By Photo: NE Ent, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
In 1969, Mo Siegel and a few friends began gathering wild herbs in the mountains around Boulder, drying them and blending them into teas. They sewed the first bags by hand and sold them to health food stores. The first popular blend was Mo’s 36 Herb Tea. Sleepytime, a chamomile and mint blend, arrived in 1972 and became the company’s best seller.
The business grew quickly in the 1970s on the back of interest in natural foods. The illustrated boxes, with their drawings and quotations, became part of the brand.
Ownership changes
Kraft bought the company in 1984. Siegel and management bought it back in 1988, and in 2000 it merged with Hain Food Group, forming Hain Celestial, a major natural foods company. Siegel returned for a period as chairman.
Through those changes, production stayed in Boulder. The company’s plant on the northeast side of town blends and packs the teas, and it remains one of the larger manufacturing employers in the city.
The tour
Celestial Seasonings offers tours and a tasting room, which draw visitors and school groups. The most famous stop has long been the Mint Room, where the smell of stored peppermint and spearmint is strong enough to clear the sinuses.
The company buys herbs and spices from growers around the world now, not from the Boulder foothills. Its story is still part of how Boulder describes its economy, as a place where natural foods companies started, including others such as Horizon Organic and WhiteWave.
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