QTrade Teas & Herbs, one of the nation’s most reputable tea blending and packaging firms, is promoting Ronald Eng to vice president quality assurance, a position QTrade established to further ensure the highest standard of compliance. QTrade Teas & Herbs is the largest supplier of organic teas in North America, serving major tea brands, tea retailers, coffee roasters, foodservice and bottled drink brands.
“QTrade prides itself in tea transparency,” says Eng. “We believe our buyers should know as much about a product as possible. It is a value we have adopted and embraced. Thus, the greatest challenge of my role is to negotiate a series of product specifications that both meets the needs of suppliers/clients and anticipates the changes at the regulatory level. In our view, operating with integrity is the only way to do business.”
Image removed by sender.Eng, who has extensive scientific background with an advanced degree in microbiology, brings 10 years of experience as a tea retailer. He is founder of Kopius Teas, a wholesale specialty tea distributor established in 2008, acquired by QTrade in November 2012. His responsibilities extend from origin through transport and include monitoring the quality of ingredients in the production blends through packaging and distribution. Eng’s new role involves working closely with vendors to understand and meet client specifications and negotiate to guarantee satisfaction.
“Ron’s passion for specialty tea and stellar work experience, combined with a scientific background, make him the ideal choice to build a long-term and sustainable food safety program at QTrade,” notes Manjiv Jayakumar, president, QTrade. “Ron is leading our efforts to comply with Safe Quality Food (SQF) and the Global Food Safety Initiative (GSFI), and he has a significant and relevant prior history in the pharmaceuticals industry. He’s also respected in the tea industry, serving on technical committees of the Tea Association of the USA and the American Herbal Products Association.”
Overall, QTrade’s new state-of-the art facility blends up to 40,000 pounds of tea a day, packs 100,000+ iced tea bags and inventories more than two million pounds of teas and herbs. The company is a USDA-certified organic handling facility and the largest supplier of organic and Fair Trade certified tea in North America, working closely with several third-party certifiers at origin worldwide. As such, QTrade operates at a much higher standard than competitors, according to Eng. “On behalf of our clients we make certain that we have complete control over systems and documentation that verifies every step of the process,” he says.
QTrade has also invested heavily in IT to monitor compliance, reduce errors and verify the many steps required by auditors. “Communications and the exchange of data is critical to our quality programs,” explains Eng. “Our standards are maintained in a formal way; we don’t just tell people what to do, we train and count on our managers to show leadership and the mentoring that is necessary to achieve excellence.”
To learn more about QTrade Teas & Herbs, see qtradeteas.com. Also, visit QTrade at World Tea Expo, May 29 – 31, Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, Calif.
QTrade Teas & Herbs LogoAbout QTrade Teas & Herbs
Steeped in more than a century of garden level expertise, QTrade Teas & Herbs supplied the companies that originally pioneered specialty tea. QTrade is also the largest supplier of organic teas in North America, supporting clients from innovation through implementation by providing product development services, contract manufacturing (blending and packing of hot and iced teas), and expert sourcing and supply chain management services. QTrade’s clients include the largest tea brands and tea retailers, coffee roasters, foodservice and bottled drink brands. For more information please visit QTradeTeas.com and find them on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
