By H&S Staff
Tell us about your company and products.
KimBees product line consists of award-winning gourmet teas, coffees, peanut brittle and honey. They are high quality, great tasting gourmet products and contain no artificial flavoring or preservatives. Our award-winning ready to drink teas come in our signature wine bottles and are hands down incredible! Our packaging is great for those who want to give hostess gifts, those that don’t drink alcohol but still want to celebrate special events and or occasions, or for the tea connoisseurs that just want to sit back and enjoy a nice glass of gourmet tea from a wine bottle. Our gourmet teas have such a delicious taste, it can delight the palate of those even with the most discerning taste buds. Our current flavors are Almond, Lemon Raspberry and Peach-Mango Green Teas. They come in both sweet and unsweet options and 375ml and 750ml wine bottles.
Our gourmet coffees are truly amazing. If you are a coffee drinker, make no mistake, our small batch coffees will give you that “pick you up” that you may want first thing in the morning. We have over 30 different flavors of coffee. You may choose Kahlua and Cream, Snickerdoodle, Hazelnut Fudge or Dark Chocolate in either regular or decaf. We have dark roasts as well as our blends. Our 12 oz. coffees come in our resealable packaging in order to maintain freshness.
Our gourmet peanut brittle is my mother’s (Avenell Brown) recipe. If you enjoy a wonderful tasting snack that has a “homemade taste and feel” our gourmet peanut brittle is the best. They come in two flavors…. original peanut brittle and our cranberry peanut brittle. These snacks are enjoyed year-round and shipping is never a problem when it comes down to the weather. Our gourmet peanut brittles have a cookie crunch so it’s not too hard or too soft that it will break a tooth or stick to it. Our gourmet peanut brittle has a cookie crunch so it’s not too hard or too soft that it will break a tooth or stick to it. Our gourmet peanut brittle is truly an experience.
Our gourmet honeys are just amazing!!! We have a local apiarist that we work with and our gourmet honey pairs great with all of our hot teas.
Our boxed teas – well we are about to offer new packaging so, to be continued. …
What inspired you to become an entrepreneur?
I must say I was inspired by my family. My paternal grandparents, although they were educators, owned a movie theater, restaurant and properties. They rented one of their properties to my mother so she could open her own hair salon when she was 18. This is where she met our (I have a brother, Christopher) dad.
When I was in college at NCA&T State University I had an opportunity to co-op with Miller Brewing Company and this is when I knew I wanted to manufacture something. I had no idea it was going to be my award-winning tea. I guess you can say that growing up with my family owning businesses and the support my family showed me, and my faith, I knew I could be successful.
How have you included legacy in your business?
My inspiration comes from both my grandmothers. In their own unique way, they inspired me to get into the tea industry. My dad’s mother who I affectionately called “Grandmama” made sun tea. My mother’s mother who I affectionately called “Muddear” would make sweet tea and add herbs. When I come up with tea recipes, I marry the two “grandmothers’ concepts” and come up with my products. My mother also created the peanut brittle recipe and so the legacy continues.
What makes your products so unique?
All of our products are uniquely made without preservatives. We make our teas so you can enjoy drinking them hot, cold or at room temperature without altering their tastes. Our ready-to-drink teas are packaged in our signature wine bottles. All of our products are high in quality.
What has been the most memorable compliment that you have gotten?
I have many memorable compliments but I would like to give you two of them.
I will have to preface it with, “I decided to attend The World Tea Expo in Las Vegas”.
My employee and I attended the World Tea Expo in Las Vegas. We had just bottled our Lemon-Raspberry Sweet Black Tea. We had received our bottles and had to label them onsite. We were so green but we were “all in”.
We were the only sweet tea company, so we just knew we had no competition and we were going to sell out of everything
WE SOLD NOTHING!!!! People came to our booth and sampled our teas and asked what it was. They did not like the taste, they said it was too sweet and they did not like anything about it. I was completely floored!!! We still stood behind our product and continued to remain at our booth the entire 3-dqy event! Yes, I said 3 days!!
We couldn’t wait to get back to Greensboro, NC but didn’t let anyone know.
We got back and I decided to go a different route once I knew what people were looking for. I changed the lemon-raspberry tea to a green tea and added an almond green tea too. We changed the bottle packaging and bottled them in our now signature wine bottle. The creators of the expo reached out to me to see if we were coming back next year. I said definitely. They decided to create a new category which was the ready to drink (rtd) sweet tea category. I submitted my samples which was a requirement before attending the expo. This time not only did my employee come with me, I invited my mother, aunts, cousins and friends for support.
Now to get to my most memorable compliment… I had a gentleman come by my table the previous year who couldn’t stand my tea. He came by my booth and said,
“You’re back! I didn’t think you were going to ever participate again after what you went through last year. Good for you! I am happy you are sticking with it! You show real passion!” He decided to taste my new teas and told me I was onto something, and I had a winner on my hands! Little did I know this time we would receive “Best Packaging in the Nation” as well as 2nd and 3rd place in the Sweet Tea Category for our teas. Our awards alone were definitely compliments coming from my peers who judged the competition.
My second memorable compliment is “You convert non-tea drinkers because I don’t drink tea!” This was from another gentleman when we were vending at the farmer’s market.
What does success look like to you?
Success to me means that I have achieved what I wanted…making my dreams come true by creating gourmet beverages and treats that become a household name that people can depend on for the high quality and great taste. Staying focused without compromising my beliefs, my businesses, and well-being while maintaining healthy relationships with my team at work, family and friends. When I wake up every morning, I can look in the mirror and be proud of who I am without any hesitation and thanking God for guiding my path.
What can people expect from you in the next five years?
I am always thinking of different ways to grow my company by new and innovative packaging ideas as well as trying out new flavors for my teas. I would like to see the podcast I am creating come to fruition. I look forward to expanding my manufacturing facility as well as growing my non-profit I am working on (it’s in early stages).
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About
Kimberly Brown’s professional career is ever expanding. She is a manufacturing professional, excels in building relationships that have expanded internationally, as well as a successful entrepreneur who gives back to communities.
Kimberly enrolled in North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina. She completed her study in Manufacturing. Prior to forming KimBees, Ms. Brown was a project engineer for Miller Brewing Company, copy editor for USA TODAY, as well as a management consultant for General Motors, BellSouth and many noteworthy manufacturing-driven companies across the United States and Canada.
In 2008, Kimberly had the idea to introduce an innovative trend to the tea industry. With her mission to bring an upscale gourmet beverage experience to the masses, she created a line of award-winning gourmet sweet green teas. KimBees has captured the prestigious North American Tea Championship Award two years consecutively. Almond and Lemon-Raspberry have won “best packaging” and placed 2nd and 3rd in the Nation in the sweetened green tea category. The North American Tea Championship is the largest and most renowned independent tea competition of its kind. In 2013, KimBees, Inc. was awarded the “MBE Class I Supplier of the Year” award during the Carolina’s Minority Supplier Development Council’s 36th Business Opportunity Conference. KimBees customers include Food Lion, Bank of America, MetLife, RDU, & Guilford County Schools just to name a few.
In August of 2020, KimBees was selected for Qurate Retail Group’s Small Business Spotlight, a collaboration with the NRF Foundation to help small businesses navigate today’s challenging retail environment. This phase of the program highlighted 20 Black-owned businesses as part of Qurate Retail Group’s commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion within its company and in society at large.
Qurate Retail Group, a Multiplatform retailer that includes QVC, HSN, Zulily, and several other brands, is using its production resources, television broadcasts, and digital platforms to help KimBees share its story with millions of consumers nationwide. KimBees’ story began appearing on QVC’s and HSN’s websites and social pages on August 12 and was highlighted on air on September, 22 at 12:00pm and 9:00pm ET on QVC and at 1:55pm and 10:55pm ET on HSN.
Zulily is promoting the campaign on its website, email, and social, and KimBees can also tap Qurate Retail Group team members for advice on solving a business issue through a virtual mentoring initiative.
Kimberly is very active in a variety of civic and cultural organizations. She served on The Board of Directors for Downtown Greensboro Incorporated, the Marketing Committee of DGI, and is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Kimberly was the past Chair for the Triad Regional Advisory Committee (TRAC) for Carolinas-Virginia Minority Supplier Development Council.
