Vale Matcha, a Seattle-based business that specializes in ceremonial-grade tea, recently announced its intentions to open a tea farm on North Whidbey’s Fakkema Farm.
The farm is an expansive 365 acres and would take the reins as one of the country’s largest tea farms, according to a Whidbey News-Times article.
To support the high volume of tea once it has matured — on average, tea plants take around five years — Vale plans to also install a 30,000-square-foot crop-processing facility on Goldie Road.
“Our hope is that this ignites the region much like wine did with Napa Valley,” Vale’s CEO Luke Larson was quoted as saying in the Whidbey News-Times article. “We want to encourage others to get involved in tea farming and matcha production and really hope to establish the entire region as a place that can do exceptional tea and exceptional matcha.”