all the different elements that go into creating a quality product. 25 years later tea-lovers all over the world are quietly savouring the results of that journey.
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