Small tea manufacturer adopts low-cost automation to improve packaging efficiency

Caraway Tea Company, a US-based producer of tea and herbal products, has implemented a range of cost-effective automation solutions to modernise its production operations without the level of investment typically associated with large-scale industrial systems.

Operating within a competitive food manufacturing sector, the company has taken a pragmatic approach by developing automation equipment in-house. Using accessible technologies such as microcontrollers and modular components, including Arduino-based systems, Caraway Tea Company has created bespoke machinery designed around its specific production requirements.

Rather than adopting proprietary automation platforms, the company has focused on building purpose-built equipment for tea packaging applications. This includes customised conveyor systems that automatically count and stage tea bags prior to insertion into retail pouches, helping to reduce manual handling and improve consistency. In addition, compact machines have been developed to portion and pack loose-leaf tea into small-format packs, supporting a range of product formats.

Our goal is to be efficient, adaptable, and competitive without taking on the cost structure of much larger manufacturers. By building our own automation solutions, we can improve throughput and consistency while remaining flexible enough to serve customers with specialised or short-run production needs.

Michael Caraway, Founder of Caraway Tea Company.

The automation strategy enables selected stages of the production process — such as counting, staging and portioning — to be mechanised, while blending and quality control remain closely supervised by staff. This hybrid model is intended to balance production efficiency with product oversight.

Caraway Tea Company continues to expand its use of automation as part of its wider operational development. By adopting scalable and affordable technologies, the business aims to support private-label and co-packing customers while maintaining flexibility in response to changing market demands.