What Will You Change: A Drink to Your Health
July 06, 2011
Martin Ekechukwu
The entrepreneurial bug first bit Martin Ekechukwu (Daytime MBA ’05) when he began a computer repair business as an undergraduate. Since then, he has created several other businesses, but none took off like his latest venture, which he hopes is a “silver bullet.”
In May 2008, he founded Village Tea Company specializing in premium loose-leaf teas. Ekechukwu serves as CEO, creative director, and official taste tester. Focusing on teas with health benefits, he worked with a flavor house in Florida to develop proprietary formulas using organic and natural ingredients.
“Sadly, consumers in the U.S. are unfamiliar with the health properties of tea. It’s one of the most underrated and underutilized health remedies,” he says. “Other cultures see tea as an incredible healer. It’s been used in Asia and Africa for thousands of years.”
Ekechukwu was exposed to herbal teas from a young age. Born in Nigeria to a Nigerian father and a Czech mother, he spent much of his childhood in both countries, where tea is popular. His Czech grandparents regularly served herbal variations.
“It was outstanding—I remember drinking it all the time. It was part of the culture, and tea has a special place in my heart as a result,” Ekechukwu says.
He first experienced the business side of tea while at the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, where he worked as an Associate Brand Manager for Nantucket Nectars, a line of juices, teas, and lemonades. He enjoyed his work and wanted to take it a step further.
“I’ve always had an internal, burning desire to develop something from the ground up that I could call my own,” he says. “I thought of making teas that would be the silver bullet—a product that could help improve people’s health in an easy way and still taste good.”
Starting out, his company, headquartered in Dallas, TX, struggled to make headway—partly due to the economic crisis. “When I was about to quit, I reached out to my friends and family, and they brought me through. My support group made the difference between success and failure, and the Fuqua network is a huge part of that,” he says.
He landed his first big customer, Whole Foods, in 2009, which opened the door to other accounts and opportunities. Village Tea is now sold in stores in central and western states, and Ekechukwu hopes to expand to the East Coast soon.
With more than 20 packaged tea flavors, Ekechukwu’s goal is to change the mindset of consumers by touting the drink’s health benefits. He says every tea has unique properties; for example, rooibos tea promotes circulation and relieves headaches, sage tea calms skin irritations and acts as a mood booster, and nettle tea blocks histamines in the body, therefore relieving allergies.
But he’s also quick to point out that not all teas are created equally.
“I’ve learned that there are no health benefits in what I call ‘tea dust,’ which is what you get in most popular tea bags,” he says. “Always choose a loose-leaf tea because everything else is like Kool-Aid powder—it’s just dust particles. It’s processed so much that the natural, health properties are lost.”
Ekechukwu’s take on tea recently won him a spot on The Dr. Oz Show, a TV program covering medical and health topics. Introduced as a “tea expert,” Ekechukwu spoke about the healing properties of several herbal teas. And he spoke from experience. Previously a “big coffee drinker,” he replaced his espressos with tea about two years ago and says that he feels healthier as a result.
“I feel more balanced and at ease, I have more natural energy rather than experiencing the drastic peaks and valleys from drinking coffee,” Ekechukwu says. “It’s been really interesting. I never thought that herbal teas would have such a great impact on my body. Whenever I’m not feeling well or I’m having some minor health issue, I drink some herbal tea, and it really helps.”
As a former professional model and tennis player, Ekechukwu has always been interested in health and wellness, and tea has become a part of his regular routine to maintain a healthy lifestyle. He often drinks four different teas a day.
“It’s one of those things that you have to try to believe. It’s very experiential,” he says.
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