Member Article

Northumberland Tea wins supply deal with 60 North East Co-op food stores

Northumberland Tea will feature in 60 Co-op stores across the region, after the Corbridge-based business struck a deal this week following months of negotiation.

Launched only four years ago, the Corbridge-based tea business was set up four years ago by Helen and Bill Logan.

A donation from every pack of Northumberland Tea sold goes to the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, a charity which supported Helen’s father.

World Cup winner Jack Charlton OBE (pictured above), a friend of the Logan family and honorary ambassador for Northumberland Tea, was on hand at his nearby Co-op in Ponteland this week to celebrate the milestone.

Helen Logan, said: “We’re delighted that after many months of sampling and negotiating, we have agreed a deal with the Co-op that will see Northumberland tea in stores ranging from Teesside to Berwick, which will extend the tea’s reach to many new areas and tea lovers across the north.’’

“The Co-op is at the heart of community life and this development raises awareness of our brand and reaches new markets.

“We sold our small café business to look after my father, who lost his battle with cancer in 2012 and then decided to set up Northumberland Tea. We drank so many cuppas during my father’s illness that we felt well qualified!

“This contract is another huge milestone for us, and will help us to raise further funds to support the wonderful work that is carried out by the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation finding better ways to detect and treat cancer.”

The move comes as the Co-op expands its local sourcing programme into approaching 60 of its food stores across the North East.

Charlotte Bleasdale, Ranging Manager for the Co-op in the North East, said: “We are thrilled to sell locally loved products such as Northumberland Tea - food provenance and trust is important to our customers.

“It is the passion, quality and innovation involved in developing these products which makes them stand out, they are part of the fabric of local community life and we are proud to give them pride of place at the Co-op.”