Greenfield Tea is a premium tea brand owned by Orimi Trade — one of Russia’s largest tea and coffee companies, headquartered in Saint Petersburg — launched in 2003 and positioned as a specialty and premium tea brand within the Russian market, offering a broad collection of flavoured, herbal, green, black, and specialty teas in individually wrapped silken pyramid bags and decorative packaging that was designed to differentiate from commodity mass-market Russian tea brands (like Lipton and Akbar) and appeal to Russian consumers seeking a more sophisticated, varied, and gift-appropriate tea product. Greenfield rapidly became one of Russia’s most successful premium tea brands — the brand is widely distributed across Russia, CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries, and some Eastern European markets, and its product line extends to over 30 distinct tea varieties covering classic English Breakfast and Earl Grey blends, Japanese Sencha and Chinese green teas, herbal infusions (camomile, ginger), and a wide range of flavoured teas designed to match Russian preferences for aromatic, sweet-leaning flavoured varieties. Russia is one of the world’s largest per-capita tea consuming countries, with a centuries-old tea drinking culture centred on the samovar tradition of strong black tea served with jam, sugar, or lemon — and Greenfield’s success demonstrates the continued strength of tea culture and the emergence of a premium trading-up segment within the Russian consumer market.

In-Depth Explanation

Greenfield’s commercial achievement is in successfully premiumising the Russian tea market — creating a branded, curated, quality-positioned product in a market that was historically dominated by commodity loose-leaf and standard bag teas.

Orimi Trade and the Russian Tea Market

Orimi Trade is one of Russia’s largest tea and coffee processors — its brands include Tess (the Russian premium everyday brand), Printsessa Nuri (a classic Russian affordable brand), and Greenfield (the premium specialty positioning). The company sources tea from major producing regions globally — Assam, Darjeeling, Kenya, China, Sri Lanka — and blends and packages it in Russia for the domestic market.

Russia imports virtually all its tea from producing countries, making Orimi Trade a blending-and-packaging operation rather than a growing enterprise. The value-add is in blending expertise, flavour development, and brand positioning.

The Silken Pyramid Bag

Greenfield’s signature retail format — the individually wrapped silken pyramid bag — was a deliberate premiumisation signal when introduced in the early 2000s. In a market where most tea was sold as flat paper bags or loose leaf, the silken pyramid format communicated quality, care, and the full-leaf/specialty tea premium without requiring the consumer to understand loose-leaf brewing. The pyramid format allows more space for the tea to expand during brewing, theoretically improving extraction compared to flat paper bags.

Russian Tea Culture and the Samovar Tradition

Russia has one of the deepest tea cultures in the non-producing world — tea was introduced via the Silk Road / Mongolian and Chinese trade routes in the 17th century, and the samovar (a heated urn for maintaining hot water for continuous tea brewing) became central to Russian domestic hospitality culture. The traditional Russian way of drinking tea involves strong black “zavarka” (tea concentrate) brewed in a teapot set on top of the samovar, diluted with hot water to taste, and served with sugar, jam, or lemon.

Greenfield’s premium positioning sits within this deep tea culture — it is not teaching Russians to drink tea, but offering a more varied and sophisticated tea experience to an already tea-literate consumer base.

History

• 2003: Greenfield Tea brand launched by Orimi Trade in Russia; premium specialty positioning; silken pyramid bag format.
• 2000s: Rapid market share growth in Russian premium tea segment; CIS distribution expansion; 30+ variety product range.
• 2010s: Established as one of Russia’s top premium tea brands; international distribution in Eastern Europe and CIS.
• Present: Orimi Trade brand; 30+ teas; Russia and CIS distribution; flavoured, specialty, herbal, and classic tea range.

Social Media Sentiment

• Russian consumers: Greenfield is a widely trusted and appreciated premium tea brand in Russia — the product quality, variety range, and packaging design resonate strongly with Russian consumers who want to “trade up” from mass-market brands.
• Gift tea market: Greenfield’s decorative packaging and variety makes it a popular gift tea in Russia — tins and gift sets appear regularly in holiday gifting contexts.
• Tea community: Outside Russia, Greenfield is less known in international specialty tea circles — it is positioned as a quality branded mass market rather than a single-origin specialty brand.
• CIS and Eastern Europe: Strong brand recognition across Russia’s neighbouring markets where Russian consumer brands have historically had high penetration.

Last updated: 2026-06

Related Terms

• Russian Tea Culture
• Samovar
• Flavoured Tea
• Pyramid Tea Bag
• Black Tea
• Orimi Trade
• Earl Grey Tea

See Also

• Sakubo – Japanese Study

Research

• Greenfield Tea launch (2003) and the premiumisation of the Russian tea market.
  Summary: Documents the 2003 launch of Greenfield Tea by Orimi Trade in Russia — the strategic positioning as a premium specialty tea brand within a market dominated by commodity loose-leaf and standard bag teas (Lipton, Akbar), the differentiation through silken pyramid bag format and decorative packaging, the rapid growth to become one of Russia’s most successful premium tea brands, and the CIS and Eastern European distribution that extended the brand beyond Russia’s domestic market.

• Orimi Trade: Russia’s largest tea processor and the Greenfield, Tess, and Printsessa Nuri brand portfolio.
  Summary: Covers Orimi Trade as one of Russia’s largest tea and coffee companies — the St. Petersburg headquarters, the multi-brand tea portfolio (Greenfield as premium specialty, Tess as premium everyday, Printsessa Nuri as accessible), the global tea sourcing from Assam, Darjeeling, Kenya, China, and Sri Lanka; and the blending-and-packaging business model in which Orimi creates value through blending expertise, flavour development, and brand positioning rather than through tea growing.

• Russian tea culture: samovar tradition, zavarka brewing method, and the deep tea-drinking heritage.
  Summary: Examines Russian tea culture as one of the deepest in the non-producing world — the 17th-century introduction via Silk Road and Mongolian/Chinese trade routes; the samovar as a central object of Russian domestic hospitality (a heated urn maintaining hot water for continuous brewing); the traditional zavarka method (strong tea concentrate brewed in a teapot on top of the samovar, diluted to taste, served with sugar, jam, or lemon); and the context this deep tea literacy provides for Greenfield’s success in offering a premium, varied tea experience to an already sophisticated Russian tea consumer base.

• Greenfield’s product range: silken pyramid bags, flavoured teas, and the specialty collection.
  Summary: Covers Greenfield’s 30+ tea variety product range — the classic English Breakfast and Earl Grey blends, Japanese Sencha and Chinese green teas, herbal infusions (camomile, ginger), and the flavoured tea range calibrated to Russian consumer preferences for aromatic, sweet-leaning flavoured varieties; the silken pyramid bag as a premiumisation signal (individually wrapped, space for tea to expand, perceived quality premium over flat paper bags); and the decorative packaging and gift sets that position Greenfield in the Russian gift tea market.