On April 12 this year, Quentin Vennie, the founder and CEO of tea brand Equitea, experienced one of the most painful losses any parent can suffer: his 17-year-old son Christian died from an accidental fentanyl overdose. Vennie had been working to build his startup tea brand since 2020, but with Christian’s unexpected deat, he initially wasn’t sure how to move ahead. However, he said, with widespread support from the CPG community and a better understanding of his own grief, Vennie says that Equitea is now charging ahead with a new purpose: to honor Christian’s memory and to raise awareness of the opioid epidemic that has ravaged the nation. The first step was relatively simple to accomplish, but also deeply meaningful: the brand updated the label on its Black Tea Lemonade flavor, Christian’s favorite, to include a message about his death and included a QR code linking to a webpage with more information about his life. Vennie’s still trying to figure out the next steps. He said he wants Equitea to partner with nonprofit organizations specializing in raising awareness and combating fentanyl poisoning and the opioid epidemic. The company is working to create an annual event called Equitea Cares that will connect people who have lost family members to overdoses and focus on healing as a community. He said he has already heard from therapists who are able to volunteer their time to speak to attendees and is looking to introduce sessions on yoga, meditation, drinking tea and other mindful practices. By speaking out about his experience, and his son’s life and death, he hopes Christian’s memory can be a force for change and warn others about the very real dangers of the ongoing crisis. “The worst thing to do during grief is to grieve alone and to shut people out,” he said. “If we can come together, even through our own trauma and our own pain, but work collectively and collaboratively as a community to heal from it, then I think we opened up that door of opportunity for growth.” Read the full story on BevNET. | 
