Recently we welcomed guests from TVNET media to share the story of PLŪKT beginnings, as well as tell more about the diverse tea culture in Latvia.
“In Prauliena, the old cultural house has been transformed into an herbal tea embassy, where a mother and daughter, the Lieplapas, are hard at work. They have ambitious plans to put Latvia on the world map as a place to enjoy exceptional tea within a few years. China has a reason to be worried.
It’s unlikely that actor and director Rūdolfs Baltaisvilks, as he danced with his wife, writer Ilze Indrāne, in the Prauliena cultural house and staged plays together, could have imagined that in the next century, this house would be the workplace of their granddaughter, Māra Lieplapa. Now, the scent of Prauliena’s meadows fills the second floor, and on the stage, the leading roles are played by tea boxes and packages.
But that’s exactly what has happened. Prauliena’s cultural house has become a tea house. In honor of her grandparents, Māra and her family restored and renovated the old house, keeping the hall and stage as close as possible to their original state. Display panels on the walls trace the lives and careers of Rūdolfs and Ilze. Māra takes pride in her family, her roots, and the region she comes from, even though this young woman can certainly be called a global citizen. When we meet, Māra is already packed and ready to head to Asia for another tea exhibition. Attending exhibitions is one of Māra’s duties—there’s no time to relax if she wants to bring Northern European tea to the world and be recognized as a serious competitor. Before each exhibition, she sends samples to potential clients, invites key individuals, builds her database and network, and carefully plans the next step towards recognition.
Māra’s goal is to make Latvia a noteworthy destination for all tea enthusiasts. Ambitious? Maybe! Is it possible? Why not! “Plūkt” tea is already enjoyed on every continent, and actress Drew Barrymore even calls it her drink of choice.
Sustainable, Natural, and Latvian
Māra’s parents are closely connected to the Nature Conservation. Growing up in Prauliena with her four brothers, being in nature was natural and inevitable for Māra.
Her mother, Līga, co-owner of the “Plūkt” brand, holds a doctorate in environmental science and has devoted her career to nature conservation and sustainability projects.
This isn’t a story of how little Māra collected herbs as a child and brewed tea with her mother. Not at all. Yes, tea was always around—as it is in most Latvian households, especially in the countryside. Māra knew that yarrow was for coughs, and linden blossom tea was for fevers, but there was no tea-drinking ritual.
However, Māra knew one thing for sure—she was drawn to the international scene, which led her to pursue business studies in Latvia, Sweden, China, and Finland.
She also knew she wanted to bring Latvia’s name to the world with a product that was sustainable, natural, and truly Latvian. Herbal teas collected from Latvian meadows and forests met all these criteria, so in 2017, mother and daughter Lieplapas founded their company “Plūkt.” By 2019, they began selling tea, and the pandemic worked in their favor as orders flooded in—what else is there to do during lockdown but drink tea? Even after the pandemic, people continued buying tea, and the company kept expanding to new countries.
Māra recalls that they initially decided to gather all the herbs themselves but soon realized it was too labor-intensive. They decided that her mother would oversee the sourcing and processing of the plants, while Māra would take charge of sales and marketing. Now, the herbs are collected by organic farm owners.
“We have around 200 different contacts in our database, but in reality, we regularly work with 32 reliable suppliers. The rest deliver herbs occasionally. However, this database is crucial because if we’re missing a particular herb in our region for some reason, we can call and search in other areas. For example, this year there were almost no linden blossoms in Vidzeme, but there were plenty in Kurzeme. Long-time tea collectors know exactly which flowers we need, how to gather them properly, and when. ‘Plūkt’ teas are harvested in organically certified wild areas, which is important because wild plants have a more concentrated flavor and effects than cultivated ones.” “
Read full article here.
Author of the interview: Kristīne Vilīte
Photographer: TVNET Grupa, Pauls Zvirbulis