Innovation in sustainable tea processing

Local Tea Global Impact is setting a new standard in sustainable tea cultivation and processing in the Netherlands and Europe. Using a high-tech approach, we combine local production with large-scale processing. Our project focuses on advanced automation and sensor-controlled processes to deliver stable, high-quality tea, fully tailored to market demands. With three innovative units—a tea processing unit, a blender, and a portioning machine—we aim for efficient, packaging-free solutions that unite sustainability and craftsmanship.

The upscaling of tea production focuses on local cultivation and processing for the European retail and out-of-home markets. Automation is essential to handle larger volumes, along with technology to ensure stable, high-quality production. The process is centrally controlled across multiple locations, enabling various raw materials to be transformed into uniform tea blends. The goal is to achieve almost fully automated processing and portion packaging using sensor-controlled techniques such as drying, oxidizing, steaming, sorting, and cooling. Additionally, the project focuses on packaging-free tea portions to enhance sustainability. Three automated units are being developed: a tea processor, a blender, and a portioning machine.