Dalgety

Dalgety exists to put Caribbean and African botanicals that mainstream UK retail ignores onto a British shelf. It was founded by Mark Dalgety, a Guyanese-born chemical engineer who launched his Caribbean herbal teas in the UK in 1993, and it started small, with packets of corilla bush from Guyana sold in London. Rather than badging generic flavoured tea, it says it sources moringa, soursop and other traditional plants from small farmers and communities across the Caribbean, West Africa and Asia.

The range is led by the botanicals the brand is known for, pure moringa, soursop, soursop-and-ginger and other traditional infusions, in pyramid tea bags, alongside strong ginger teas. The health-positioning copy on the boxes is assertive, worth naming, but the substance is real: this is genuine moringa and soursop leaf rather than a flavoured stand-in. For our shelf Dalgety is where we send customers asking for the traditional Caribbean and African herbs they cannot find elsewhere. The leaf is the actual ingredient, and the cup tastes closer to the kitchen original than the over-processed versions larger brands occasionally attempt. It is a specialist rather than an everyday brand, and that is the recommendation: if a customer wants real moringa or genuine soursop from a specialist, this is the one that delivers it.

Key facts