We always love finding Pennsylvania food brands with innovative social missions, and we are so excited to share the story of Treecup Tea with you! Mother-and-son team Vitalia and Mark Sotomayor founded this artisan iced tea company in Evans City in October 2017 using their grandma’s Peruvian Chai tea recipe. In the years since, their product line has grown to include six unique teas, and, in addition to making delicious beverages, they are using Treecup to mobilizing a mass reforestation effort in the Artibonite Valley of Haiti, which is 80% deforested.
This deforestation means that the country’s soil is severely eroded and nutrient-deficient, and crops don’t grow well. Treecup Tea is donating a portion of profits from each tea sale to Haiti Friends, a nonprofit based in Pittsburgh, which helps to organize the donation and planting of trees on family-owned farmland. So far, Treecup’s efforts have resulted in nearly 15,000 trees being planted in Haiti. By enriching the soil and creating healthier crops, the trees can help farmers multiply their annual earnings by up to three times.
This Tuesday, July 7, at 4 p.m. ET, we’ll be on Instagram Live with Mark Sotomayor chatting about Treecup’s mission and his own travels to Haiti. Please join us to get to know more about this amazing Butler County-based company. To watch Instagram Live, be sure to follow PA Eats on Instagram (we’re @pa.eats), and head to the app at 4 p.m. You’ll get an alert that we’re going live, and you can join us there!
- Photo and video: Treecup Tea
