GRYPHON Tea sounds like it might be the beverage of choice for a certain Harry Potter and his pals, but founder Lim Tian Wee is merely hoping the well-blended, elegantly packaged and distinctively branded specialty teas from his homegrown company will be able to achieve bestseller status.

Mr Lim launched the Gryphon Tea Company earlier this month, but he had a head-start and certainly has the pedigree to succeed. Gryphon is a part of Lim Lam Thye, a much older Singapore family company that has its origins dating back to 1918 - he is a fourth-generation descendant of Madam Lim Kheng Thiam, who set up a provision shop in Club Street to take advantage of her China roots.

The business eventually expanded to include the export and manufacture of tea. The parent company is now one of the region's well-known exporters of green and black tea, with manufacturing facilities in Vietnam, where it is one of the leading exporters of green tea.

The younger Mr Lim, 37, spent several years in the information technology industry before joining Unilever - the consumer products giant - where he honed his food marketing skills prior to returning to the family fold. 'I have seen the progress in the business,' he says. 'My grandfather started bringing tea in and my father developed it by bringing tea manufacturing - I remember going with him to Vietnam in the 1970s, after the Vietnam War, and we gradually developed good-quality products out there. Few people realise that Vietnam is the No. 1 exporter of green tea in the world.'

Singapore is the research base for the company, and it is the place where Mr Lim tries to develop value-added services - which is where the Gryphon Tea Company fits in. 'My mission as a fourth-generation member is to seek opportunities for the business to grow,' says Mr Lim. 'The potential is there for tea to become a part of life, beyond being just a beverage.'

Mr Lim has worked with the likes of Coca-Cola, Yeo Hiap Seng and Pokka to develop tea-based lifestyle beverages. 'A lot of manufacturers are trying to reinvent themselves, but the green tea trend is here to stay,' he says. 'We have to understand what consumer values are and whether they look at tea as something to give away or for their own consumption.'

A major part of the business involves gift-giving, and he realised that there wasn't much of a choice for consumers, says Mr Lim. The idea was for Gryphon to be a premium product that doesn't need to compete on price and gimmicky packaging. Instead, Mr Lim and a team of master tea blenders have created an initial selection of 10 gourmet teas, using top-quality teas and herbs and nicely packaged in individual silken tea sachets.

The company offers teas for every occasion and includes blends with names like Pearl of the Orient (jasmine tea with rose), Moroccan Mint (green tea with mint and lemongrass) and Straits Chai (Sumatran black tea with Asian spices) 'For me, taste is the priority - if it happens to be healthy as well, great,' says Mr Lim on the current preoccupation with the stress-relieving qualities of tea.

He adds: 'I try to create things that have a certain appeal, but I am also thinking of how to go beyond tea - I have to think differently from the big boys like Lipton and Twinings. People serve tea on occasions when they want to pamper themselves or when they are hosting guests. I call it 'affordable luxury' - things that help to make our lives a little better. I want to bring the experience of a gourmet product to the masses.'

For the past five years, Lim Lam Thye has been producing high-quality bespoke blends for premium restaurants and tea houses in Singapore and elsewhere. The company's gourmet line currently extends to about 100 different types, from single estate teas and special blends to herbal fruit teas. 'I want to create teas that are beyond consumers' imaginations,' says Mr Lim. Teas in the Gryphon line are an attempt to give the ordinary consumer a taste of what gourmet teas are about. 'When people try loose teas, they will never go back to tea bags,' says Mr Lim.

'Typically, Singapore consumers like their tea strong, with milk,' he says. 'Many find teas like Darjeeling a little too weak - Singapore's No. 1 black tea is Earl Grey, and we produce seven types of it.'

He adds: 'People in the tea business here have failed to recognise the potential for tea to proliferate beyond being just a beverage,' he says. 'There are other opportunities within the industry, and that's what Gryphon is doing - the next stage for us could be tea-flavoured cakes and cookies or ice cream. I would love to use different teas to create food. Tea has been a stable item in the Asian diet for a very long time - the opportunities are limitless.'