Inko's White Tea

A producer of premium bottled iced tea built around white tea rather than the black and green teas that dominate the ready-to-drink category. The brand began in a New Jersey kitchen in 2002, when the founder Andy experimented with blends of fruit flavours and white tea, and it takes its name from the family dog, Inko. The resulting bottled white teas combined a lighter, less processed tea base with fruit flavouring, and the brand grew on the back of consumer interest in white tea's antioxidant content, reaching retail distribution in nearly every US state. Product positioning rests on two claims that recur throughout the site: the health profile of white tea and a low calorie load. White tea is made from the new-growth buds and young leaves of Camellia sinensis, steamed or fried to arrest oxidation before drying, which leaves it less processed than green or black tea and, the company argues, leaves its polyphenols — particularly EGCG — more potent. Every bottle carries 50 calories or fewer. In 2014 the company reformulated the entire bottled line to meet USDA Organic rules, removing crystalline fructose from the recipe because it did not fit the brand's health standards, and the bottles now carry the USDA Organic seal. Alongside the core bottled iced tea line the company markets a tea-based energy product, presented on the site as 'Inko's Tea & Energy'. The brand is sold through grocery and natural-channel retailers across the United States, with the company directing trade and consumer enquiries about local availability to a dedicated email address. The company relocated its base to Chicago, Illinois in 2018. Editorial content on the site is used to support the category argument rather than to promote individual SKUs, covering white tea versus green tea nutrition, the processing that distinguishes white tea, and white tea's role in weight management. The site does not describe the company's own manufacturing plant, co-packing arrangements or certifications beyond USDA Organic, so no claims are made here about in-house production capability.