A PAIR of teenage entrepreneurs are introducing a taste of Morocco to the UK after spotting a gap in the market.

Rosanna Bucknill, 15, and Alice Derbyshire, 14, are launching their business, Ecoteaco, on Sunday in the village hall at Northend, near Watlington. They have imported lemon vervain tea from a supplier in Morocco and are now looking to cash in on the growing trend for herbal infusions.

Rosanna said: “Alice’s father brought back some of this tea from France two years ago but we could not buy it anywhere in the UK, so we started thinking about importing it ourselves because it is so refreshing.” A painstaking search on the Internet enabled them to track down a supplier and then the duo, who both attend Headington School, had labels printed with packaging bearing their company logo, which they designed themselves.

Rosanna said: “The packaging is paper as that is how you would find it in a traditional market and it is far more environmentally friendly.”

Now the duo have 100 bags of tea, called verveine in French, at £3.50 each, for the launch. It will be on sale at the Crazy Bear, Stadhampton, Britwell Salome Farm Shop and the Granary in Watlington. If the lemon vervain blend is successful the pair hope to expand their range to offer a range of other unusual herbal teas.