They call her the tea philosopher. Argentinian I'nes Berton blends teas for royal families, Hollywood directors, rock stars and world leaders. She has built her business in the past 15 years to become one of her country's most successful entrepreneurs.
Tucked away in one of Buenos Aires trendy neighborhoods is one of Argentina's business success stories. Tealosophy sells boutique teas. The company was set up by Ines Berton, an Argentine entrepreneur whose gift in blending aromas is the secret behind her empire.
"We do hotels in restaurants many here and in Europe and in the States. We do corporate gifts, we do retails and we have shops," Berton said.
Berton started out with just $132. Now, she has stores in Buenos Aires, Barcelona and New York. Her talent and creativity in the art of tea has made her a leading expert on the second-most consumed beverage in the world.
"We like to tell the stories of our teas and how we get inspired. This is Frida's almond, I love Frida Khalo's art. She used to say, 'what do I need feet for if I have wings to fly ' I was inspired by her story and designed this black tea, with toasted almonds," Berton said.
Bert trained as a perfumer abroad before setting up her own company in Argentina at a time when her country was in the midst of an economic crisis.
"I felt in 2001 it very complicated year, it was a time for possible luxuries, for luxuries that weren't empty, luxuries to do with heart, soul, that have to do with health, and tea is a ritual. It was a big challenge. This is a country you have to be there every single day, the things change very fast, you can't stop and complain. You don't have time to complain, have to go on. It is a company that grew organically, always with strong DNA, we want a tea with premium ingredients. In one year grew from 500 kilos to 14,000 kilos. Today, we are in 20 countries," Berton said.
Berton scours many continents to find highest quality ingredients for her blends, and has overcome many challenges in her way.
"There were times I had to train the whole staff at the Dorchester hotel in London, when they saw an Argentinian women teaching them how to steep a cup of tea, its like if they came to Argentina to teach me asado, or tango. I read once that creativity is courage having fun, I live out of my creativity, I have to be courageous, we always fall down seven times get up, up eight and that's the way we go," Berton said.
