Inspiring Conversations with Timothy Gipson of The Great Mississippi Tea

Today we’d like to introduce you to Timothy Gipson.

Hi Timothy, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
We started off at the tea farm knowing nothing about tea. We happened across Charleston Tea Farm and realized it was a type of camellia and that we meet all the conditions it needed to grow.

From there, we bought 6 plants on the internet, just to see if they would grow. At the end of the summer, we had 3 of the original plants still alive and decided to give it a shot. We then proceeded to find a consultant and make a plant order and get started.

Here we are 10 years later and we have 7 acres of tea planted, in various stages of growth. We currently have about 3 acres being harvested as of this year. There are 3 people that run the farm. Jason McDonald is one of the owners and also helps work the farm.

Timothy Gipson is the other owner and also works the farm. Sagan King is a worker on the farm. Timothy and Sagan both do most of the harvesting and processing of the tea.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. We had a learning curve. Tea is not traditionally grown in the US. So, we had to go by what was done around the world a figure out what worked best.

We lost our first 2 large plantings, a total of around 4 acres between the two. We had to find the best way to plant for our soil and weather. We were not farmers, to begin with so much of this had to be learned as we went. In some cases, I think that actually helped us. We didn’t know what to know or not to know.

So, when we were told to do something we did it without balking at what our consultant said. I think that we learned at a faster rate because we were not trying to find a way to prove him wrong or just ignoring what he had to say because we knew better.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about The Great Mississippi Tea Company?
At The Great Mississippi Tea Company, we are trying to revolutionize an industry that still to this day, by and large, relies upon substandard wages to be profitable. We, like many others, never really asked ourselves where our tea comes from or how it is grown.

We at The Great Mississippi Tea Company are setting out on a course to develop a working model for commercial tea farming in the First World as a beacon for the world to implement mechanization and innovative thinking to produce and sell an ethically sustainable crop for the masses while not employing the traditional labor standards so widely used in the industry.

Through mechanization, revolution, and implementation of new industry standards at The Great Mississippi Tea Company, our hopes are that others around the globe will also take a look at their operations and decide to change their operating standards to become ethically sustainable not only for the planet Earth but to their fellow man.

Not only do we want to be ethically sustainable through labor practices, but we also want to extend our love for our fellow man through embracing practices on the farm that will reduce unwanted chemicals in our tea. We strive to become a beacon for the world through a policy of sustainability by reducing or eliminating the use of pesticides.

At the end of the day, this is what really matters. Our hope is to bring about a change in labor practices worldwide and to bring to you and your family a product that will contribute to a good life. We hope that we can add many happy years to your life through an ethically sustainable product and not something that will reduce the precious time that we have here on Earth with our family and friends.

We are off to a great start garnering numerous awards and accolades for the quality and taste of our teas. We have also moved into the global market being featured at both The Cultured Cup in Dallas and Fortnum & Mason’s Rare Tea line in London.

Contact Info:

• Website: greatmsteacompany.com
• Instagram: @greatmsteco
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/search/top?q=great%20mississippi%20tea%20company