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Headnote:
Siegel looks back at Celestial Seasonings' rise - and tells why he's handed the reins to someone else.
Celestial Seasonings' success story begins like those "computer giant born in a garage" tales: Teenager Mo Siegel and a friend take the $500 made on the sale of the buddy's car, and start selling handsewn, herbal tea bags filled with dried vegetation gathered on hikes around Boulder.
That was nearly 30 years ago. In fiscal 1997, Celestial Seasonings sold $79 million worth of products -- mostly teas, including its legendary Sleepytime and Red Zinger.
The company is entering the nutritional market, branding herbal blends and extracts, such as echinacea and St. John's Wort, with the well-known Celestial Seasonings name. And it's aggressively searching for acquisitions.
Siegel retains the board chairman.ship, but has turned over daily operations of the company to new CEO Stephen Hughes, a veteran of the food business. Siegel no longer hikes in search of tea-makings, but is meeting regularly with executives of smaller companies that might fit into Celestial Seasonings.
CBM: In 1968, when Celestial Seasonings was born, did you have a vision of eventually building a large, international company with millions in sales?
MS: I did. If you had asked me when I was young, I actually was naive enough to think we'd hit $100 million in a decade.
CBM: To what elements or personal skills would you attribute the company's success?
MS: The right product at the right time. People were interested in natural, healthy alternatives to beverages.
We've had wonderful people associated with us from the beginning ... great people, dedicated people.