Teavana – Glaucus Research

Starbucks recently agreed to pay $620 million in cash to acquire TEAVANA (“Teavana” or the “Company”), a specialty retailer of loose-leaf teas, tea wares, and tea related merchandise in North America. Teavana tells its customers that its teas are pesticide free. As consumers of Teavana’s high-priced teas, we decided to investigate such claims. What we found is shocking. Independent laboratory tests show that Teavana’s teas contain pesticides in amounts that exceed US and EU regulatory limits. In our opinion, not only are lawsuits from the Federal Trade Commission and class-action attorneys inevitable, but once Starbucks learns that they have been deceived into paying a premium price for a tarnished consumer brand, they will walk away from the acquisition.