Dacula Mom Driven to Start Her Own Business

Dacula mom Melinda Hicks spent years searching for a healthy, low in sugar drink for her child. She finally found one, and it just so happens that she had to make it herself. Hicks spent a few years developing her drink, and now she is able to share it with other Dacula families.

Little Me Tea was founded in 2008 under parent company Big Time Tea by Hicks and her husband Michael. This family company is committed to improving the health of children with their blends of caffeine-free tea with fruit and vegetable juices.

Hicks discovered her product after trying many low sugar kids’ beverages, and discovering that the second ingredient in many of those drinks is actually sugar.

“I purchased a drink that I thought was healthy and low in sugar,” Hicks said. “But when I turned over the package I was surprised. The second ingredient was cane sugar. I was basically giving my child sugar water.”

Around the same time, Hicks poured her child a glass of tea and added fruit juice. She realized that she had created the very drink that see had been searching for.

“The drink I had purchased and thought was healthy had close to 12 grams of sugar per eight ounces,” Hicks said. “The tea I created has only seven grams of sugar.”

Hick discovered that there was a market for her product when several friends told her that they were looking for healthy organic drinks for their children too.

“I realized that I could help other moms find a good nutritious drink for their kids,” Hicks said. “This product is very mom driven.”

After discovering the need for her product Hicks went to work trying to find the perfect blend of teas and juices. The process took over a year.

“I started in the kitchen just fooling around with different blends of tea and different juices,” she explained. “We spent three months on our own, and then we employed a beverage developer to produce it commercially.” 

Hicks did not stop there. She wanted to make sure that the kids would be happy with the tea as well as the parents.

“We also held taste test parties with friends, and experimented with different levels of juice,” Hicks said. “We got great feed back.”

According to Hicks, Little Me Tea is the first and only ready to drink tea beverage for children. Hicks said her creation has all the benefits of tea and has the lowest amount of sugar of any juice based product for children. She is so confident of its quality, she gives it to her own daughter.

“I do not have to worry about my daughter overindulging in Little Me Tea,” Hicks explained. “The whole box contains as much sugar as just one eight ounce glass of other kid’s drinks. You do not have to water it down or do anything else to make it healthier.”

Little Me Tea is not just a drink for children. Adults trying to cut sugar out of their daily diet enjoy the product too.

“This is a drink that the whole family can share,” Hicks said. “We designed the package, so that you can put it on the table, and the kids can pour it themselves. And if they drop it on the floor, it might spill a little, but it is not going to shatter.”

Little Me Tea can be found just minutes from Dacula in a tea shop in Lawrenceville called Aristeacrats. You can also order the tea online at Mommy Secrets. In addition, Little Me Tea is available in all of the Whole Foods markets in Georgia, and in the Harry’s Farmers Market.