Challenges of Lipton

There is a famous tea company called Lipton. This company was started by Sir Thomas Lipton who received the title of Sir from the queen of England. Thomas Lipton was born in Glasgow in Scotland in 1850. His family owned a small grocery store, and he had an interest in the business from en early age. At the age of fourteen, with eight dollars in his pocket, he moved to America. He earned a living as a farm laborer, and later became a grocery clerk in New York. In 1870, Thomas returned to Glasgow. He demonstrated a keen sense of advertising and marketing which he learned in America and helped prospering his father's shop. His motto was "Good health and advertising are vital for the business success". His continuous challenge and innovation lead to the success. By 1880, Lipton ran more than 20 chain of stores, and became a millionaire. In 1889, he started to involve with tea business. Lipton developed tea bags, and they became very popular. Next year, he bought coffee estates which were going out of business in Ceylon one after another and started the cultivation of tea. The famous motto of Lipton, From the farm to the tea pot" was born around this time. During the Spanish-American war, and later during World War I, Lipton gave money and supported the wounded. Queen Victoria knighted Lipton and gave him a title of "Sir". He was also a keen Yachtsman. He challenged for the American cup with large advertisement of Lipton on the sail. He didn't win, but he earned a reputation as the world best loser, and was presented with a gold cup by the people of America for his good sportsmanship. There was no end for his challenge. Even in his later years, he kept challenging new things.

(Rumi Kanemaru)