🎓 Max and Arnaud met on the benches of the KEDGE school, during their Master in International Business in Bordeaux. The idea for Wize Tea was born when they took part in the Global Business Plan Competition.

☕ Max, a great lover of coffee during his studies, followed his doctor's advice and opted for tea. Having never liked traditional green and black teas, he began looking for tasty, healthy and environmentally friendly alternatives. During the competition, a study on coffee caught their attention, revealing the health benefits of the coffee leaf, its low caffeine content, and its history as an infusion in Ethiopia and Indonesia.

They came up with the revolutionary idea of applying the fermented tea leaf methodology to the coffee leaf. Finishing second in the competition, and with the support of their teachers, notably Bjorn Claes, Max and Arnaud put their idea into practice after their studies, and set off for Nicaragua. Their Wize Tea entrepreneurial adventure was taking off! 🌱✨

💪 Armed with a solid business plan, they turned their vision into reality by flying to Nicaragua in search of coffee farms. In the course of their investigations, one of their new contacts introduced them to Enrique Ferrufino, an ethical and innovative pioneer of the country's third generation of coffee growers. As they shared their vision with Enrique, a gleam of inspiration lit up his eyes. He immediately envisioned innovative ways to grow, process and create a revolutionary beverage .

A year later, Enrique joined Wize as co-founder, bringing decades of expertise in coffee growing to strengthen the team. A collaboration that gave birth to a veritable revolution in the industry. 🚀

Vancouver-based 🇨🇦 Wize Tea is revolutionizing the industry with its innovative tea made from recycled coffee leaves. Wize Tea offers coffee growers an additional source of income all year round.

Debuted in 2016, the sparkling iced tea range conqueredNorth America in 2020, with over 3 million cups sold, generating $300,000 in revenue for farmers, and exporting to overa dozen countries.

🌍 Focused on international growth, Wize Tea, present in 1,000 stores mainly in Canada and the United States, is aiming for expansion in Europe and Asia within the next two years. The company is also looking to strengthen its partnerships with companies in the world of coffee, beverages and social and ecological impact.

👨 Arnaud assumes the role of " Chief Operating Officer ", although this designation does not reflect the entirety of Arnaud's missions, being versatile like his partner in aspects of their start-up.

Although Arnaud's main focus is on managing the flow of goods, production, shipping and supplier relations.

His involvement in the field, meeting with retailers, stimulates the development of sales and distribution channels .

👨 Max manages all of Wize Tea's marketing, e-commerce and media.

Since they're both founders, they handle several aspects outside their core areas, so Max also manages human resources, and he has a specific sales territory and channels that he maintains and develops .

💬 Arnaud's advice:

"Get started! We spent 6 months creating a business plan, but in the end the execution once the product and company were online was very different. Launch experience and customer feedback are essential to progress and validate an idea. Rather than spending time on a lengthy business plan, it's wiser to launch with a solid idea,assess the potential and adjust along the way. Launch an idea, ask for advice, be honest with yourself, listen to customer feedback, even negative, pivot if necessary, and move on. Enjoy the journey and learn along the way - it's the best training you can get. The worst case scenario is nothing compared to regret."

💬 Max's advice:

" 1. Projects often take three times as long and cost three times as much as expected, due to unforeseen surprises. To avoid this, we've now built a larger safety margin into our projections, recognizing that reality is more complex than it looks on paper.

2. Don't wait for someone else to do the work for you. While new applications and technologies can improve productivity, it's crucial not to wait for everything to be automated. In our field, sales requires physical effort, going into stores and building relationships with managers. Sending e-mails is not enough to build the necessary trust.

3. Foresight is powerful: anticipating future problems means solving them before they happen. This applies to all aspects of life, from personal planning to product design. Critical, guilt-free self-evaluation is essential to identify and correct mistakes before they become irreparable. In our experience, a deeper reflection on our marketing strategy could have taken us further."

Find out more about the Wize Tea adventure:

Wize Tea website: https://drinkwize.com

Facebook: https: //www.facebook.com/drinkwize

Intagram: https: //www.instagram.com/drinkwize/

Tiktok: https: //www.tiktok.com/@drinkwize?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc