Celestial Seasonings history

The beginnings of Celestial Seasonings were modest, to be sure, but prospects brightened somewhat with the arrival of Wyck Hay's brother, John Hay, in 1971.

The following year, in 1972, the six employees who composed the venture were elevated to corporate legitimacy when Celestial Seasonings was incorporated, taking its name from the "flowername" of Wyck Hay's girlfriend, Lucinda Ziesing.

But he is looking for new products and markets to keep sales climbing 27 percent a year, compared with an annual average of 31 percent since 1978.

Lipton, a division of Unilever, the giant Anglo-Dutch packaged goods company, captured a portion of Celestial's market share after its national television advertising campaign began in 1981.

With business booming and ambitious expansion plans on the table, including the purchase of 91 acres of land in Boulder in 1982 for the construction of future corporate offices, Siegel and his cohorts were ready to make a signal move into the public spotlight.

An initial public offering (IPO) of the company's stock was slated for 1983, but before investors had the opportunity to purchase a stake in Celestial Seasonings disaster struck the company for the first time in its history.

Celestial Seasonings was purchased by Kraft Foods in 1984.

Siegel retired in 1986, and the next year, Kraft announced they would sell Celestial Seasonings to Lipton.

The sale was successfully challenged by Bigelow under anti-trust laws, and local management purchased the company back from Kraft in 1988.

Siegel, who is known at work as Mo, feels that Celestial will be able to move its sales from the $28.5 million expected this year to $100 million by 1990 without giving up his principles.

Siegel returned in 1991, to serve as CEO.

Celestial Seasonings merged with natural food company the Hain Food Group in 2000 to form the Hain Celestial Group.

Siegel retired for the second time in 2002.