Faycel Ouerdien started his own business just after he graduated from the university. After many trials and different ideas for establishing a profitable business in medicinal plants, he made up his mind with the idea of inventing soluble green tea that can be prepared in thirty seconds or even less.
The big challenge for him is how to make such an idea with the minimum conditions and equipment without the mere fund a real success.
Faycel Ouerdien our smart inventor started his business by creating his machine in order to reach the hoped for quality of this instantaneous tea.
After many trials and researches, while noting the reactions of the people around him especially those who are directly concerned by his invention such as cafés, lounges and luxurious hotels, he managed to reach a better quality required for his instantaneous tea. This was the first step of his career as an inventor with the perseverance of a young man who knows clearly what he is doing and what he longed for.
In an interview with TunisianMonitorOnline Faycel Ouerdien said: “our invention of soluble tea already exists in the world but it is used and available in vending machines in hospitals, universities and so on. The taste is not good because it is not natural and with chemical and synthetic additives.”
“My invention is the process itself that makes delicious and totally natural instant tea. It is in fact the result of the invention of our machines to reach the excellent quality of this unique product”, he added.
He said that reducing the time of making this soluble tea we invented, makes it a unique product that has nothing to do with what exist in the world market. It is one hundred per cent natural with natural mint that we grow ourselves in a land close to the production unit and also provided by a farmer that knows what to do after learning about our needs in the process of making the soluble tea.
The advantage of our instantaneous and soluble tea is that it is prepared in few seconds while proving to be delicious and natural that can be consumed in any place of the world and in any situation, one can be, the researcher and inventor of Orientea said.
The second advantage is that it is an authentic tea, similar to the homemade tea that many people liked and is solicited by the lounges, cafés and luxurious hotels which are very demanding in terms of quality, he indicated.
“Our objective is to manage to extract aromas like mint tea in such a manner as it is impossible to be imitated in terms of technology, and the main goal is to extract a much better quality than a Tunisian or a Maghreb ordinary tea. It is an exceptional experience that cannot be found elsewhere and with an affordable price, the startupper said proudly, adding that his challenge is to reach the organic tea product which he will make it for sure, he indicated with a firm tone.
Faycel Ouerdien said that Orientea is unique in the world market because it has acquired three key characteristics: the fact of being instantaneous, natural and authentic. These three characteristics make our instantaneous tea exclusive in the world, and reaching these three characteristics is really a revolution in the tea world, He said.
The young man started the project in a garage at home, with a self-made machine at an early stage of a project that he believes one day will reach the startup community. The mission and its objectives were clear and great. “From the beginning of establishing the project I was expecting it to be a great project but the beginning was self-financing with the necessary means needed while presenting it to those who are interested and believed in the idea, he said.
As the product was favorably echoed and appreciated by some professionals, I was convinced that my invention and the instantaneous tea achieved the hoped-for success and hit the target, but in order to continue in this process at a larger scale, I needed a funding to make it bigger”, he went on saying.
In the meantime, I met Mr. Sabri Ben Guirat, a businessman who showed great interest and keenness to share the adventure with me, both financially and morally because he believed in my idea and my product. So we established that partnership and founded a company, Faycel Ouerdien said.
Full of enthusiasm, Sabri Ben Guirat went to Europe to show the product to companies like Lipton which was a real shock for this company to see the product as it sounded a challenge and a harsh competition to the worldwide known company. So it voiced readiness to buy the project and the idea at any price, but they faced the only refusal from my associate because he believes in the potential of the product and its capacity to conquer the world of the tea trade. We want to keep the autonomy of the company, Mr. Ouerdien said.
He added: “We worked together for four years and we manage to establish a stable company in terms of quality with a competent team along with a second company of making machines that we created with all the big challenges to rely on ourselves. The second company was meant to invent the necessary equipment and tools useful for the success of the Orientea product and a way to reach the good quality and excellence, because every step we make is carefully measured.
Faycel Ouerdien indicated the quality of the tea he invented is unique in the world. “I considered it as a revolution in the world of tea trade and marketing process. In this connection, we created the packaging of the tea pending the final version of a real packaging and a final brand name because we see as a team that Orientea is a generic name that anyone can use. The objective is to find a purely Tunisian name easily uttered in French and English”, Ouerdien said with confidence.
Besides, the self-reliant young man said that the advantage of making this soluble tea is that it is in full expansion worldwide. There was 80 % of the tea consumption of black tea but now there is a conversion to green tea.
However, the issue in the world lies in the fact that consumers of this kind of tea find it not delicious so making a delicious tea is a real challenge for the other companies, he noted, underlining that Orientea invention came to bridge this gap.
Talking about the project, Inventor Faycel Ouerdien underlined the importance of making a partnership for a company. He said he needed a partner who can share with him the path of success of his company.
“I am the inventor of the project and I am not the only founder of the company, “he said.
“I and my associate created and developed the company together and to turn it to the startup phase we needed a team.
A unique product and an unprecedented invention in the world:
Faycel Ouerdien went through this experience with perseverance. He struggled and worked hard as he believes in his idea and the potential of his invention. Despite the difficulties, he faced he reached success. The company that he believed in its creation started to rise with steady and positive steps.
He said the technology that I managed to develop is meant to be in coherence with nature in the service of humanity.
We wanted to develop a technology that gives better and healthier products in a way that the company triumphed and won over the traditional product.
Faycel Ouerdien referred to medicinal plants describing them as a treasure with lots of effective substances that are needed for the health benefits of the consumer.
“Technology is the solution, not the problem. It helps us discover new perspectives in nature that we ignore. This is our mission in Orientea company”, he specified.
The company and the production unit are based in nature with a competent team of enthusiastic young engineers and technicians who work and persevere together, the ultimate objective is to achieve the success of this startup. Their independent and responsible spirit and their steadfast collaboration is a key part of the success of the company. The success of the adventure of this exclusive project depends on these profiles and the culture of free and responsible skilled team.
“We must go straight to the big market and argue with the leaders and show ourselves as great innovators. Our company is a small multinational but it is taking its way on the right track. We must never underestimate our capacities,” he stressed.
“It is true that our company is a Tunisian multinational and we are proud of it but the vision is global. This is what all the startups must do and think on the global scale, Orientea Inventor Faycel Ouerdien concluded.
TunisianMonitorOnline (MNHN)
