WEBSTER GROVES, Mo. – If you see Scott Wibbenmeyer checking the aisles of your local grocery store, it’s just to make sure they’re stocked with his specialty – Avocado Leaf Tea.

“So Avocado Leaf Tea started when we bought a piece of land to retire on in Temecula, California,” Wibbenmeyer said. “Someday we wanted to build a home. That piece of land came with 600 avocado trees. So, we became accidental avocado farmers. So, while we were researching the trees to bring them back to health, my wife realized through recent research they were off the chart healthy. High in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory, flavonoids, helps with diabetes and kidney function, and we were like, ‘Why is this not a tea?’”

The place to retire soon turned into a new trade route. Turning these California fruits into a capital opportunity, paying $20 an hour wages to workers that pick the leaves, which are then turned into another sustainable effort, and a soothing solution winning acclaim and awards.

The Lake St. Louis entrepreneur and his wife arrived upon an idea involving a different part of the avocado.

“As much as the product is a California product and there’s probably more tea drinking going on in California than St. Louis,” Wibbenmeyer said. “We’re native St. Louisans. I grew up at 141, my wife grew up in north (St. Louis) county. We live in Lake St. Louis and we’re here and it’s really nice to go into a local store and see our product on a shelf.”

Wibbenmeyer said his Lake St. Louis-based business is gaining steam in sales nationally and expanding overseas. Turning the avocados he inherited into avo-can-dos and five flavors of a century-old sustainable solution.