As children growing up in Baghdad, siblings Reem and Ahmed Rahim enjoyed Iraqi dried limes called Numi. When the sister-brother duo decided to launch their own line of tea in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1999, they reached back to these childhood memories. Thus formed Numi Tea, today a leading organic tea brand found in supermarkets across the country.
“Our father once said, ‘it doesn’t matter what you do in life, just choose one thing and master that’, so we chose Numi,” says Reem. So, the pair joined up. With their combined backgrounds, they began what would soon become one of the most successful tea companies in the world.
The pair also give back to the communities they live in and work with. The Numi Foundation aids communities through their programs, Together for H2OPE, the NUMI curriculum, and the Iraq Summer School.
Rahim Siblings Share a Love of Tea
Both Reem and Ahmed Rahim began their careers in art. Ahmed focused on fashion and art photography. Meanwhile, Reem studied art and design – though only after suffering a car accident at the age of 20.
“I couldn’t focus on school,” she remembers, referring to the biomedical degree she initially pursued. “I eventually realized I had one life to live.” So, she switched gears and continued her education in the arts. In addition to overseeing Numi Tea’s brand, she still creates art in her barn studio.
Reem tells Forbes Magazine that she had an idea of importing numi from Iraq. “Ironically, my brother was thinking about the same thing.” And so the company was born. Numi now works with over 15,000 organic farmers, sourcing sustainable whole-leaf teas from around the globe – Sri Lanka, India, Iraq, even China and Japan.
Numi Tea’s Founding Philosophy Grows Into the Numi Foundation
With this commitment to organic, sustainable practices, Numi faced financial issues at its start. However, the small tea company managed an 180% increase of revenue between 2004 and 2007, finally turning a profit..
“What I learned through all of the financial challenges is to keep my team happy. It’s not money that will inspire your team. It is keeping a clear vision and sharing it with them. Because if they believe in it, they will find a way to get through those hard times,” says Ahmed about the early days of Numi Tea.
The Numi Foundation grew out of this company philosophy, which the siblings call “valuing people, planet, and profits.” The Numi Foundation gives back to those communities that helped Numi Tea in its early days.
The Numi Tea Supports Clean Water and Education
“Without water, there is no tea.” Yet according to the Numi Foundation website, “One in nine people lack access to this basic human right.” The Rahim sibling hope to help change this. Their first clean water project impacted over 4,000 people in the turmeric farming community in Madagascar. A second project provided water for 6,500 people in India and South Africa. Their next project will assist Egypt’s mint and chamomile farmers.
In addition to a clean water initiative, the NUMI Curriculum teaches children organic gardening, social awareness, and artistic expression. It has reached over 500 students in the Oakland Unified School District. The Rahim siblings have also taken the education mission to their birthplace, partnering with the Iraq Foundation to pilot a summer school program featuring classes in English, math, science, and art for under-served sixth-grade students in Iraq.
As Ahmed explains, “Through Numi we’ve learned that if you stay true to yourself and your beliefs, you can run a business that’s a personal extension of your own values. Not only sustainable for the bottom line, but a vehicle to drive greater change in the world. For the people and planet you touch along the way.”
