The Tea Emporium Inc. was founded in November 2000 by Frank and Shabnam Weber. The creation of a company focused on tea grew out of both of their strong connections to tea from a very early age on.

Shabnams family is of Persian background and tea, especially black samovar blends were a staple in her house. There was always a Samovar in the kitchen holding tea ready for at least 10 guests.  Shabnam embraced this ritual and tea for her is a synonym with comfort and peace. Over the years Shabnam ventured to discover the many other flavours this beverage has to offer but never considered that this beverage would become such a large part of her life.

Shabnam graduated from the University of Toronto with a major in Political Science followed by a Post-Graduate Diploma in Psychology - her ambitions lay in many different fields.  Frank and Shabnam met in 1990 while working in the restaurant industry.

Franks history and passion with tea dates back just as long. His background is German and contrary to most peoples beliefs, Germany plays a major role in the tea industry and tea consumption in Germany is quite high. Frank had a private stash of ten to fifteen different teas by the age of fourteen, and the love of food drove him to become a chef. After his certification he moved on to Hotel Management College and worked in Switzerland, England, Bermuda and Canada. He has been very passionately involved in this industry and opened and managed over ten restaurants. He still consults in the industry today.

Shabnam and Frank started to seriously think about becoming experts on this subject while owning and operating their restaurant in Cologne Germany in 1997. It was clear to both of them that they had years of ground work ahead of them. Tea being as vast a subject as wine with over 3000 unflavoured single estate teas produced from this one plant.  A lot of research lay ahead. Well over 1000 tastings were required and contacts in the industry had to be established.  Germany, with Hamburg being the largest tea shipping port in the world and many reputable companies close by was a perfect starting point.  The Webers quickly established the needed connections and tea samples from around the world stared pouring in.

By the time Frank and Shabnam sold the restaurant and returned to Canada they were not only experts on tea but also had a very clear vision of what The Tea Emporium was to become.  A commitment to excellence was key. The product had to be of the highest quality, always fresh and sold with expert advice. It needed to be fun and easy for the customer to shop and education is a large part of what The Tea Emporium still provides to every customer today.  The Tea Emporium was to be serious about the way it stored and handled the product and the vision was to be true in the approach. The Tea Emporium has grown to be a leader in the tea industry in Toronto and supplies many top restaurants as well as conducts weekly seminars and tastings.