Tea Biz – Details, episodes & analysis

On the eve of World War II, London’s tea brokers sold 60% of the world’s tea, but when the London auction resumed in 1951, the bulk of tea was transacted in the tea lands. Today, most of the world’s tea is auctioned at regional tea centers in India, Africa, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. In July, the Colombo Tea Traders’ Association organized a London-style Open Outcry Auction for Charity that earned 46 million rupees (about $150,000) to build 130 “smart” classrooms and provide English Language lessons for the children of tea workers.

Today, Dan takes us into the auction hall, where the bidding is about to begin.

Wayanad Landslide Aftermath | Andrew Yule Reports Loss

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Inflation Eases Yet Grocery Prices Remain High | Starbucks Names Chipotle Executive Brian Niccol CEO | Kenya Regulators Approve Acquisition of Lipton’s Tea Estates

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HEAR THE HEADLINES – Increased Food Safety Testing of Indian Tea Reveals 42% Failure Rate | Kenya Tea Growers Report Double-digit Increase in Volume | Kumaon Growers Break Ground on Their Community-Owned Factory

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| NEWSMAKER – Joydeep Phukan, Secretary of India’s Tea Research Association and the Principal Officer at the Tocklai Tea Research Center in Jorhat, Assam

| FEATURED – Coverage of the recently concluded 25th Session of the UN FAO Intergovernmental Group on Tea (IGG) continues this week as Managing Editor Arvinda Anantharaman debriefs Joydeep Phukan, Secretary of India’s Tea Research Association and the Principal Officer at the Tocklai Tea Research Center in Jorhat, Assam. They engage in a wide-ranging chat on the benefits of regenerative agriculture in combatting a changing climate, enhancing trade, elevating smallholders, and marketing healthy hydration to youth.

Dispelling Gloom and Doom - Joydeep Phukan, the principal officer and Secretary of TRA, was the driving force behind the events, talks about what he hopes attendees took away from the events."There is a lot of negativity in the industry regarding prices and overproduction. Last year, 2023, was a very bad year for the tea industry globally," says Phukan. In this context, hosting the 25th FAO Intergovernmental Group on Tea (IGG) session, preceded by a two-day conference celebrating 200 years of Assam tea, was challenging. "We closed at nearly 450 delegates. I feel like this was a big learning lesson for the industry." He cites a marketing proposal targeting youth. We decided to initiate a campaign called #TeaPower in terms of sports, fitness, and wellness. Youths read every social media message, but tea consumption in Gen Alpha is 4%. That is a very small percentage, which was a big takeaway from the FAO session. On the topic of regenerative agriculture, much can be learned from India's cotton industry. "Tocklai has been suggesting that after you have grown tea for the past 50, you should uproot and rehabilitate the soil for at least 18 months to 24 months. So you plant different grasses and plants and apply biochar so the soil is regenerated, and then after two years of soil rehabilitation, you are ready to go for another maybe 30-40 years of planting." We are not in a very doom and gloom situation this year. We have the production now, and it is just finding the markets. And we’re lucky to have a very, very strong domestic market which is almost a dropping nearly 1,200 million kilos of tea," he said.

India Tea News: Tata Tea Under Scrutiny | India Mandates Sale of All Grades of Tea Dust at Auction | Atul Asthana Resigns as MD and CEO of the Goodricke Group | Aravinda Anantharaman | Tea Biz Blog | Podcast Episode 157 |

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Researchers Link Diets that Include Tea Brewed in Teabags to High PFAS Levels | Flavor Enhancing Microbes are at the Root of Quality Tea | Retail Tea Prices Remain High as Inflation Eases

| GUEST – Senior Tea Master Lilian Xia, President of the Canada Tea Institute

| FEATURED – A hundred and fifty years ago, tea exporters in China faced a dramatic shift in demand due to conflict on the high seas and fierce commercial competition. The emergence of India as Europe’s black tea supplier disrupted almost three centuries of Chinese dominance in the world’s most lucrative black tea market. China needed something new, a cream and sugar-friendly alternative to smoky old-fashioned Lapsang Souchong. That tea was Keemun, a modern marvel rivaling Darjeeling at breakfast, and the fragrant black teas of Uva used in Ceylon breakfast blends. Invented in 1875, the aromatic red tea quickly rose to prominence, explains Lilian Xia, one of Shanghai’s first batch of senior tea masters and president of the Canada Tea Institute. She joins Tea Biz to recount the legacy of a Chinese market-savvy entrepreneur, Yu Ganchen, the pioneer of Qimen Black Tea, who developed the processing method for Keemun and expanded its sales overseas.

Hong Cha Revival – Lilian Xia and her staff in Canada offer a seven-level curriculum for adults and teens. The organization, she says, “is committed to popularizing tea knowledge, using tea as a link to strengthen cultural exchange among all ethnic groups, all classes, and all ages.” The society hosts educational tea parties, tea-themed activities, and tastings, including a public introduction to Runsi Qihong (Keemun) sponsored by the Anhui Guorun Tea Co. Lilian and I met at the Toronto Tea Festival in January. Here, she tells the of hongcha (red tea), which is experiencing a revival in China as millions line up daily for their milk tea. Keemun has a special place in the story of black tea as it is the first modern market-driven tea. Tea fragrance has always appealed to tea drinkers. Jasmin is one of the oldest and remains the most famous scented tea globally, but the European royalty and upper-class preference for milk and sugar, crumpets, and dainties limited sales of green tea, creating an opening Keemun quickly filled. 

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Maritime Security Concerns Worsen in Suez and The Red Sea | Rising Operating Costs Close a Third of Uganda’s Tea Factories | Hydration Concerns Motivate Consumer Purchases

| NEWSMAKER - Liam Brody, CEO, Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA)

| FEATURED – The Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA) was established to measure the massive quantity of precise data and the impact of harder-to-quantify, pragmatic ways of measuring sustainability, such as living income calculations, gender inclusion, and next-generation training. In 2005, sustainability pioneers at the United Nations identified the need to harmonize sustainability metrics with science-based credibility. Seven years later, COSA became a not-for-profit public research organization to complete that work. Daniele Giovannucci co-founded COSA to counter what he called “the fluff and ignorance masquerading as development and colossal sums wasted by well-meaning funders.” He championed the “democratization of data,” devising standard metrics for the coffee industry in 2018. COSA, financed partly by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the InterAmerican Development Bank, has since standardized sustainability metrics for 100 Agri-related information technologies. Giovannucci retired in December, and Liam Brody was named his successor. Newly named COSA CEO Liam Brody joins us on the Tea Biz Podcast to explain COSA’s role in intelligence-gathering and developing strategic tools that advance sustainable practices with “good business” underpinnings. He also shares his vision of how artificial intelligence will revolutionize and influence consumer behavior and perception of sustainable practices.

Predictability is Around the Corner – COSA Board Chairman Richard Rogers, in announcing the promotion of Liam Brody to CEO, described him as the right leader to unlock the exponential impact of the organization. Brody “is an accomplished and visionary leader” who can drive the transformative change needed to help tackle today’s sustainability challenges.” Brody says, “It used to be that no matter how smart the human was in this equation, we just couldn’t process all this data ourselves. There were just too many variables. But now, it’s amazing when we start to layer this data together.” He says, "Predictability is around the corner, but here’s the thing that’s missing for a lot of folks: Where’s the system? And how are those systems talking? And how do they interrelate?"

HEAR THE HEADLINES – FAO Confederation of Tea Smallholders Will Relocate its Headquarters to India | Iran Tea Imports Plunge by 62% | Economists Predict Soft Commodity Prices Will Stabilize in 2024 | 9 Feb 2024

| NEWSMAKER – Peter Goggi, FAO IGG delegate representing the United States as President of the Tea Association of the USA

| FEATURED – Delegates from 44 countries (and 14 official observers) who attended The 25th Session of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's Intergovernmental Group on Tea (IGG Tea) last week expanded the organization's mandate beyond trade aspects, ratifying initiatives addressing all three dimensions of sustainability – economic, social, and environmental. Joining us today is Peter Goggi, the IGG delegate representing the United States as President of the Tea Association of the USA. Peter discusses #TeaPower, a new health and wellness campaign, FAO's ongoing support of smallholders, and the economics of oversupply.

There's Too Much Tea in the World – Peter Goggi began his career at Unilever, where he was the first American in the history of TJ Lipton to work as a tea taster. He retired after 32 years with Royal Estates Tea Co., where, as president, he was responsible for tea sourcing, blending, and quality assurance. His last assignment was as head of tea procurement, leading a team of supply managers and analysts who spent a billion dollars a year buying tea. His encore as president of the Tea Association of the USA is marked by a fourth decade of service to the industry. Peter has been the US delegate to FAO's Intergovernmental Group on Tea for the past decade, an influential body of cabinet ministers, tea board chairs, academics, tea association executives, and policymakers representing every tea-growing and central tea-consuming region globally. "The IGG is a fabulous opportunity for all interested parties on a governmental level to talk about the tea industry," says Goggi. "It's essential to express their views. They all have issues that they're facing. The problems facing countries of origin differ significantly from those facing consuming countries. But ultimately, solutions that satisfy both need to be met," he says, adding, "The overriding concern of all parties in this business is the lack of profit throughout the supply chain."

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Lunar New Year Will Boost Consumption and Tea Travel | Nepal Recovers from Foreign Currency Crisis | Pakistan’s Tea Import Spike (Legal and Smuggled)

| NEWSMAKER – Tao Wu, co-founder of Tao Tea Leaf, Toronto, Canada

| GUESTS - Annabel Kalmar, Tea Rebellion, Franco Li, Chin-Tea, Jean-Daniel Baki, Ryca Tea, Helen Kong, Secret Teatime, Luvinda Delwita, Robert Wilson's Ceylon Teas

| FEATURED – After two years of crisis management, tea professionals were eager to return to work, reviving tea tradeshows with vigor – but attracting large crowds of tea enthusiasts to the smaller venues common to city-wide tea festivals took longer. In 2023, tea festival goers remained timid. Audience counts did not immediately return to pre-pandemic highs. Locally based exhibitors, their reserves exhausted, operated with tight marketing budgets.

The Toronto Tea Festival that concluded Sunday marks a turning point in 2024 as the crowd surged from a 2020 low of 2,600 in February 2020 to 4,000 attendees - a 25% increase from previous highs. Joining us today to discuss the changing dynamics is Tao Wu, co-founder of Tao Tea Leaf and one of the festival's key organizers… but first, let’s listen to the excitement ON THE FLOOR at the weekend event.

Exhibitors Welcome Youthful Crowd - Tao Wu and his sister Mingzhou Gao (an accountant) co-founded Tao Tea Leaf 14 years ago, opening their first three tea shops on Yonge Street in downtown Toronto. The Mississauga store in the Square One shopping Center opened next. The latest shop opened in May 2022 at Union Station on the concourse directly under the Great Hall.

Wu said, "I noticed many young visitors this year among the local audience attending the show. They are really interested in asking the vendors questions and attending the workshop and Tea Tsunami. That's a good sign that the young generation is more interested in tea. We are trying to bring more tea-focused topics to the show. Also, as you can see, this year's vendors are mainly tea vendors. We still want to make the festival a really tea-focused tea festival."

HEAR THE HEADLINES – UN Plans #TeaPower Promotion Targeted to Younger Generations | Tea Advice to Take with a Grain of Salt | China Reports Tea Exports Declined in 2023

NEWSMAKER - Rita Fong, Toronto Tea Festival Social Media Manager and Marketing Director

FEATURED – The Toronto Tea Festival is celebrating its 10th anniversary this weekend. The Tea Guild of Canada and Tao Tea Leaf are co-founders and sponsors of the event. Organizers expect a big crowd to attend educational presentations, cultural demonstrations, and competitions, and there will be products on display from 50 tea vendors, large and small. Rita Fong helped organize the inaugural event. She is a director and manages social media and marketing of what is now the largest tea festival in Canada. She joins us on the Tea Biz Podcast this week to share insights on this event's staying power and growing popularity.

Largest Tea Festival in Canada Celebrates 10th Anniversary – Rita Fong is a member of the Tea Guild of Canada, and the Tea and Herbal Association of Canada tirelessly promotes the festival, has long influenced the educational program, and recruits speakers and vendors.

"The festival started as an idea by Tao Wu, Tao Tea Leaf’s co-founder, who wanted to organize a big event for tea lovers in Toronto. The planning committee felt that we had to do something because specialty tea is a business. They were thinking of how to promote business and how to help other businesses. Tao Tea Leaf has grown from a storefront retailer to a wholesaler to smaller companies and cafes in town and around Canada. Founder Tao Wu has become more like a mentor and advisor for many tea companies. He and Mingzhou Gao launched the company in 2009. Tea Guild, a not-for-profit established in 2009, has a mandate, in part, to educate their members and the public about tea, the exchange of ideas and sharing of resources, and the creation of programs and events, she said.