REVIEW: The Ajiri tea changes lives - and hides a surprise inside

  This product's uniqueness stopped me while I was shopping at Whole Foods, but nothing prepared me for what was inside. It is changing lives and rewriting the rules of global trade and impact-driven businesses. I am Annick Thiombiano and I review products to test their POWER and assess how competitive they really are on the global market. Now, let's review this product.

 First of all, this product design, the unusual shape of the box, the colors that aren't too flashy, but are very unique. The art piece that screams handmade, the texture feels very raw and there is a lot of care that was put into that. It commands attention. It gives a powerful first impression that screems value and meaning.

 Let's assess the packaging. The packaging is very unusual for a tee box. The material is made of a very thick layer of box, and it just screams different. The colors are popping, what is really calling is this art piece that is in there. It screams handmade.  It screams care.  It screams attention.  It screams difference. So Ajiri commands attention for a tea box, to be that unique. It attracts, it's uniquely made and it blends very well. Art. And curiosity. Basically, you look at it and you want to know more. You are like, wow. An art piece here. What is it about it? It commands attention and it screams value and meaning, which is very beautiful.

 First impression is crucial when it comes to products, let's imagine you're going on a date looking for, your life partner. Would you go to this date naked? No. You would dress well, right? It's the same as products. Products packaging needs to grab attention in order for customers to feel like I can trust this product and for customers to build a long-term relationship with the product. If the outside is not attractive, customers are not gonna try the inside. So basically they will pass on the product and you want your product to be attractive. You want your product to be speaking. and it does it well. This project actually commands attention. And it attracts attention, which is very beautiful.

 This product is all global ready because it has gone through a lot of screening and processes just to be able to be on the shelves of the Whole Foods, which is already a big win, operationally, they've nailed it. The box is compact eco-friendly and durable. The label is nice. Now, does it have the essentials of the product labeling? Let's see.

 There are product labeling essentials that should figure on products, a nd those essentials are what will convince a customer to move forward and trust you. It's very important to communicate that. Let's imagine that you go on a date and your date asks you: "Hey, so what is your name?" And you don't wanna answer. How would your date feel? Your date will feel like there's something wrong with this person, right? Your date will feel like, I'm not sure I can trust this person. Well, it's the same thing as with products. Basically, when a customer is walking in front of a product or want to pick a product or not, the customer is asking questions: Should I take you? Should I trust you? Are you good? All those questions need answers and you can answer it here in the box. Here in the box. It's very important to answer it here. That's why there's a minimum of information that you need to put on the label and they've actually nailed it.

 You have the Ajiri Tea brand right there. You have the product well-defined here. You have instructions on how to prepare the tea. Let's say you don't know how to prepare tea. You get instruction on how to prepare it perfectly, and you have information of the website, they have a website and then they share it. They share the origin of the product, the ingredients, and some Trust. This is what I call Trust, because it builds a relationship. It builds the trust between you and the customers, and it's approval like USDA Organic. That means that when a customer sees that it's, the customer is like, oh my God, this product has been tested so I can trust it.

So it builds trust between the customer and you. It's a wonderful way to tell the customer: "Hey, you can trust me. I've been tested and now you can try me. This is wonderful.

 And then the central piece of this entire product is the art piece for art lovers like me when I saw it for the first time, I was passing through looking for nuts. I saw the art piece and started backing up just to check it out because it stands out. It was so unique and beautiful. I like art, so I feel very attracted, but even for people that just don't like art, it screams care. It feels like someone has put in so much effort to make it unique, it makes you want to check it out. It makes you want to know more, and it attracts you because why are you unique? Why is this product unique? You start asking questions as a customer and you want to discover.

 Every product has a superpower and you need to share your superpower right here on the package so that it's like Boom! The customer is like, whoa, I need to have this product and look at this all profit to orphans education in Kenya. This is wonderful. And you have the shape of Africa right there for some reason most of the brands that are from either from Africa or where the products are from Africa, or are produced in Africa, they are so proud to show that. Look at me. I'm wearing Africa everywhere. Earrings. Necklace. It is so amazing to see how passionate Africans are, including myself about the continent, It's beautiful because we can express it in the packaging and they express it here.

They're not hiding it. They're like: "Hey, we are from Africa. We are extremely proud and especially the profits are going to Kenya" and for people a lot of people who don't know Kenya, they have the little map here showing that this is Kenya and this is where the profits are going. As a customer, I haven't tried the product yet, but I'm sold and I feel extremely happy already and excited to try the product. I feel like I'm doing something good for the world by just trying it because they sold me on the package already. This is why it's important to have the essentials and to share it well, so that it represents you and so that it's actually very unique, and this product nails the packaging part.

 which one should I try? Which one should I try? Okay, let me try the caffeine free one. Let's open the box. Whoa. Look at this. It has a bracelet inside. Right. Kenyan women handcraft these beets and twine from magazine paper and dried banana bark. The packaging is amazing. I open it and then get a surprise. So it's a succession of surprises, which is super cool. Now I can gift it. I can have something after I finish using the tea.

This is amazing. And we, the customers, we love surprises, we like, we love gifts. We feel like someone cared about us. There's the art piece that I absolutely love and it doesn't come alone, the art piece comes with a Kenyan proverb. Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable. Imagine I'm having a bad day and then I see this beautiful proverb.

It feels like someone cared, about me. This is a powerful message to send to customers. Hey, I care about you. Hey, I'm thinking about you. Hey, this is something you might need today, they are doing it beautifully. , When you get a product and someone took the time, to create a beauty just for you, it makes it feel extra special.

And this brand just does it so well. When I remove the art piece. Here are the teas actually, here you can see the teas and a beautiful note. When the tea is gone, the artwork lives on, save this handcrafted label. I finished drinking the tea and then I still have the artwork. These screams care, and it's beautifully made.

 Now let's try the tea. This is how the tea looks. I like my tea with no sugar, no milk. This was well sealed, which tells me, they have good operations machines. And this tea bag. Sometimes when they don't have good machines or good processes, this comes off, but this one is quite solid, which tells me the operations are very good, and they're using, updated machines. Well, the prints are a little, it doesn't feel super well done. This can be improved now let's try it. So the tea smells quite good. It smells delicious. I can't wait to taste it, let's taste it. Well, it is tasty. Lemme try again. It is soft. It is tea. Well, it's hard to assess teas because it's not like a competition of the best tea. It is earthy, leafy, little citrus towards the end. It tastes like tea. It is actually very good. But the Ajiri superpower isn't the taste of the product. Do you wanna know what their power is? Well follow along. I will tell you.

 Ajiri brand is actually a not-for-profit. They're not here to make money. They're here to save lives. The strategy that they've used of mixing handcrafted art in each box is incredible and adding surprise gifts like this.

All this makes it extremely unique, extremely attractive with tons of care. So the power of this brand is really in their mission and the way they make every product feel unique. When you buy this tea, you feel like, you're getting tea, but ultimately you're getting more. It's the fact that you feel you're doing something good, in the world, supporting a cause that you really care about, and at the same time, you get rewarded from it. You get rewarded with those arts. You get rewarded with a beautiful box, a beautiful piece of art. This is amazing. A hundred percent of the profit goes to fund school fees for orphans. So each time a customer takes a sip of it, the customer can imagine the lives that are changed just because they bought a brand. Having myself worked in a not-for-profit for years and feeling extremely frustrated because I hated begging for money, I feel like this is an amazing strategy for organization to make money while adding value to customers, at $9 the box. Well, the quality matches the mission, and it's just impactful. It's delicious, and it's full of surprises. It's full of gifts and it's definitely shelf worthy.

 This tea is for people who like tea and who like to do good in the world. If you're trying to build a purpose driven product that works internationally, you need to follow the Ajiri blueprint. Now? What is next for this brand? First of all, it would be great to have a multilingual label. Everything is in English, so having a multilingual label would be an add-on, that would be really cool.

They can have a subscription model where customers receive a variety of teas monthly, and for example, it can be called "Tea with Impact". Now adding a QR code for storytelling to this product will be amazing because the Ajiri has an amazing story to tell and making it accessible with this QR code can be a beautiful add-on.

 There's another strategy that can work for this brand, especially because they are a not-for-profit, and the goal of this strategy will be to allow them to get more money per product manufactured. And it's absolutely possible. And how they do it is by adding a new target market, which is businesses. Selling businesses packages and each package can be yes, the product, but also, art pieces that those businesses can use to share with their customers and they can be one that is kind of unique and

stands out where businesses can play with the customers to see who is gonna be , the winner of this unique product. And they can package it well and sell it, 50% more, or a 100% more, even 200% more because they're not-for-profit. And they can absolutely do that with businesses. Then they will be able to make more money with less product manufactured.

 The Ajiri tea is proof that African creativity, competence, and care can stand tall in any global marketplace. It's not just a tea brand. It is a powerful example of how tradition, community, and business can work together to create value that resonate beyond borders. When people say African products are not export ready, show them Ajiri.

 This is what happens when Community Wealth meets global standards. Products don't go global by luck. They need a passport. If you are building something that the world should taste, wear, or use, get it ready with the POWER framework. Now follow for more global ready product reviews and tag a founder who needs to see this.