Experts note a trend of increasing demand for natural, healthy products. And for beginning entrepreneurs, this often turns out to be a profitable business, because you can set up a business producing such goods at home, without spending large investments. One of these areas is the production of fireweed tea. If you organize your own collection of plants and buy equipment for the production of fireweed tea, you will open your own mini-workshop.

Ivan tea (popularly known as fireweed) is a perennial plant classified as a medicinal species. It is unpretentious to growing conditions, and therefore grows freely in fields, wastelands, and near pine forests.

Industrial production of Ivan tea in Russia is not very developed. On a large scale, only a few large companies supply it to the shelves of pharmacies and stores. But there are more and more small workshops. And this gives budding entrepreneurs an excellent chance now, when competition is minimal, to take their place in this niche.

But the production of Ivan tea as a business is profitable not only because of the lack of competition. The demand for the product is amazing! Many consumers today refuse imported varieties of tea in favor of its original Russian “analogue”. Thanks to the beneficial properties of the plant, the sale of fireweed tea will bring big profits to the businessman - it is not without reason that it is called “the remedy for 100 diseases,” and our grandmothers always dried the healing stems and leaves for the winter.

Do not forget that this area is seasonal - production may be idle in the winter-spring period because there will be no raw materials. Therefore, it is very important to produce the maximum amount of products during the season.

Features of fireweed production technology

First, you need to decide on the “scope” of the business. What will it be - a family production or an entire enterprise producing granulated Ivan tea? If we talk about a home business, then many operations (and this is a labor-intensive business) will have to be carried out manually. A full-fledged workshop is equipped with special equipment. Accordingly, the production technology of Ivan tea itself is simplified.

The stages of the technological chain both in automated equipment and in a conventional kitchen remain the same - the only difference is in time and the share of manual labor.

The production of fireweed begins with the collection of raw materials. To give consumers maximum benefit, collect the plant in environmentally friendly places - away from highways and railways. The process is carried out in a strictly defined period - when the plant blooms. It is difficult to determine the exact time of harvesting Ivan tea, since much depends on climatic conditions. For example, in the south it is harvested from late June to mid-July, and in the north - from mid-July to the end of August. Our ancestors had a tradition of collecting fireweed on the night of Ivan Kupala.

Judging by the experience of successful entrepreneurs, 1 person can collect 20-35 kg of plants per day. Calculate your strength – maybe it’s worth hiring workers? The collection and preparation of fireweed tea should take place at short intervals, and therefore, do not leave the cut plant to languish in bags - immediately proceed to the next steps.

Making fireweed tea at home can be described as follows:

• First, the leaves are kneaded until they release juice. If you do this with a meat grinder, you will get a granular product.
• Next comes the withering stage - place the ground plant in a dark place for a day. Using dryers will significantly shorten the process - up to 8 hours.
• To “saturate” the leaves with oxygen, they need to be curled. After withering, the raw material is no longer so fragile.
• Fermentation of Ivan tea at home and in a workshop is the most important stage in the production of a useful product. Right now the plant is saturated with a special taste and aroma. The process is carried out on pallets in a cool place.
• Have all the conditions for fermentation of Ivan tea been met? Proceed to drying the product. Drying is necessary to remove residual moisture from the leaves. The process is short - only 20-30 minutes. Even at home, it is better to use auxiliary equipment - a regular oven or a special dryer.

After drying the leaves of Ivan tea is completed, the product is considered ready. It can be sold both in packaged form and by weight. Choose the best option for yourself. Packaged products are more expensive, but you will have to spend money on special equipment, which is not always advisable.

Is it possible to do without equipment?

Dryer for Ivan tea

The harvesting of Ivan tea leaves can be done entirely manually - from collecting raw materials to packaging the products. But be prepared for the fact that the profit in this case will be low - physically, you will not produce large quantities of products. The maximum that will be realistic is to sell tea to friends and acquaintances. But this is a start, considering the high cost of the product, not bad at all!

A mini plant for the production of Ivan tea, where the necessary equipment will be installed, is a much better option.

Having decided to organize a full-fledged workshop, you will have to register the future enterprise and obtain permission to conduct business from Rospotrebnadzor. This is necessary because no store will cooperate with an entrepreneur offering an unlicensed product for sale.

The price of equipment for making Ivan tea is relatively low. Its equipment differs little from machines for producing many types of tea.

The line includes the following machines and devices:

• Withering tables.
• Rollers for rolling leaves.
• Drum for frying raw materials.
• Drying cabinet.
• Sieve.
• A device for filling and packaging (in bags - either portioned or whole).

This is the main list of equipment. But since fermentation methods can be different, the line is often supplemented with separate professional machines for partial or complete fermentation - the process goes much faster.

An entrepreneur will buy a low-power line for 500,000-800,000 rubles. And you can organize a home business, if you have an oven and a meat grinder, for free.

Sales of finished products and business profits

Distribution channels will depend on the size of the enterprise. A home business doesn't have many options - neighbors, friends, private buyers. A full-fledged enterprise has more prospects in this regard - shops, pharmacies, fairs, markets.

And so that the meat grinder for Ivan tea does not stand idle, take care of product promotion. And this is important even for family businesses. Advertisements in newspapers and the Internet, exhibitions of natural products, promotions - many marketing tools can be used!

The most profitable clients are wholesalers. But it will be difficult for newcomers to establish cooperation with them - production capacity may not be enough, and shelf space at retail outlets is sometimes very expensive.

As for profit, the calculations must be based on production volumes and the established price for the product. At home, completely manual fermentation of Ivan tea through a meat grinder will produce no more than 10-15 kg of finished product per day, because the product is then dried, losing weight. Of course, in an industrial enterprise, the product yield is much higher. The average wholesale price of fireweed tea ranges from 800-1300 rubles/kg. Prepackaged products are even more expensive - approximately 150-300 rubles per pack of 100 g.

Tea is the most popular drink in the world, and Russia is no exception. Many families start and end their day with a cup of tea: green, black or herbal. How profitable is it to produce tea, given that 98% of the population consumes it daily?

Market analysis

Tea is grown in warm, humid countries. To ripen high-quality tea, you need a lot of sunlight, so the best plantations are located high in the mountains. The largest suppliers of tea are Africa, India and China. In one year it produces 5 million tons of tea.

Russia is the largest consumer of tea in the world. Tea is mainly purchased from other countries, since Russia does not have the conditions for cultivation and the raw material base. Only 1% of tea is grown in the Krasnodar region. Russian manufacturers only purchase raw materials, flavor them and package them.

Tea is divided into the following categories:

• green;
• black;
• elite;
• democratic;
• bagged;
• packed.

There is no definite trend regarding which tea is most profitable to produce. Consumer preferences change every year.

For many years, medium and premium tea has remained the most profitable segment; consumers perceive it as higher quality. Among the scents, bergamot and jasmine are very popular. As for the type of tea: black or green, in recent years preference has been given to green. Green tea production increases annually by 4.5%, and black tea by 1.9%. Black tea currently occupies up to 80% of the market, green tea up to 20%.

Exotic teas also do not lose popularity:

• oolong;
• lapsang souchong;
• puerh;
• sencha.

Consumer demand for herbal teas has increased.

Almost the entire Russian tea market belongs to 5 companies:

• SDS-Foods;
• Orimi Trade;
• Peregrine falcon;
• Unilever Rus'.

The companies managed to win not only market stalls, but also the trust of consumers. Therefore, when starting a tea business, you need to be confident in your abilities in order to withstand the competition.

Registration and organization of business

Like any other income-generating business, tea production must be officially registered. In addition, food production requires additional permits. The premises must comply with all sanitary standards. The manufacturer is also required to pay taxes to the state.

Required Documentation

The procedure for starting a tea business is as follows:

• registration of individual entrepreneur or LLC;
• choice of form of taxation;
• obtaining permission from the sanitary and epidemiological service;
• obtaining permission from Rospotrebnadzor.

From the documents you need to obtain:

• agreed technical conditions and instructions;
• agreed recipe;
• certificate from the sanitary-epidemiological station;
• permission from the veterinary service;
• technical instructions.

Other documents may be required, which will be reported to the authorities. This will depend on the specifics of the business.

You can collect all the permits yourself, or to save time, you can contact legal companies.

Opening an LLC costs more. What are the advantages of registering as a legal entity? It is possible to attract an investor and create companies with several founding partners. If you are unwilling or unable to further develop the business, the LLC can be sold.

For investors, suppliers and consumers, an LLC is taken more seriously; they are more willing to enter into contracts and cooperate with a legal entity.

If the company goes bankrupt, the LLC will only lose its authorized capital, while the individual entrepreneur may lose all personal property, which is more unpleasant.

Food production is subject to inspections more often, so all permits must be in place.

Premises and equipment

Finding equipment for tea production is not difficult. You need to pay attention to production lines, this is cheaper than individual devices and more convenient. The devices can make about 100 bags per minute. You can use any raw material, green, black and herbal tea.

The price of the line depends on the manufacturer and the power of the equipment. You can purchase used equipment in good condition. The price ranges from 2.5 to 7 million rubles.

The premises must comply with the following standards of the sanitary and epidemiological service:

• separate warehouses for raw materials and finished products;
• production room;
• separate offices for staff;
• water supply system;
• sewerage;
• electricity supply;
• heating system;
• ventilation system.

In addition, permission must be given by the fire department.

The size of the production premises must be at least 100 square meters. Most of it is allocated for production, since the equipment is quite large.

The line should consist of the following units:

• packaging equipment;
• compressor;
• ocellophanator;
• blending drum.

Search for suppliers of raw materials

You need to look for suppliers of the following products: tea leaves and packaging.

Tea by weight is:

• large leaf;
• small leaf;
• granulated.

The latter option is used for packaging into bags. Suppliers can be both domestic and foreign companies. It is better to find a supplier directly rather than purchasing goods from an intermediary, so as not to overpay. It is more profitable to buy directly, but there must be a large batch at once.

The largest suppliers:

• Altai;
• Krasnodar region;
• India;
• Sri Lanka;
• Vietnam;
• China.

The price for one kilogram of tea is about 60-100 rubles. 100 empty tea bags cost about 100-150 rubles.

Production technology

Tea production consists of several stages:

From the same raw material, different products can be obtained using different technologies. If you make changes at any stage, you can end up with different tastes. Most processes are automated, but sometimes manual labor is required.

Tea leaves are harvested on plantations by hand. The cost of a leaf depends on the conditions where it grew, its height above sea level, the age of the leaf, the month of collection, and so on.

So that the leaf loses moisture and is not so tough, it is withered. Raw materials are placed in the shade or under oblique rays of the sun, the area should be well ventilated. Depending on the environmental conditions, technology and withering time, different types of tea can be obtained.

Green tea is hand rolled.

At the fermentation stage, the leaves are laid out on a table in a cool room for oxidation and fermentation of cell sap. The air temperature should be about 15 degrees, humidity up to 90%. The leaves begin to emit a pleasant aroma. The process lasts only a few hours.

The fermentation process proceeds to drying. If proper drying is not done, the raw materials may rot.

When the tea is ready, it is pressed, crushed, sorted and packaged. The packaging must be airtight, as tea easily absorbs moisture and foreign odors.

At the end, each package is marked, indicating:

• place of collection of raw materials;
• manufacturer data;
• variety;
• best before date;
• international marking of tea leaves.

Staff

Among the employees there should be the following units;

• technologist;
• site manager;
• operators;
• general workers;
• mechanic;
• storekeeper;
• accountant.

In total, the team can consist of approximately 10 people. In total, you will need to spend about 200 thousand rubles per month on salaries.

Sales market

There are several options for selling products:

• wholesale food warehouses;
• tea outlets;
• supermarkets;
• Retail Stores;
• pharmacies;
• online stores.

Financial component of business

When opening a tea production business, you need to remember that there is a lot of competition and it will be difficult to find your niche among large producers. Working only with retail stores, you can’t count on good profits. An important point is the seasonality of the business, so there should be a wide range of products, including tea soft drinks.

Cost of opening and maintaining

The cost of opening a production facility, including the preparation of all documents, will cost about 3 million rubles. This cost includes the cost of rent, utilities and wages for the first month.

Amount of future income

In one minute you can produce 5-6 packs of tea. Up to 70 thousand packages of tea are produced per month. If each package of tea costs 30-40 rubles, then you can get an income of up to 1.5-2 million rubles per month.

Payback period

If you load the production line to the maximum and set the minimum price for a pack of tea, approximately 35 rubles, then there is a chance to recoup the production in 1.5 years.

Tea production is difficult, due to the difficult technological process and great competition in the market. But if you take the matter seriously, it is possible to fully recoup all expenses in 1.5-2 years and make a good profit.

Ivan tea, also known as fireweed, Koporye tea, was used as a drink and medicinal infusion in Rus'. Its merits were also appreciated in Europe. But with the entry of Indian tea into the market, fireweed was forgotten. Today, concern for health has made many remember the miracle herb, and the production of Ivan tea at home is of great interest.

Reasons for popularity

Ivan tea in science is called “angustifolia fireweed”. The flowers of the plant are a good honey plant, so growing it at home in non-industrial conditions can act as a supplement to honey production.

The drink made from fireweed has pleasant taste, color and aromatic properties.

It is easy to combine with other plants from the medicinal family - mint, oregano, chamomile. Fireweed is very combinatorial, which has allowed manufacturers to produce about 15 varieties of the finished drink today.

Studies have established that Ivan tea is rich in vitamins and microelements. Unlike green tea, fireweed does not contain caffeine. However, this does not deprive the drink of its tonic properties; First of all, it is recommended for use by people suffering from cancer spectrum diseases.

Ivan tea is not a medicine, so you can use it on an ongoing basis.

Organizing a business

The specifics of building a business activity are determined by the available capital investments and opportunities. The plant is often found in the wild, making hand collection possible. With one person who has experience in this activity, it is possible to prepare about 30 kg of raw materials. However, due to the small volumes, the production of Ivan tea as a business will not be practical.

Another option is to organize the purchase of raw materials. The entrepreneur dries and ferments, that is, takes on the main stages of working with the initial material. The disadvantage is that in our country there are no companies that specialize in the wholesale sale of Ivan tea.

Of course, you can distribute purchase announcements among residents of villages near which fireweed grows. But in this case, it is impossible to guarantee exact compliance with technological requirements and procurement rules. In particular, a prerequisite is to collect the plant exclusively in the morning, but there should be no dew on the leaves. Violation of this rule negatively affects the natural and taste qualities of the finished tea.

Due to these difficulties, the production of Ivan tea in Russia is still at the development stage. Focusing on a full-cycle system, especially one conducted exclusively on its own, according to experts, is economically unjustified.

Manufacturing technology

Collecting leaves is the first step. The time period for harvesting is from the last days of June to the beginning of August. Specific dates are determined by the climatic conditions in which business activities are organized. The raw materials are placed in bags and processed as soon as possible - during long-term storage, fireweed leaves begin to darken and lose their beneficial properties.

Technologically, the production of the drink is similar to the production of tea from any other leaf. Therefore, the equipment used for the production of Ivan tea is identical.

Sequencing:

1. Raw materials are sorted and debris is removed. The leaves should be washed thoroughly and then dried in a place where light does not reach.
2. The resulting material is thoroughly ground until juice appears. You can use a meat grinder. It should be remembered that it is not recommended to freeze the leaves, since after defrosting most of the beneficial qualities will be destroyed. This step can be skipped if the goal is not to obtain granulated tea.
3. Withering. The leaves are placed in a thoroughly ventilated, darkened room for a period of 10 to 24 hours. The use of special drying chambers will reduce this time to 5-8 hours. This length is enough for the material to lose a little more than half of the moisture, becoming elastic, but not brittle.
4. Twisting. Allows the mixing of enzymes and polyphenyls contained in the leaf. This stage is extremely important for high-quality, proper fermentation. The procedure is carried out either manually or using special equipment.
5. Fermentation. You will need a room with a constant low, but not sub-zero temperature. Light should not penetrate into it, either natural or artificial. The sheets are laid out on wooden pallets or aluminum sheets. The process allows you to destroy oxalic acid and activate beneficial substances. To obtain the best result, it is recommended to use special equipment that allows you to adjust the degree of fermentation.
6. Drying. Lasts from 20 minutes to 2 hours. For this stage of Ivan-tea production, special equipment is needed - drying cabinets.

Required documents

To produce Ivan tea in Russia, registration is required either as an individual entrepreneur (individual entrepreneur) or as an LLC. The choice is determined by the size of the company. Beginners should give preference to the first option.

The next stage is obtaining permission. To do this, you must go through the procedure for approving the recipe and technical conditions at Rospotrebnadzor.

Employees

You will have to resort to hired labor if you plan to use the equipment. If we are talking about manual labor, then the need for hiring arises only in cases of large volumes of products.

It will not be possible to do without a raw material collector. With a daily norm of 6 bags for work, he should receive approximately 800 rubles.

Equipment

Since the development of production in Russia is at an extremely low level, this explains the small number of stores specializing in the sale of the necessary equipment. Therefore, it is better to look for equipment for the production of Ivan tea through foreign companies.

Financial questions

Opening a home business for the production of Ivan tea will cost about 100 thousand rubles. Approximately a third of the amount will be spent on obtaining certificates and permits. The remaining funds will be spent on purchasing:

• labels;
• packaging materials;
• tools;
• equipment.

If large volumes are planned and powerful production equipment is needed, the amount of starting capital should be in the range of 0.5-1 million rubles.

As for profitability, you need to count on the fact that one pack of Ivan tea contains no more than 100 g of raw materials (ramming will lead to loss of presentation). Its market value ranges from 400 to 500 rubles.

How to sell

Restaurants and cafes specializing in preparing dishes from local products can become consumers of the product. It would be useful to take part in thematic fairs and festivals. This will help form a customer base and expand the sales market. Promotions are recommended in which you are offered to try and purchase the product. You should add as friends those event organizers who advocate promoting a healthy lifestyle.

Fitness centers, sanatoriums, and pharmacies can become consumers of medicinal tea. Some entrepreneurs are launching online trading.

Estimated assortment

You should start a business with ordinary varieties. This will allow you to study the production technology in detail. After gaining experience and forming a certain customer base, you can try your hand at expanding the product line. For example, offer consumers a mixture with aromatic plants and/or dried berries.

The range can also be expanded by using various fermentation methods in production. In other words, the consumer can be offered different types of tea depending on the degree of fermentation:

• green, white, yellow - the result of a low degree of fermentation;
• red, purple, blue – half;
• black – full;
• pu-erhs are over-fermented.

The easiest way to determine the demand for a particular variety is at a public tasting.

From Kiprey to Ivan-chai. All stages of production: Video

Production and tea technologies are quite similar, however, organizing a business related to tea production requires much larger investments. It is worth noting that such high investments, if the enterprise is properly organized, are fully justified, therefore, if you are weighing all the pros and cons of opening a tea factory, you will be interested in reading this article.

Features of the tea business.

Perhaps the fundamental feature of opening tea production is the raw materials itself (this feature, by the way, increases the amount of required investment).

All tea, depending on the raw materials used to create it and production technology, can be divided into:

1. Baikhovy – loose tea, is the most popular in Russia;
2. Pressed - tea made from scrap, or post-fermented tea of ​​a high category, for example, pu-erh;
3. Granulated tea is produced using a special technology: after oxidation, the tea leaf is processed with a special device, which gives it a special shape;
4. Flavored - tea containing aromatic additives, such as essential oils, flowers, pieces of various fruits and spices;
5. Extracted tea. A type of tea that does not require brewing, thanks to the special processing of the tea leaves. It can be presented as a powder, paste or as an aqueous extract.

Tea plantation in Indonesia

The raw material for the production of any type of tea is tea leaves, but the problem is that this raw material requires a special climate for growth and special preparation conditions. In the Russian Federation, tea is grown exclusively in the Krasnodar region, so you will probably have to turn your attention to countries such as India, Kenya, China, Indonesia, Taiwan and Sri Lanka to expand the number of tea suppliers.

Cooperation with foreign suppliers will require you to pay costs and additional knowledge regarding the international transportation of goods. It should be noted that the raw materials that you plan to use to make teas must have the necessary certificates and comply with the requirements of Russian legislation regarding the content of chemical and organic substances in products.

The process of making tea.

The production technology must be not only efficient, but also safe. Of course, first of all, you should think about fire safety. You should definitely purchase fire tanks (you can order them on the website https://www.npommz.ru/pozharnye-rezervuary)

Making tea involves the processes of withering, rolling, fermentation and drying. In fact, all these processes take place at the tea manufacturing plant, which will be your supplier. You will open a tea-packing factory, the basis of which will not be the technological processes of creating tea, but mechanical ones. You can additionally blend the tea, package it, and bring the finished product to markets.

To open a factory, you need to purchase a production line, as well as a packaging and packing line. The price of the equipment is about 3 million rubles, this amount greatly depends on the brand and manufacturing company, as well as on what type of tea your enterprise will specialize in. The production line usually consists of dryers, presses, a crushing apparatus, a tea leaf curling machine, sifters, and turners.

At your enterprise, the raw materials will be sifted in order to separate whole leaves from scrap: whole leaves will be used as raw materials for long tea; pressed tea will be made from scrap, thanks to presses. Blending drums are designed for mixing raw materials to produce flavored teas. Rolling machines provide additional fermentation.

The premises for organizing a tea factory must comply with sanitary standards, have a constant temperature and a certain humidity. The factory must be equipped with large storage facilities.

To operate your factory, you will need to obtain permits, such as a registered recipe and technical production conditions, and a hygienic report from the sanitary and epidemiological service.

With rational organization of production, profitability is about 40%, and the payback period is about 2-3 years.

Fireweed or Koporye tea in Rus' has always been drink No. 1. And in our days of struggle for a healthy lifestyle and naturalness, when plant products have returned to fashion, the production of fireweed tea as a business has become a profitable business.

The perennial plant is a one and a half meter bush with a thick root, narrow leaves and an inflorescence up to forty centimeters high. Ivan tea grows in one place for eight years. Reproduction is carried out by seeds or roots. Flowers are honey plants, so home-based business on Ivan tea can also be used to make honey.

Why should you choose fireweed for your own business?

The plant in question has beneficial properties for health and excellent taste when brewing an aromatic drink. Our great-grandfathers knew about the beneficial properties of Koporye tea. In addition, it “gets along” with medicinal herbs such as peppermint, oregano or chamomile and is a confident competitor to imported similar products. You can experiment with fireweed tea without losing its healing qualities. To date, more than 15 variants of finished products based on the plant are known.

Scientific studies have shown that fireweed contains trace elements and vitamins that have a positive effect on the body, and does not contain caffeine, like black tea. With its help, people get rid of insomnia, headaches and nervous tension. Regular use helps remove kidney stones, normalizes blood pressure and cures women's diseases.

The listed factors speak in favor of the fact that with its help you can organize a successful sales business.

Production of fireweed tea as a business

Setting up production capacity depends on the wishes of the entrepreneur and available financial resources. Fireweed is often found in natural conditions (in meadows, fields or wastelands), which makes it possible to collect it yourself and prepare it using improvised means. During one daylight hours, a person collects up to thirty kilograms of the plant, but such volumes will not allow the development of a large-scale enterprise.

As an option, you can consider purchasing the material and processing it alone - drying and fermenting. The complexity of the method is that you will not find wholesale suppliers, so there is a need to hire assemblers or submit an advertisement in nearby settlements to purchase fresh material. But in this case, you risk receiving raw materials that were not collected according to technology.

Collection is carried out only during flowering in the morning, when there is no dew on the plant. The quality of the tea and the vitamin content of the future drink depend on this.

Therefore, it is necessary to draw up a business plan for the production of fireweed tea, which includes all stages:

• Acquisition or preparation of land.
• Sowing and growing fireweed.
• Its collection and processing.

This way you will be sure of receiving high quality raw materials and will avoid unnecessary costs and wasting time searching for a supplier and purchasing.

Direct production technology

In July-August (the period depends on the climatic conditions of the area in which the enterprise is opened) the collection of leaves begins. They must be recycled immediately because the leaves pressed in bags will turn black and spoil. The manufacturing technology is no different from the preparation of any tea. You can produce pure products or add different herbs for flavor, carry out various fermentations and other manipulations.

Product manufacturing stages

There are several main stages:

• Making fireweed tea as a business begins with preparing the material. The leaves are carefully sorted, washed in running water and dried in a place hidden from direct sunlight for 24 hours. If your plans include opening a large-scale profitable production, then think about purchasing special drying machines to reduce time. With a slight loss of moisture, the leaf does not lose elasticity and is ready for further curling so that the plant releases juice. This allows the enzymes to mix with the tea polyphenyls. In small production this process is done manually, in large production it is passed through a meat grinder (by the way, this is how granulated tea is obtained). In small home production, the process is carried out manually. However, manual processing gives the drink an unusual sourness.
• Fermentation of fireweed tea. The most important stage on which not only the taste and richness of the drink depends, but also its strength. The prepared leaves lie for some time in a dark and cool place without drafts. During this period, chemical reactions occur that destroy oxalic acid and activate beneficial substances. Professional equipment allows for partial or complete fermentation.
• Drying, depending on the method, takes from half an hour to two hours. To do this, the leaves are laid out on baking sheets and left in the oven. The result is a finished product to be packaged.

With large production volumes, fractionation occurs - large leaves are packaged, and small particles are used to make packaged versions.

Preparation of documentation

At first, when you are just setting up production on the basis of your personal subsidiary plot, you don’t have to register it. If you enter wholesale sales of fireweed, it is necessary to carry out mandatory registration of activities in order to obtain certification. Without quality certificates, no retail outlet will supply products for sale. At least because to sell the product you will need its certification.

To do this, you need to obtain permission from Rospotrebnadzor. There they also receive a package of documents that approve the technical features of manufacturing and the recipe. Having all the conclusions, the products can be registered as dietary supplements and sold to pharmacies and dispensaries.

To facilitate the registration procedure, it is better to register as an individual entrepreneur, but for large-scale production it is necessary to open an LLC. This will allow you to create and approve a brand to increase consumer loyalty by developing and implementing an original logo for application on packaging and labels.

Hiring workers

For a small business where everything is done by the family, hiring additional labor is not necessary. If you plan to use equipment for preparing goods, then you cannot do without personnel in the form of machine operators and material assemblers. In addition, you will need to hire a mechanic and an electrician. But the most important thing will be to hire a technologist who constantly monitors compliance with production technologies and the type of tea being developed.

Sales of finished products

To begin with, it is recommended to organize the sale of fireweed tea to small shops and stores. Having won the favor of consumers, you can move to large retail chains. After completing the accompanying documentation, you can consider not only pharmacies and retail stores, but also restaurants or sanatoriums as distribution channels.

Recently, the promotion and sale of goods via the Internet has become very popular. You can post ads on shopping portals or create your own online store if you offer a wide range. Also, don't miss themed fairs or sales exhibitions.

Main expense items

Business as a subsidiary farm does not imply the presence of capital. For large-scale production, you need to allocate at least eighty thousand rubles for the purchase of equipment. In addition, another hundred thousand rubles will be required to complete the certification procedure and register the enterprise, develop a logo and purchase packaging material.

The normal production payback plan is a year. On average, the income is 50–100%, because tea is sold at retail at 60 rubles more than cost.

But keep in mind that this is a seasonal business. In order to establish year-round production, it will be necessary to find and prepare storage facilities in advance for storing large quantities of harvested material under appropriate conditions. Only in this way will you present high quality products to the market.

You have learned about all the nuances of starting a business making drinks from fireweed. Whether this will be beneficial for you - decide for yourself, carefully weigh the pros and cons. And remember - the one who walks will master the road!