Origins: the Ryder family

The story of Heath & Heather is intertwined with the Ryder family, particularly brothers Samuel Ryder and James Ryder.

Samuel Ryder became successful through a mail-order seed business in St Albans. In 1895, he began selling seeds in inexpensive “penny packets” from his home, eventually building Ryder’s Seeds into a substantial horticultural business. 2

James Ryder developed a particular interest in herbs and their medicinal properties. His knowledge and interest in herbal remedies eventually provided the foundation for the family’s move from seeds and horticulture into herbal products.

Foundation of Heath & Heather

The brand’s official history identifies 1920 as the beginning of Heath & Heather as a herbal business. James and Samuel Ryder established the herbal venture in St Albans, initially operating from premises on Albert Street, close to the family’s seed business.

There is a slight discrepancy in how the brand’s history is presented online: some current Heath & Heather material describes the broader Ryder family’s seed-and-herb story as beginning in 1895, while the company’s dedicated history identifies 1920 as the founding period of Heath & Heather itself. The safest distinction is therefore 1895 for the Ryder family’s commercial roots and 1920 for Heath & Heather as the herbal business.

From herbal remedies to tea

Heath & Heather was originally much broader than a tea company. Its early business was focused on herbal remedies and herbal knowledge, reflecting the period’s interest in botanical approaches to health. The company eventually expanded its operations substantially, supplying herbal products through its own shops as well as health-food retailers and chemists.

By 1946, the business had grown to 46 shops.

This history is important to understanding the modern brand: Heath & Heather’s contemporary emphasis on herbal teas is not simply a recent marketing strategy. It comes from a much older business tradition centred on herbs, botanicals and natural wellbeing.

Connection with Holland & Barrett

One of the most significant chapters in Heath & Heather’s history concerns its connection with Holland & Barrett.

The original Heath & Heather retail business was sold to Associated Health Foods in 1968, and subsequently changed hands again in 1970. In 1971, the Heath & Heather stores were renamed Holland & Barrett, helping create the high-street health-food retailer familiar today. 3

The relationship between the two names did not completely disappear. Heath & Heather teas have continued to be sold through Holland & Barrett, making the brand particularly associated with Britain’s health-food and natural-wellness retail sector.

Typhoo era

In the modern corporate history of the brand, Heath & Heather became part of Typhoo Tea. Heath & Heather’s own history states that the brand was under Typhoo Tea management from 2005 to 2025, alongside brands including Lift, Glengettie, Herbalistas, Mel Rose and London Fruit & Herb.

The brand subsequently moved into the portfolio of Supreme plc.

Current ownership

Today, Heath & Heather is part of Supreme plc, following Supreme’s acquisition of Typhoo Tea in 2024. Supreme describes Heath & Heather as a British heritage herbal-tea brand with more than a century of expertise in natural ingredients and herbal infusions. 1

This makes the present-day Heath & Heather an interesting combination of:

• a historic British herbal brand;
• a modern organic-tea business;
• and a brand within a larger food-and-drink portfolio.

The legal company named HEATH & HEATHER LIMITED is registered in England and Wales, although Companies House currently classifies that particular legal entity as dormant. 4

Today’s Heath & Heather range is primarily centred around herbal and botanical teas, with some green-tea products.

The company’s online shop categorises products around functions such as:

• Digestion
• Detox
• Energy
• Immunity
• Relaxation
• Sleep
• Women’s health

Examples of products in the current range include:

• Organic Peppermint
• Night Time
• Morning Time
• After Dinner Seed Supreme
• Apple & Cinnamon
• Imperial Matcha
• Camomile with Manuka Honey
• Green Tea with Coconut
• Raspberry Leaf and other botanical infusions

The exact range changes over time, but the central proposition remains herbal and botanical infusions designed around everyday wellbeing.

One of the strongest elements of the modern Heath & Heather identity is its emphasis on organic ingredients. The company states that its herbal teas and infusions are certified organic by the Soil Association, the UK’s major organic certification organisation.

This positions the brand at the intersection of three consumer trends:

Traditional herbalism → organic products → modern wellness

Rather than presenting itself simply as a conventional tea brand, Heath & Heather uses its historical herbal expertise to establish a more specialised position in the tea market.

Heath & Heather describes its products as being made with natural botanicals, herbs, flowers and roots, depending on the individual blend.

The brand’s philosophy is essentially based on using plants as the starting point for flavour and everyday rituals. That gives the portfolio a different character from conventional black-tea brands. A typical Heath & Heather product is more likely to emphasise an ingredient or wellness occasion—for example peppermint, camomile, raspberry leaf, cinnamon or matcha—than traditional English breakfast tea.

Environmental responsibility is another major component of Heath & Heather’s current positioning. The company calls its sustainability programme “Greenprint for Good” and says its goal is to make the brand’s business practices reflect its nature-oriented heritage. 4

Its current sustainability claims include:

• natural, organic ingredients;
• plastic-free teabags;
• teabags made from natural wood pulp and long fibres such as hemp;
• industrial-compostable teabags;
• plastic-free, recyclable envelopes;
• recyclable cardboard outer packaging.

This is particularly relevant because tea-bag materials have become an important sustainability issue in the wider tea industry.

The modern Heath & Heather brand can broadly be understood through four themes:

1. Nature

The brand consistently places herbs, botanicals and plants at the centre of its identity.

2. Heritage

Heath & Heather uses its century-plus history as evidence of expertise rather than presenting itself as a newly created wellness brand.

3. Wellbeing

Its product architecture is heavily oriented toward everyday occasions such as digestion, relaxation, sleep, energy and immunity.

4. Sustainability

Organic certification and reduced-plastic packaging are increasingly important parts of the brand’s contemporary identity.

Heath & Heather has not simply remained visually and commercially unchanged for 100 years. In the mid-2010s, the brand went through a significant repositioning. A 2016 design-industry case study describes the brand as having experienced declining sales and market-share pressure despite the rapid growth of the UK herbal and fruit-tea market. The subsequent redesign sought to reconnect the brand with its historical herbal expertise while making it more relevant to modern consumers.

This is an important part of its modern story: the brand’s heritage became a strategic asset. Instead of competing solely on price or flavour, Heath & Heather could differentiate itself through a combination of:

British heritage + herbal expertise + natural ingredients + organic credentials + contemporary wellness

Heath & Heather occupies a somewhat different position from Britain’s mainstream tea giants. Traditional British tea brands tend to be strongly associated with black tea and everyday tea-drinking. Heath & Heather, by contrast, sits closer to the herbal, organic and health-food segment.

Its historical association with Holland & Barrett reinforces that positioning, while its current presence in the wider tea market allows it to compete in the growing interest in botanical and wellness-oriented beverages.

The current brand describes its products as made/manufactured in the UK. Its customer-service information lists its current address in Trafford Park, Manchester, and states that its tea blends are manufactured in the UK.

This gives the brand another element of its British positioning, alongside its St Albans origins and historical connection with the Ryder family.

Although strongly British in heritage and identity, Heath & Heather products are also distributed outside the UK. Supreme describes the brand as being available to customers in the UK and globally. 1

The brand has also had international distributors and retailers, including markets in Asia.

The most distinctive aspect of Heath & Heather is arguably that its current product category grew naturally out of its original business purpose. Many modern wellness-tea brands begin as beverage companies and add a wellness story later. Heath & Heather’s story runs in the opposite direction:

Ryder family horticulture → herbal remedies → herbal retail → herbal teas → organic/wellness teas.

That historical continuity gives the brand a particularly strong authenticity in the herbal-tea category.

• 1895 — Samuel Ryder establishes his mail-order seed business in St Albans.
• Early 1900s — The Ryder family develops expertise and commercial interests in horticulture and herbs.
• 1920 — Heath & Heather’s herbal business is established by the Ryder family.
• 1920s–1940s — The business develops its herbal-remedy operations.
• 1946 — Heath & Heather has grown to 46 shops.
• 1968 — The retail business is sold to Associated Health Foods.
• 1970 — Ownership passes to Booker McConnell.
• 1971 — Heath & Heather stores are renamed Holland & Barrett. 3
• 2005 — Heath & Heather comes under Typhoo Tea.
• 2016 — A major brand identity and packaging redesign is launched.
• 2024 — Supreme acquires Typhoo Tea.
• 2024 onward — Heath & Heather becomes part of Supreme’s brand portfolio. 1
• Today — The brand focuses on organic herbal and botanical teas, natural ingredients, wellness and sustainability.

1. Heath & Heather Herbal Tea Wholesale & Trade Stockist
2. Heath & Heather
3. History of Heath & Heather Tea | Herbal Tea Legacy & Holland & Barrett Connection – Heath and Heather
4. HEATH & HEATHER LIMITED overview – Find and update company information – GOV.UK