King Cole Tea

The King Cole and Barbours sites both name G.E. Barbour Inc. of Sussex, New Brunswick as the company behind the brand and describe Barbours as family-owned since 1867, with the Brenan family acquiring it in 1950. Huddle reports that president Sylvia MacVey's family has owned the company since buying it from the Barbour family in 1952 and that she took control in 2011, and The CANADA List records G.E. Barbour Inc. as Canadian-owned. Corporations Canada returns no federal corporation under G.E. Barbour or King Cole, so this is a New Brunswick provincial corporation; the Service New Brunswick corporate registry could not be reached and OpenCorporates was blocked, so no registry filing was read.

• About Us | King Cole Tea vendor_statement “Steeped in Sussex, NB, King Cole tea is the flagship brand of G.E. Barbour.”
• About Us - Barbours vendor_statement “Founded in 1867, Barbours is a family-owned business with a passion for producing and packaging high-quality food products, made from the best ingredients.”
• About Us - Barbours vendor_statement “1950 The Brenan family acquired the Barbours company.”
• Barbours: A Name as Old as Canada Itself - Huddle.Today press “Sylvia MacVey's family has been involved with the company since 1952 when it bought the company from the Barbour family. Today MacVey is president.”
• Search Results - Corporations Canada registry “Corporate name: G.E. Barbour 0 results were found, 0 returned.”
• The CANADA List directory “Proudly Canadian brand based in Sussex, New Brunswick. Blends imported tea leaves domestically and packages in Canada.”

Barbours says King Cole is blended in Sussex, New Brunswick, its contact page names the production facility at 165 Stewart Ave. in Sussex as its only plant, and the About page records the 1966 move from Saint John to Sussex. Huddle photographed the King Cole production line there, and The CANADA List and madeinca.ca both record the tea as blended and packaged in Sussex. No second facility is mentioned anywhere.

• Our Brands - Barbours vendor_statement “Blended in Sussex, New Brunswick, King Cole tea is the flagship Barbours brand, since 1910.”
• Contact - Barbours vendor_statement “Our production facility in Sussex, New Brunswick, Canada is the ideal location to efficiently manage logistics and distribution across the region, Canada and the United States.”
• Teas - Barbours vendor_statement “We offer flexible tea packaging options from wholesale loose leaf in bulk packaging to single-serve tea bag packing.”
• Food/Tea: Barbours | Made in CA directory “Manufactured In: Sussex, New Brunswick”
• The CANADA List directory “Blends imported tea leaves domestically and packages in Canada.”

G.E. Barbour Inc. gives a single address, 165 Stewart Ave. in Sussex, New Brunswick, as its office and production facility, and its careers page points to jobs there. The tea taster who blends King Cole works in Sussex, and no office or staff outside Canada is mentioned, so the company is treated as a single-site business; no headcount was published.

• Contact - Barbours vendor_statement “G.E. Barbour Inc., 165 Stewart Ave., Sussex, NB E4E 3H1 Canada”
• Our Tea Taster | King Cole Tea vendor_statement “He spends most of his time in Sussex, New Brunswick (tasting up to 100 cups of tea a day!)”
• Barbours Expands Global Reach With Products Like Nut Butter - Huddle.Today press “But since 2014, the Sussex-based company has been working hard to expand beyond the region by breaking into international markets”

Tea is not grown in Canada; the vendor says its tea master selects leaves from tea estates around the world and travels to India, Sri Lanka and Kenya to source them, and The CANADA List describes the leaves as imported. The small Canadian share is an estimate for the packaging and tea bag materials handled at the Sussex plant, not a published figure.

• Our Tea Taster | King Cole Tea vendor_statement “travels frequently to India, Sri Lanka, Kenya and other exotic locations to source the perfect leaves for discerning tea drinkers back home.”
• About Us | King Cole Tea vendor_statement “our Tea Master selects only the best tea leaves from tea estates around the world and blends them to create our original tea blend”
• Teas - Barbours vendor_statement “For over 100 years, Barbours has been using only the finest tea leaves and ingredients from trusted suppliers around the world to craft our teas.”