Milo's Tea Company

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Milo's Tea Company, located in Bessemer, produces Milo's Famous Tea, which is sold in several southeastern states. The company was originally named Milo's Restaurant Services, providing tea and hamburger sauce to the Milo's Hamburgers chain.

History

Ronnie Carlton founded Milo's Restaurant Services as an outgrowth of the Milo's Hamburgers restaurant chain. The company began selling Milo's Famous Tea to Birmingham grocery stores in one gallon jugs in April 1989. It also produced the tea and hamburger sauce used by Milo's Hamburgers restaurants. Carlton sold the restaurant business to Dean Chitwood in January 2002, but continued providing the chain with sauce and tea.

The company's original plant was located behind Barber's Dairy, just off West Oxmoor Road in Homewood. In 2002, the company moved to the Morgan Industrial Park in Bessemer. The original location, which had grown to 21,000 square feet, no longer had room for needed expansion. When originally constructed, the Bessemer facility was 28,000 square feet. In 2004, the company made plans to expand to 43,000 square feet. As of 2014 the plant with 100 workers was capable of producing 300,000 gallons per day with plans to double in capacity and add a second production facility in the western U.S.

In 2008 the company began selling 35 tons of used tea leaves per week, which it had previously sent to landfills, to a Scott's plant in Vance, where it is mixed with pine bark and other components to make "Miracle-Gro" garden soil.

The company's current slogan, introduced on May 23, 2007, is "Taste the Milo's Difference." It replaced the slogan, "The Great Southern Tea Company Since 1946," which had been in use for over a decade.

The Milo's Hamburgers chain began experimenting with brewing its own iced tea at some locations in May 2012. That practice led Milo's Tea Company to end its supply agreement in the summer of 2012. Milo's Franchise preemptively sued Milo's Tea over the matter that August. During the lawsuit, Milo's restaurants switched to using tea provided by Royal Cup Coffee. The two companies resolved the issue in March 2013 and Milo's restaurants began serving Milo's Tea again.

In 2014 Milo's Tea Company expanded its distribution area to 38 states across the South and West.

Products

The tea the company produces only lists three ingredients: water, sugar, and custom blended teas. However, the exact recipe, including the brewing, sweetening, and cooling processes, are kept secret. The company began with a single product: sweet tea in one gallon jugs. As of 2014, the company sells the following products:

  • Milo's Famous Sweet Tea, one gallon jugs and 8 and 12 ounce bottles, introduced in 1997. (20 oz. bottle introduced in 2008)
  • Milo's Famous Tea Unsweetened, one gallon jugs, introduced in 1999.
  • Milo's Famous Tea with Splenda, one gallon jugs and 8 and 12 ounce bottles, introduced in 2006. (20 oz. bottle introduced in 2008)
  • Milo's Decaf Sweet Tea, introduced in 2014
  • Milo's Lemonade, introduced in 2014
  • Milo's Famous Sweet Tea and Lemonade, introduced in 2014

In 2016 Milo's Tea Company developed a new line of "Café Style Organic Teas", brewed with organic tea leaves and organic cane sugar and stevia. The new line includes four varieties: Sweet, Light Sweet, Green Citrus and Light Green Citrus. All four are sold in 59-ounce bottles.

Distribution

Milo's Tea Company has signed deals with several dairies to distribute their products to grocery stores, gas stations and convenience stores.

  • Barber's Dairy (Alabama)
  • Brown’s Dairy (Louisiana)
  • LuVel Dairy (Mississippi)
  • Mayfield Dairy (Georgia and East Tennessee)
  • Purity Dairy (Tennessee)

References

External links

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