Yogi Tea’s New CEO Brings Experience and Purpose

Yogi Tea has a new CEO. Giancarlo Marcaccini assumed his new appointment as Yogi Tea’s CEO the first week of January. “I was honored and flattered,” Marcaccini said. “At heart, I’m really an entrepreneur.” Marcaccini was born in Italy and raised in Rome until he was 14 years old. After college, Marcaccini played professional basketball for eight years in France, Spain and Italy. “I love the camaraderie and teamwork,” he said. He and his brother, Monte, missed Italian gelato and decided to form and fund their own venture, Villa Dolce Gelato in 2001. Overseeing a business gave him experience with production, retail, wholesale and distribution and—not the least of which—problem solving. “It’s something I didn’t appreciate back then, but now I really see what a blessing it all was because I’m able to understand everything from quality to distribution, to marketing and sales, to finance and legal. It gave me the well-roundedness to appreciate business in all its different dimensions.” Marcaccini became a member of Yogi Tea’s Board of Directors and held that position for two years. Then, when Yogi Tea’s board began its search for a new CEO, after going through a list of candidates, Marcaccini was chosen. Yogi Tea is headquartered in Springfield, Oregon, and the U.S. sales and marketing team is based in Portland. Production takes place in Springfield and in Imola, Italy. European headquarters are in Hamburg, Germany. The company is finishing development of a new nearly 200,000-square-foot building in Eugene, Oregon, into which U.S. production will be moved in the coming months. Marcaccini said he is considering building a new manufacturing facility in Italy in the next year.

As for Marcaccini’s leadership approach, “At the end of the day, for me it’s really about having amazing people and working intelligently.” Yogi Tea sources only organic tea. “We’ve put tremendous standards on ourselves.” Yogi Tea runs all of its tea through meticulous testing for metals, bacteria and even plant DNA. Marcaccini is also proud of Yogi Tea’s philanthropic philosophy, which has always focused on being of service. The company helps the areas in which it sources its ingredients. For example, its cardamom is grown in Honduras, where Yogi Tea built an addition onto a school that allows for three additional grades—seventh, eighth and ninth—and 100 more students. Yogi Tea also rebuilt a hospital in Assam, India, where the company sources its black tea. The company’s roots continue as Yogi Tea supports the yoga community. Yogi Bhajan brought kundalini yoga, as well as the formulas used in Yogi Tea, to America. He used to share his herbal tea blends with his students after yoga class and they encouraged him to share his blends with others. Marcaccini, who is also a kundalini yoga practitioner and teacher, said the company’s goal is to make these beneficial and flavorful herbal blends available for everyone to enjoy.