Voće Fruit Tea: Professor crafts better beverages
It is a hot afternoon in Ketchum, and I am at the farmers market where I see a familiar face, though it is out of context. Here is my colleague Jeff Snyder, whose day job is Asian history professor at the College of Idaho, pouring samples of fruit tea called Voće. I try the tea (it’s delicious) and buy a box.
Snyder leads two working lives, both centered in Caldwell. He divides his time between teaching, researching and the academic duties of a history professor at the college and his work at the nearby University of Idaho Food Technology Center, where he can be found packing fruit tea bags, fulfilling orders and being the chief “fruitlegger” for his start-up.
Voće means fruit in Croatian (and voice in Italian) and Snyder liked the sound of it. He came to the fruit tea business because of his family. His wife, Nicole, despite the wintry climate of her Ashton upbringing, gets cold and didn’t want to have to drink caffeinated drinks. She liked cold beverages that were fruit infused but none worked hot. And one of their twin sons, Ike and Rhodes, had Type 1 diabetes (his brother will likely get it too), so sugary drinks were out. An aficionado of dried fruit and nuts, Snyder gives his wife credit “for getting me into it”; he saw an opportunity, did some research and Voće came to life in biodegradable sacks with clever and flavorful fruit mixtures including mango, pineapple, coconut; lemon ginger and strawberry orange mint.
Some of the eight teas include spices; all are organic, and Snyder sources as much of the fruit locally as he can. The tropical lemons and oranges come from the Americas. The business model is similar to craft beer or boutique wine: Voće fits in what the professor calls the “high quality alternative” beverage market. Snyder adds, “We don’t cut any corners… nothing is added to our teas.”
The early results are encouraging. The fruit teas, which sell mostly on the website, have devoted followers. Word of mouth has pushed sales. To meet demand, Voće invested in a tea bagging machine from China. Some customers have discovered that Voće teas make a good basis for spritzers or different alcoholic concoctions. Others report that they like to eat the fruit after the tea has finished steeping. In the coming months, look for a line of fruit teas in larger sachets to be served over ice. Voće fruit teas are available at the Boise Co-op or online at VoceTea.com.
