The Herbalist and the Entrepreneur Who Built a Tea Empire

Sebastian Pole and Tim Westwell met over a shared love of Ayurvedic herbs and built Pukka into a £30M brand before selling it to Unilever — on their own terms.

Sebastian Pole is an Ayurvedic practitioner and herbalist. He had spent years studying the traditional Indian system of medicine and developing a deep knowledge of medicinal herbs and their healing properties.

Tim Westwell is an entrepreneur. He had a passion for natural health and a conviction that there was a market for genuinely high-quality herbal products — not the dusty, medicinal-tasting teas that dominated the health food shop shelves, but something that was both therapeutic and delicious.

In 2001, Westwell placed an advert in a Bristol magazine looking for a herbalist to collaborate with. Pole responded. Pukka Herbs was born.

The Product Philosophy

Pukka's founding philosophy was simple but radical in the context of the herbal tea market: use only the highest quality, certified organic herbs, sourced directly from growers who were paid fairly, and formulate them with genuine therapeutic intent.

This was not how the herbal tea industry worked. Most herbal teas used cheap, low-grade ingredients, often sourced through opaque supply chains, and were formulated more for flavour than for efficacy.

The Supply Chain Story

Pukka built direct relationships with organic herb growers across India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Europe. They paid above-market prices, provided technical support, and committed to long-term purchasing agreements.

This was not just an ethical decision. It was a quality decision. The best herbs come from the best growers, and the best growers work with buyers who value their expertise and pay them accordingly.

The Growth Story

Pukka grew from a kitchen operation in Bristol to a £30 million brand sold in over 40 countries. They became one of the fastest-growing herbal tea brands in the UK, with a product range that expanded from a handful of blends to over 30 varieties.

The Unilever Question

In 2017, Pukka was acquired by Unilever — the global consumer goods giant that also owns PG Tips, Lipton, and dozens of other food and drink brands.

This is the moment that tests the integrity of every impact brand. When a large corporation acquires you, what happens to the mission?

Pole and Westwell negotiated hard. They chose Unilever specifically because of its Sustainable Living Plan — a corporate commitment to sourcing all agricultural raw materials sustainably and improving the livelihoods of people in the supply chain. They secured commitments that Pukka would remain 100% organic, maintain its fair trade sourcing practices, and continue operating with significant autonomy.

"We chose Unilever because of their Sustainable Living Plan. We believed they were the right partner to help us scale our mission."

Whether those commitments have been fully honoured is a question that the herbal tea industry continues to debate. But the decision to sell — and the terms on which it was negotiated — is a case study in how impact founders can approach an exit without abandoning their values.

The Expert Commentary

Pukka's story raises a question that every impact founder will eventually face: what is the exit strategy, and does it compromise the mission?

There is no universally right answer. Selling to a large corporation can provide the capital and distribution to scale an impact that would otherwise remain niche. It can also dilute the mission, homogenise the culture, and reduce the brand to a marketing asset stripped of its original purpose.

The founders who navigate this well are the ones who are clear about their non-negotiables before the acquisition conversation begins — not during it. Pole and Westwell knew what they would and would not accept. That clarity gave them negotiating leverage.

What I Would Do If I Were Sebastian and Tim

The most interesting question for Pukka post-acquisition is whether the direct grower relationships have been maintained and deepened. Those relationships are the foundation of the brand's credibility and the source of its best products.

I would invest in making those relationships visible — not just in sustainability reports, but in the product itself. QR codes on packaging that link to the specific farm, the specific harvest, the specific grower. That level of transparency would be genuinely differentiating in a market where most herbal tea brands cannot trace their ingredients beyond a commodity broker.