Bigelow’s Enthusiasm a Constant Family Asset

It’s safe to say Cindi Bigelow has tea in her blood.

Her grandmother, Ruth Campbell Bigelow, founded R.C. Bigelow Inc. in 1945, pioneering flavored teas at a time when tea was a decidedly plain beverage.

More than 50 years later, Cindi Bigelow helps run a specialty empire that produces $75 million in annual sales of more than 50 kinds of tea and close to 1 billion tea bags a year.

She spends up to 14 hours a day pondering blends ranging from Purely Peppermint to Sinfully Cinnamon. Yet Cindi Bigelow is not tired of tea. She drinks about four cups of her family’s mixtures a day: from a hearty Earl Grey to a soothing raspberry herbal iced tea.

“I love the product,” she said. “What can I say?”

There was never any doubt that Bigelow would go into her family’s business. She watched her mother and father, David and Eunice Bigelow, taste-test new flavors as they helped build the company into one of the leading specialty tea makers in the country.

“I always knew that this was what I wanted to do,” she said. “I’ve always liked the business. My family has never put one ounce of pressure on me.”

Bigelow, based in Fairfield, Conn., claims about 24% of the herbal tea market, second behind Celestial Seasonings Inc. In the broader specialty tea category, which includes flavored, herbal and decaffeinated teas, Bigelow runs neck-and-neck with Celestial.

As vice president of operations, Cindi Bigelow oversees the company’s three manufacturing plants, handling quality control, purchasing, distribution and planning functions. About 300 of Bigelow’s 400 employees report to her.

Her parents still have an active role in the company--her father is president and chairman and her mother is a vice president. Her sister, Lori, is vice president of blending, in charge of developing new flavors.

Cindi Bigelow, 38, worked her way up through a half-dozen jobs before getting the operations post nine months ago.

Her first job after graduating from Boston College with a marketing degree was operations manager at Seagram Co. Although she wanted the experience of working for another company, she said she knew she would spend her career in the family business. She’s worked at Bigelow since 1984.

In the business community, she is known for her boundless energy and commitment to community projects. In 1996, she spearheaded a drive to raise $150,000 and recruit 2,500 volunteers to build a playground in Fairfield.

“Without Cindi, it would never have happened. She put blood, sweat and tears into it,” said Carole Adzima, a colleague from the Greater Bridgeport Regional Business Council.

Cindy Robinson, a close friend and former roommate, said Bigelow has the same kind of drive in her personal life, balancing her job, a husband, two children and many community projects.

“She’s a planner. She’s always planning something. The kind of energy little kids have--she still has it,” Robinson said.

At Bigelow, she is known as a demanding manager. But her goal is to improve efficiency, communication and morale.

“I am definitely tough. It’s not easy to work with me because I have such high expectations,” she said. “I think I’m fair, and I’d like to think I try to work with everyone to bring out their best qualities.”

And she is known as a loyal friend. Robinson recalls that when she had surgery two years ago, Bigelow was there for her.

“When I woke up from my surgery, she was sitting in a chair in my room, reading a book, and she had a vase of flowers. She said she just wanted to see me wake up,” Robinson said.

Bigelow is a tireless promoter of her company, which had been keeping a low profile even though its tea bags--in their distinctive foil packets--are familiar to many. She said the company has beefed up its public relations department in recent months.

Bigelow said she hopes she has inherited some of her grandmother’s creativity and marketing sense.

As Cindi tells the story, Ruth Campbell Bigelow founded the company after her interior decorating business was wiped out during the Depression. Unhappy with the plain tea of the era, she decided to develop a tea with more flavor. Using a recipe from Colonial times, she added orange peel and sweet spices. The flavor was a sensation at a tea party given by a New York socialite.

“My grandmother called this woman and asked her what she thought of the tea, and she said, ‘Oh, they loved it. It was a source of constant comment.’ ”

The company’s flagship tea, “Constant Comment,” was born. It is still the company’s best seller, along with its Earl Grey. Over the last seven years, the company has added green tea, which some studies have shown may help prevent some types of cancer.

The company would not release profit figures. Sales were approximately $75 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30.

Cindi Bigelow said she has never felt any strong pressure because of her status as the boss’ daughter.

“I think the people respect the fact that I’ve worked in the job,” she said, “and that I’m not Ivory Towering it.”