Salada Tea

The Salada story began in 1892 when Montreal businessman Peter Larkin started selling his unique, high quality blend of black tea in innovative foil packages. This flavour-sealing packaging ensured the freshness was locked into each box and delivered a consistently fine tea experience. Larkin decided to call his product “Salada”, after a Ceylon tea garden.

The product was a tremendous success in Canada and the Northeast United States, prompting Larkin to establish a U.S. headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts in 1917. The Salada Tea Building was a magnificent structure in the Boston’s Brick Bay neighborhood, featuring massive bronze doors artfully depicting the origins of the tea trade.

In the 1930’s Salada followed the trend of packing its teas into tea bags, a convenience format allowing users an easier way to enjoy their tea. For a time, Salada tea bags contained funny sayings and witticisms to entertain tea drinkers.

Many Canadians fondly remember the Salada theme from the 1970’s, “The Homecoming”. It was originally composed for Salada in 1972, and became an international hit when it was released as a single in 1975. The success of “The Homecoming” brought the artist Juno awards for “best composer” and “best instrumental artist” in 1975.

In addition to being a classic tea brand with over a century of history, Salada has moved and changed with the times. Green Tea was introduced to bring Canadians a new way to enjoy their Salada.

When family and friends want to share a warm cup of quality tea, they still reach for a box of Salada, as many past generations have done before. We think Peter Larkin would be as proud of his tea blend today as he was over 100 years ago.