Mo Siegel Sold Celestial Seasonings to Kraft for Over $30 Million

Mo Siegel sold Celestial Seasonings, the herbal tea company he founded as a teenager, to Kraft Inc. in 1984 for more than $30 million, according to an account published by Yahoo Finance on October 25, 2026.

Siegel was 19 in 1969 when he collected wild herbs in the Rocky Mountains and mixed his own tea, work that became the basis for the business. The following year he sold his first branded blend through a single health food store in Boulder, Colorado, and in 1971 he began distributing a second herb blend nationally in muslin bags stitched by hand.

The company launched Sleepytime and Red Zinger in 1972; both became its top sellers. Rising consumer interest in tea pushed annual sales to $30 million by 1983, and the business had become the largest herbal tea producer in the country by the time Kraft bought it.

Kraft's ownership was not permanent. Celestial Seasonings combined with The Hain Food Group in 2000, and the merged business was renamed The Hain Celestial Group. Siegel's role at the company changed after the Kraft deal, the report said.

The article was originally published by Parade on October 25, 2026.

This story was first reported by Yahoo Finance.