From the Diary of Alessio Monterosso

What six years of neglected health taught the founder of Ariana Naturals about a cup of tea, and why he thinks wellness sold in single-use plastic is backwards.

It began in Ottawa in 2020, and it did not begin with tea. Alessio Monterosso had neglected his health for six years. Extreme burnout led to severe depression, and eventually to antidepressants. “Dealing with severe depression and panic attacks because I had completely neglected my well-being for years was terrifying,” he says. “But hitting that wall is what forced me to pause.”

What he went looking for, he says, was “a natural alternative to medication.” What he found was saffron. “Backed by science, daily Saffron use actually helped me transition off my medication entirely, and I remain medication-free to this day,” he says.

The research is the part he is careful with. A post on the company’s page calls it “real, if still-developing”: a 2019 systematic review in Nutrition Reviews pooled 23 randomised controlled trials and found saffron had a large positive effect on depressive symptoms compared with placebo, while its authors called for further trials.

What he built out of that recovery is Ariana Naturals, an Ottawa tea company and what he calls Canada’s first functional saffron tea blends: pure premium saffron, and four blends built around it. Flow for mental focus and energy, Glow for vitality, Dream for deep rest and stress relief, and Red for relaxation and immunity support. Today they sit on the shelves of more than 250 stores across Canada, and on 12 November the pitch he taped for CBC’s Dragons’ Den goes to air.

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What Is in the Cup

“When you steep a cup of our teas, you are experiencing sustainable, clean food products designed to naturally elevate your body and mind,” he says. The teas are Fairtrade and crafted in Canada, and the saffron is third-party tested.

Fairtrade is a cost he takes on deliberately. “Fairtrade does cost more,” the company wrote in a post this October. “We see that premium as part of doing business responsibly, because it means everyone in our supply chain is treated fairly and paid fairly.”

The other conviction is about packaging. “A lot of brands think it’s okay to push ‘wellness’ while packaging their stuff in single-use plastic. We think that’s backwards,” he says. “You can’t nourish yourself while polluting the planet.”

The newest blend, Red, a mix of Fairtrade organic rooibos, chai spices and saffron, launched at CHFA East in Toronto in September, where the company also gave a first look at its tea sachets. The sachet line arrives in the coming months, with three new flavours. The care about what goes in the cup extends to what he claims the cup can do.

Undersell It Accurately

Ask Alessio what most people in his field get wrong, and the answer is the premise of the whole company.

“Most people just treat tea as a cozy, hot drink and totally miss the functional side of it, especially for mental wellness.”

Alessio Monterosso, Founder, Ariana Naturals

He goes further than tea. “I really believe mental health and physical health are exactly the same thing; you can’t separate them,” he says.

What he does not do is oversell the ingredient. The same company post that calls the research still developing lists what the evidence shows: moderate evidence for mood support, well-established antioxidant compounds, and early findings on hormonal balance that are promising but not yet conclusive. “We’d rather undersell it accurately than oversell it,” it reads. The way he runs the company was learned in two earlier businesses and a bank.

A Bank, an Ice Cream Lounge, a Pivot

He started as a financial planner at BMO. “Working in finance taught me the hard numbers,” he says. “You learn exactly what it takes to scale a business sustainably and not just run out of cash.”

Then came Roll’d Up Dessert Lounge, an 80s-inspired dessert lounge specialising in rolled-up ice cream, which he co-founded and has since exited. “This was my real-world crash course,” he says. “It taught me how to actually build a brand and a physical product that people love to come back for.”

Ariana Naturals, he says, “was the big pivot. It shifted me from just running a business to doing something with a real purpose, rooted in my own life and my own healing.” On his profile he puts the record behind it plainly: he started a bunch of brands, failed a lot, drove himself into burnout, fought depression, and rebuilt himself “into a better version every time.” The rebuilding was not done alone.

Twice a Week, No Excuses

Who keeps him grounded? “My wife, 100%,” he says. “Between the late nights of a startup and raising a toddler, she’s the one who keeps me grounded and reminds me why I started this in the first place.”

The rest of it is habit. Fitness used to be all-or-nothing for him, he has written, until becoming a founder and a father made that unrealistic. Now the rule is “I train at least twice a week. No excuses,” with walks, bike rides and playing outside with his kids counting too. “Consistency beats perfection every time,” he wrote.

His other reset is trail walking, “bare foot when possible,” no calls. “As a founder, my brain is rarely off,” he has written. “There’s always another decision, another problem, another idea. Nature is one of the few places where I actually let it switch off.” This year, one of those decisions put him under studio lights.

250 Stores and the Studio Lights

Growth, in his words, has been “strong, purposeful.” The blends are now on the shelves of more than 250 stores across Canada, including Healthy Planet, Nature’s Emporium and Natural Food Pantry.

The company gives as it grows. Through its annual “1% for Mental Health” initiative, Ariana Naturals donates 1% of sales to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, to help fund mental health care and research. CAMH’s own figures put the scale of that cause plainly: by the time Canadians reach 40, one in two have, or have had, a mental illness.

Then there is 12 November. The pitch Ariana Naturals taped for CBC’s Dragons’ Den airs that Thursday. “The anxiety before the pitch. The studio lights. The moment they say ‘3,2,1 aaaand go’,” he wrote after the taping. Whether a deal was done, he “can’t tell you yet.”

“Deal or no deal, that was never the point. The point was and still is about growth, self-belief, and the unforgettable journey of stepping into the fire and coming out stronger.”

Alessio, Founder, Ariana Naturals

The episode airs on Thursday, 12 November 2026.

Where Alessio Is Now

The next twelve months are already full: the Dragons’ Den broadcast on 12 November, the sachet line with its three new flavours in the coming months, and the 1% for Mental Health initiative carrying on. What he wants the feature itself to do is reach the people who have not found the brand yet: “individuals who are actively searching for natural ways to support their wellness,” and in particular “that conscious, mindful individual who prioritizes their own holistic health just as much as they care about the footprint they leave on the planet.”

Outside work, he keeps the list simple: “Biking and training, spending time with my family, going hiking, and remembering to connect and have a real conversation with friends. Staying active and nurturing my relationships is my ultimate mental reset.”

The line he lives by is older than the company: “Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food,” from Hippocrates. The one he signs his own posts with is shorter. #DrinkSaffronBeHappy.

Five Lines from Alessio’s Diary

“I make mistakes, I learn, I move forward.”

“Mental health and physical health are exactly the same thing; you can’t separate them.”

“Movement doesn’t have to look like a perfect program. It just has to happen.”

“Emotional but strong. Vulnerable but fearless.”

“Here’s to small successes and big dreams.”