Milo's Tea Company

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Milo's Tea Company, located in Bessemer, produces Milo's Famous Tea, which is sold in several southeastern states. Its headquarters offices are at 3112 Dublin Lane in Bessemer's Morgan Industrial Park.

The company was founded as Milo's Restaurant Services in 1980 by Milo and Bea Carlton, the owners of Milo's Hamburgers, along with their son Ronnie and daughter-in-law Sheila. It originally provided tea and hamburger sauce to the Milo's Hamburgers chain

The company began selling Milo's Famous Tea to Birmingham grocery stores in one gallon jugs in April 1989. Ronnie Carlton sold the restaurant chain to Dean Chitwood in January 2002, but continued to furnish the brand's famous sauce and tea.

The original Milo's Tea Company plant was located behind Barber's Dairy, just off West Oxmoor Road in Homewood. That plant expanded to 21,000 square feet before running out of room to grow. The company moved to newly-built 28,000 square foot facility at its present location in 2002. In 2004, the company made plans to expand to 43,000 square feet.

As of 2014 the plant with 100 workers was capable of producing 300,000 gallons per day with plans to double in capacity and add a second production facility in the western United States. In 2017 the company expanded its Bessemer production and distribution facility to 150,000 square feet, housing 150 workers.

In 2008 the company began selling 35 tons of used tea leaves per week, which it had previously sent to landfills, to a Scott's plant in Vance, where it is mixed with pine bark and other components to make "Miracle-Gro" garden soil. Milo's also sources many of its input products from Alabama companies, including packaging from Pratt Industries.

The company's current slogan, introduced on May 23, 2007, is "Taste the Milo's Difference." It replaced the slogan, "The Great Southern Tea Company Since 1946," which had been in use for over a decade.

The Carlton's granddaughter, attorney Tricia Wallwork, took over as chair and CEO in March 2012. Two months later, the Milo's Franchise Company restaurant chain, which had been acquired by an investment group led by Tom Dekle, began experimenting with brewing its own iced tea at some locations. Milo's Tea Company responded by suspending its supply agreement during the summer. The restaurant group preemptively sued Milo's Tea over the matter that August. During the dispute, Milo's restaurants switched to using tea provided by Royal Cup Coffee. The two companies resolved their differences in March 2013, and Milo's restaurants began serving Milo's Tea again.

In 2014 Milo's Tea Company expanded its distribution area to 38 states across the South and West. By 2017 it was distributing to 13,000 retailers in 42 states. In 2018 the company moved its headquarters offices to Lakeshore Park Plaza in Homewood, but reconsolidated its offices at its Bessemer plant two years later.

In 2021 the company purchased the 100,000 square-foot former Prairie Farm milk packaging facility at 36 Barber Court as a production plant for lemonade.

In 2023 Milo's Tea Company contracted with Eagle Solar & Light to install a photovoltaic system on the roof of its Bessemer facility.

Products

The tea the company produces only lists three ingredients: water, sugar, and custom blended teas. However, the exact recipe, including the brewing, sweetening, and cooling processes, are kept secret. The company began with a single product: sweet tea in one gallon jugs. As of 2014, the company sells the following products:

  • Milo's Famous Sweet Tea, one gallon jugs and 8 and 12 ounce bottles, introduced in 1997. (20 oz. bottle introduced in 2008)
  • Milo's Famous Tea Unsweetened, one gallon jugs, introduced in 1999.
  • Milo's Famous Tea with Splenda, one gallon jugs and 8 and 12 ounce bottles, introduced in 2006. (20 oz. bottle introduced in 2008)
  • Milo's Decaf Sweet Tea, introduced in 2014
  • Milo's Lemonade, introduced in 2014
  • Milo's Famous Sweet Tea and Lemonade, introduced in 2014

In 2016 Milo's Tea Company developed a new line of "Café Style Organic Teas", brewed with organic tea leaves and organic cane sugar and stevia. The new line includes four varieties: Sweet, Light Sweet, Green Citrus and Light Green Citrus. All four are sold in 59-ounce bottles.

Distributors

  • Barber's Dairy (Alabama)
  • Brown’s Dairy (Louisiana)
  • LuVel Dairy (Mississippi)
  • Mayfield Dairy (Georgia and East Tennessee)
  • Purity Dairy (Tennessee)

References

External links

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