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. 

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Escalating Missile Attacks Reroute European Bound Tea | Serve Hot Tea in Dry January | Tata Consumer Products Buys Organic India and Capitol Foods

| GUEST – Traditional Medicinals Chief Marketing Officer Kristel Corson

| FEATURED – Kristel Corson, Chief Marketing Officer at Traditional Medicinals, says medicinal teas have been around for what seems like forever, but herbals are having their moment. It is important to educate folks, not just on what has been, but on what medicinal herbalism is today, and it’s very different, she says.

Rooted in Modern Herbalism and Plant Wisdom – Traditional Medicinals is a Northern California-based botanical wellness brand rooted in modern herbalism to inspire active connection to plant wisdom in service of people and the planet. Formulations of more than sixty teas, lozenges, and capsules are strictly limited to botanical ingredients without added flavors and in quantities that meet pharmacopeia standards for efficacy. The company’s blends and single-herbal infusions are organic, sustainable, and ethically sourced. Traditional Medicinals was launched in 1974, and in recent years, the company has experienced exponential growth as consumer demand fills the sails, expanding distribution from niche natural food stores to mass market outlets. “One of the things we pride ourselves in is trying to introduce the true taste of herbs to consumers. We have a full staff of R&D scientists and naturopath doctors who understand these herbs, their qualities, and their different flavors,” she explains.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – A Year of Fire and Now, Ice | UC Davis Colloquium: Tea in a Changing World | SYSTM Foods acquires HUMM Kombucha

| GUEST – Sharyn Johnston, Founder and CEO of Australian Tea Masters

| FEATURED – World Tea Academy is making a fresh start in the new year, unveiling a new website and a refreshed portfolio of online and on-demand classes at lower fees. The curriculum spans the interests of tea enthusiasts and offers five certifications for those employed in tea. Australian Tea Masters Founder Sharyn Johnston designed the new curriculum and organized the website. She is with us today to talk about joining forces with Questex, owners of the World Tea brand. “This partnership marks a landmark moment for us, offering an extraordinary opportunity to showcase our deep commitment to tea education on a global stage,” she said.

World Tea Academy Relaunches Online Education Platform – As the new Head of Education at World Tea Academy, Sharyn Johnston, says Australian Tea Masters has built a new Academy website that is very modern, enhanced the content, and added over 1000 unique photos, including images of tea plantations. "However, we’ve still got a long way to go. We’ve got some fantastic ideas for the future, and we want to build on that. “One of the things we’ve already introduced is a new Basic Foundation course in tea. That was one of the important things missing from the academy. We developed the world’s first tea 101 course online about nine years ago before it was the thing to do. And we’ve just had so many positive comments over the years from that particular course,” she said.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Holiday Retail Cheer Spreads into the New Year | Expanding Value Addition in the Tea Lands | Australian Tea Masters Will Manage World Tea Academy

| GUEST – Tastewise Marketing Communications Manager Lee Brymer

| FEATURED – Lee Brymer explains that human-centered AI enables client companies, including Tata, PepsiCo, Kellogg's, Campbell’s, Mars, Chobani, and McCain, to capture and distill insights to make informed decisions, develop innovative strategies, and secure a competitive advantage. Our conversation draws on a 52-page report, “Flavor Beyond Intuition: Top Flavor and Ingredient Trends for 2024”. The report is available online at no charge.

Flavor Beyond Intuition: According to Lee Brymer, when it comes to experimentation in flavor in general, most people aren’t really willing to go too far away from what they know. “They want a taste of something new. They want that sense of adventure, that sense of exoticism, but often aren’t willing to, you know, pay money for something that they’re not sure is in line with what they’re looking for. The pumpkin spice or the apple brown sugar people, whether they know it or not, they relate to the spice in there. There’s the cinnamon, the cardamom, maybe nutmeg, so that’s where it comes in. That’s a great point when it comes to marketing, right? That might be something that consumers don’t know about. And it would be a big risk and probably a miss for a big brand to adopt something like that. But it works if they label it as something much closer to home, something that people already know about. 

Brymer joined Tastewise as a food and beverage insights advisor in 2022, advancing to senior consumer insights consultant before he was named marketing communication manager last fall. 

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

An Indian Independence Day Tribute to Chai, by Aravinda Anantharaman

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GUEST – Ksenia Hleap is responsible for communication and development at AVPA.

PLUS | AVPA Teas of the World Contest

The September 30 deadline is nearing for tea and botanical growers and brands to submit entries in the annual "Teas of the World" Contest organized by AVPA, the France-based Agency for the Valorization of Agricultural Products – there are two distinct parts:

· Monovarietal teas (camelia sinensis), with many categories depending on the method of preparation of the leaves.

· Herbal teas (infusion plants other than camellia sinensis), blends, and flavored teas.

Carine Baudry, an expert in sensory analysis and founder of the Quintessence, chairs this year’s jury. Ksenia Hleap, who is responsible for communications and development of the AVPA programs, joins us from Paris to explain the many benefits of participating.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Iran Tea Company CEO Implicated in $3.7 Billion Embezzlement Scandal | Shipping Shock: Missile Threat Diverts Suez-Bound Tea Cargo | Malawi Anticipates a Steep Decline in Tea Production

| GUEST – Cindi Bigelow, President and CEO, R.C. Bigelow Tea

| FEATURED – In 2023, the tea industry bid farewell to several notable figures. In this episode, we pay tribute to David C. Bigelow, Jr., an industry icon who died in June at 96. A member of the silent generation born in the roaring 20s, David was a World War II veteran and 1948 Yale University graduate who transformed the specialty tea segment. He steered a boutique tea blending business launched in his mother’s kitchen into a multi-million-dollar mass-market brand. Joining us today is David’s daughter Cindi, President and CEO of Connecticut-based and family-owned R.C. Bigelow, a $250 million B-Corp known for innovations that redefined tea service in restaurants and grew the company to become the US market leader in specialty tea.

David C. Bigelow: Innovative Specialty Tea Pioneer – David C. Bigelow managed R.C. Bigelow Tea for 45 years beginning in 1960. Like many of the 55 million members of the Silent Generation, he was hardworking and humble. Survivors of the Great Depression and the horrors of war – these men and women were careful with their money, patriotic, and ambitious. The generation displayed characteristics of thrift, simplicity, patience, and a need for financial security and comfort. Cindi Bigelow is the third generation to lead Bigelow Tea, founded in 1945 by her grandmother, Ruth C. Bigelow. During her years as chief executive, sales have increased from $94 million in 2005 to more than $250 million. Bigelow Tea produces more than one hundred million unit boxes of tea annually and employs 450 people. She shares with listeners how her father and family expanded the specialty tea segment into the mass market grocery aisles "where he built an entire shelf presence" and then moved us into foil wrappers in food service. "We are the first in single-serve foil and pioneers in the away-from-home marketplace," she said.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – UAE Consensus Calls for a Transition Away from Fossil Fuels | AVAP Contest Winners Celebrate at a Paris Awards Gala | Kenya Budgets Expansion of Tea Blending and Packing Capability

| NEWSMAKER – QTrade Teas & Botanicals CEO Manjiv Jayakumar

| FEATURED – Tea blending is more tech-intensive than ever as the industry responds to consumer demand for more sophisticated tea blends and functional herbal beverages in convenient formats. Economies of scale favor manufacturers that have invested in robotics, automation, bottling lines, and environment-friendly packaging solutions, explains QTrade Teas & Botanicals CEO Manjiv Jayakumar. Last week, Jayakumar announced a friendly merger with Sun Garden Tea, a specialty tea wholesaler. Manjiv joins us this week to discuss the merger and current trends in blending, formulating, and packaging tea.

Tech-driven Tea Manufacturing at Scale – Manjiv Jayakumar, a Harvard University graduate, worked on Wall Street as a financial analyst for Goldman Sachs for several years before joining QTrade Teas & Botanicals in 2005. QTrade was founded by his father, Manik Jayakumar, in 1994. Manjiv is the company’s chief executive officer.

“Since I joined in many ways, it's been a whirlwind," he said. "I have tried to keep up with our clients, who grew in exciting ways, who innovated in exciting ways, and who pushed us to support them in ways that we never thought possible. And so, I've enjoyed the process of helping build this company and to help advise and support the businesses of our clients.”

During QTrade’s early years, coffee roaster and retailer Craig Min, founder of LAMILL coffee roasters, began wholesaling and blending specialty tea. His Alhambra-based Sun Garden Tea and Cerritos-based QTrade were nearly neighbors in the vast expanse of the industrialized belt east of Los Angeles. Their proximity and compatibility led the two companies to collaborate frequently, a relationship formally recognized in the merger.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – A UN COP28 Declaration is Good News for Tea Smallholders | Los Angeles-based Sun Garden Tea Merges with QTrade Teas & Botanicals | It’s Getting Easier to Attend Chinese Tea Tradeshows

| NEWSMAKER – Kevin Gascoyne, partner Camellia Sinensis, Montreal, Canada

| FEATURED – In the 1990s and early 2000s, curating a catalog of 200 direct-sourced teas, establishing a small chain of neighborhood tea shops, launching a formal tea school, and selling tea online to people worldwide was pretty ambitious. Twenty-five years later, Montreal-based Camellia Sinensis, having survived pandemic peril, has emerged with vigor in a configuration admired for its innovative approach to experiential retail. Camellia Sinensis even helped finance a factory in South India to produce tea on demand. Partner Kevin Gascoyne joins us today on the company’s 25th Anniversary to share valuable insights and a few missteps while traveling a long path to success.

Innovative Retailer Celebrates 25-Year Journey to Success — Camellia Sinensis offers an extensive online collection of fine teas, teaware, and utensils. The company was founded in 1998 by Hugo Americi, inspired by visiting the Dobra Cajovna tea houses in Prague. The first Bohemian-themed store on Emery sold tea and cakes amid Shisha pipes and musical acts. The company has grown to operate neighborhood tea shops, supply restaurants, and offer a private branding service, an office tea program, and custom corporate gifts. The staff conducts formal training in two tea schools and has published several award-winning books and guides. Terroir is the central theme for the extensive collection, mirroring the founders’ direct sourcing. Teas are categorized by style, type, origin, format, discounted, and discarded as each new harvest arrives. Kevin Gascoyne began buying tea in South Asia in 1989 and has since visited the tea lands hundreds of times. Kevin is responsible for selecting teas for the Camellia Sinensis catalog from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the African continent. Born in Yorkshire, England, Gascoyne migrated to Canada, where he established a tea import venture in the early 1990s. He began supplying Camellia Sinensis in 1999, and in 2004 the two companies merged.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Tea Overflows Mombasa Auction Sales Warehouses | Black Friday Sales Grew by 7.5% to $9.8 Billion | Sri Lanka Tea Growers Welcome a Strong Year-End Harvest Finish

| GUEST – Bruce Richardson, founder of Elmwood Inn Fine Tea and Tea Master for the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum

| FEATURED – The year-long commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party counts down to a grand-scale live re-enactment in two weeks. There will be special exhibits and artwork, virtual presentations and webinars, theatrical performances, and the dumping of a thousand pounds of loose-leaf tea (no tea bags) donated to the Boston Tea Party & Ships Museum for the December 16 event. Joining us today is author and tea historian Bruce Richardson, “The Tea Maestro,” Bruce is the founder of Elmwood Inn Fine Tea and has served as Tea Master for the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum since 2011. A renowned storyteller, Bruce recounts the momentous decision to defy the British King and Parliament by tossing 340 chests of tea into the sea, lighting the fuse of rebellion 250 years past.

Celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party – Bruce Richardson has written hundreds of articles and authored several books, including “The New Tea Companion” and co-authored with Jane Pettigrew, A Social History of Tea: Tea’s Influence on Commerce, Culture, and Civility. He is an authority on tea culture who speaks publicly and is widely quoted in the national press and television. He has served as tea historian and Tea Master for the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum since 2011. Who better to recount the momentous decision to defy the British King and Parliament by tossing 340 chests into the sea, lighting the fuse of rebellion 250 years past? "The ladies of Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Charleston, South Carolina, were enamored by the tea ritual. They had furniture specially made in their living rooms to entertain their friends and have tea. So this was what got us into trouble. George III says, "The ladies of Boston will pay anything for their tea." He later regretted saying that because he lost one of his greatest colonies over a cup of tea.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – AVPA Announces 37 Teas of the World Gold Medal Winners | Coca-Cola India and Luxmi Tea Relaunch Honest Iced Tea | Sri Lanka Urges Smallholders to Increase Planting Density

| NEWSMAKER – Eduardo Alberto Molina Anfossi, Head of Tea Experience for P&T (Paper & Tea) Berlin

| FEATURED – Tea retailer Paper & Tea has emerged from the pandemic with renewed vigor, opening seven new stores in 2022, including their first retail location outside Germany. The Vienna store was a catalyst as the Berlin-based tea merchant has since opened airy storefronts in Zurich, Switzerland, Utrecht in the Netherlands, Bruges in Belgium, Copenhagen in Denmark, and soon in Oslo, Norway, with more to come. There are now 30 locations across Europe, 23 of which are in Germany. High ceilings and large windows have a captivating effect on passersby attracted to their brightly lit interiors, colorful displays, and a wide variety of fine teas to sample. Today, we are joined by Tea Sommelier Eduardo Molina, Head of Tea Experience for P&T, the man who is responsible for creating an alluring experience for every customer who visits.

P&T Experiential Retail Stores Entice the Passing Crowd – Tea is well suited to experiential retail, a type of physical retail marketing that offers customers experiences beyond browsing. Tea retailers worldwide are experimenting with sophisticated sampling, live music, art, interactive displays, video walls, and even making cameras available for customers to record and share experiences. Eduardo Molina, 37, is originally from Chile, a narrow coastal country whose people drink more tea than any country in South America. Eduardo embraced the tea-drinking culture, discovering his passion for tea working in hospitality at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Santiago in 2007. He has since traveled extensively in the tea lands. “The culture and history of tea is fascinating,” he says. His special focus is training. “I love training people how to present, sell, and tell stories about tea,” says Eduardo. He has ten years of retail experience, including three years as the co-founder and tea sommelier of Adagio Teas in Chile. He taught at the Chilean Tea Academy and joined P&T in Berlin in May 2018 as product manager for new business development. As Head of Tea Experience, he is responsible for marketing the new properties and training staff. He leads the team that created the in-store experience at every location, including the company’s soon-to-open 31st store.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Holiday Consumers Lose Confidence Before Black Friday Sales Begin | Tanzania Debuts New Digital Tea Auction in Dar es Salaam | Tea Barter: Cash Short Egypt Offers Kenya a Blank Check 

| NEWSMAKER – Theophord Cosmas Ndunguru, Director General, Tanzania Smallholders Tea Development Agency, Dar es Salaam 

| FEATURED – As Director General, Theophord C. Ndunguru is the voice of the Tanzania Smallholders Tea Development Agency (TSHTDA), but he also has their ear. In October, I traveled to Dar es Salaam to talk with Theophord and fellow members of the Tea Board of Tanzania to better understand the state of tea smallholders. Today’s report is an excerpt from our discussion. 

Tanzania Tea Confronts an Array of Challenges with Zeal – Tanzania is the third-largest tea producer in Africa. Smallholders farm 48% of the country’s 23,800 hectares under tea. Data from the Tea Board of Tanzania (TBT) estimates that 32,000 tea smallholders collectively produce about 40% of the country’s green leaf. The economy in this country of 68 million is mainly agrarian. There are approximately 3.7 smallholdings of 2.2 hectares or less. “The tea industry in Tanzania is currently going through several challenges and constraints. But the government of Tanzania has started taking very strong and robust measures to make sure that all these challenges are sorted out,” says Ndunguru.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Starbucks Announces Ambitious Global Expansion | Record Revenue Powers Plan to Operate 55,000 locations by 2030, with 75% overseas | Bangladesh May Finally Break an Elusive Record | Researchers Challenge the Belief that Adding Cream and Sugar to Tea Impacts Health Outcomes

| GUEST – Jason Walker, Marketing Director Firsd Tea, the US subsidiary of Zhejiang Tea Group

| FEATURED – In October, Transworld, China’s first USDA-certified organic tea producer, and Firsd Tea, the US subsidiary of Zhejiang Tea Group, released the Chinese Tea Sustainability Report, a 12-page survey of perspectives and practices at Chinese tea farms and processing facilities. Jason Walker, marketing director at Firsd Tea in New Jersey and one of the architects of the sustainability report, joins Tea Biz for an in-depth discussion of the results of this ongoing survey.

Tea Sustainability Perspectives and Practices – Most survey respondents have an improved outlook on progress made in sustainability in the last ten years, says Jason Walker. They also view present-day efforts more favorably and predict an increased improvement trajectory in the next ten years, adds Walker, 46, one of the architects of the Chinese Tea Sustainability Report. Walker is the Marketing Director at Firsd Tea in New Jersey. His expertise includes business development, market research, and tasting. 

“China set [sustainability] standards, especially domestically, for tea. About 85% of China’s tea stays in China. They said, ‘We have to protect our people and raise our standards internally as well.’ he said.

UK Tea Academy Announces Winners of The Leafies | Rooibos Red Chosen as one of the Top 10 Colors for 2024 | Indian Tea Undergoing FSSAI Safety Analysis

| GUEST – Steve Anyango, Managing Director, Nemooneh Iranian Food and Industries

| FEATURE INTRO – Tea was first cultivated in what is now Tanzania by German colonists early in the 20th century. Farms were planted high in the Usambara Mountains, a biodiversity hotspot in the shadow of Mt. Kilimanjaro rising vertically from the plains. The region was known as Tanga and would later, under British rule, become Tanganyika. The UK greatly expanded tea production through the 1960s and remains a significant trading partner with the Republic of Tanzania. Joining us today is Steve Anyango, an expert strategist in commodity trading and logistics with deep ties to tea.

Tanzanian Tea: Strategically Sought, Yet Widely Unknown – Tanzania is a critical player in the transport of tea among landlocked producing countries that are members of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). Malawi, Burundi, Rwanda. Even the Congo and Madagascar can easily use the port at Dar es Salaam to export tea and spices. Tanzania produces good teas, amiable for blending with various herbals. This makes the tea strategically sought after by buyers in many regions. Black Tanzania tea reaches about 75% of the world tea market but remains largely anonymous as a preferred base tea in teabags and herbal infusions.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Middle East Unrest Heightens Tea Logistics Concerns | Iran Running Short of Tea | Just Ice Tea Raises $14 Million to Expand Distribution | Wagh Bakri Executive Director Parag Desai, 49, Dies Fleeing Stray Dogs

| GUEST – Tahira Nizari, co-founder and CEO of the Kazi Yetu Tea Collection

| FEATURE INTRO – Tea Biz traveled to Tanzania last week to explore the tropical Usambara tea-growing region. There, I met with smallholder farmers, tea makers, traders, tea sellers, members of the Tea Board of Tanzania, and a tiny cooperative of 14 families deep in the jungle who invited me to watch as they hand-rolled and wood-fired organic black tea that always sells out on “market day” in the local village. I recount my adventure beginning today with Tahira Nizari, a savvy business school graduate and humanitarian who 2018 founded Kazi Yetu. This specialty tea brand advances the role of women in Tanzania’s tea industry.

Value Addition at Origin Enhances the Lives of Tea Workers – Kazi Yetu sources much of its tea from the Sakare farmer’s cooperative in the Usambara Mountains, a range in northeastern Tanzania that is 90 kilometers long and about half that wide. Usambara is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, with a virgin rainforest that rises to more than 7,500 feet (about 2,289 meters above the Indian Ocean). Teas are finished and transported to the port at Dar es Salaam, where 35 women are employed in blending, packaging, and distributing tins and canisters of specialty tea available globally.  

Unilever Kenya Pays Tea Workers Harmed in 2007 Attacks | Tea is Powering Taiwan’s Bottled Beverage Market | Big Tobacco Infuses Rooibos With Nicotine

| GUEST – Aravinda Anantharaman, Tea Biz Senior Editor South Asia

Assam Celebrates 200 Years of Tea – The story of tea in Assam is fascinating. It dates to antiquity as one of the birthplaces of tea and remains relevant today. Situated in the Brahmaputra valley, Assam reaches from the foothills of the Himalayas down to the Bay of Bengal. It is the world’s largest tea-producing region, contributing 700 million kilos annually. Aravinda Anantharaman recounts the storied history on the 200th anniversary of planting the first tea gardens in Assam.

The International Wine & Food Society chose tea for its annual beverage monograph this year and selected tea expert Will Battle to author the pocket-sized 102-page The World of Tea, published in May.

“Why tea?” writes Andrea Warren for the IWFS International Secretariat, QUOTE: “Tea needs further exploration as it increasingly becomes part of the gastronomic scene, along with its diversity of styles and flavors, it is attracting the attention of new drinkers—including those keen to enjoy low-alcohol drinks and those that bring health benefits and well-being. The similarities between tea and wine are numerous, which may well also pique the interest of wine drinkers,” she writes.

Will joins us today from his family farm in the Lincolnshire countryside to discuss the importance of tea education and the role of tea in promoting health. He also discusses the joy of authoring and paging through a printed monograph, one of a series that spans decades.

BIO: Will Battle is a British tea expert who runs Fine Tea Merchants Ltd, an import and wholesale business. He has been tasting teas and creating blends for tea lovers for the past 25 years. He authored the World Tea Encyclopedia, published in 2017, with a second edition in 2020.

Andrea Warren, speaking for the non-profit International Wine & Food Society founded in London in 1933, writes QUOTE: “It was felt Will was ideally suited to give an introduction to the world of tea.” The organization will make the monograph available to its 6,500 members in 130 branches in Europe, North America, Africa, Australia, and Asia. A digital version will be available for purchase from the society, visit www.iwfs.org or the Tea Biz blog for details.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Report from the Indian Tea Association Describes Acute Financial Crisis: Auction prices are low, and tea exports are in decline | Tea Awards Season is Underway as Judging Concludes in Major Global Competitions | Online Venture Vahdam Tea Opens its First Brick-and-Mortar Tea Room in Delhi 

| NEWSMAKER – Lumbini Tea Valley Managing Director Chaminda Jayawardana

| FEATURE INTRO – Lumbini Tea Valley in southern Sri Lanka relies on the expertise of more than 1,700 small growers to produce 625 metric tons of Ceylon tea annually. Lumbini tea is crafted in 40 styles, from conventional black tea bags to innovative twists and specialty curled tea, with ongoing experiments in inorganic Kale cultivation and a rare white tea cultivar. Smallholders are key to winning international awards that attest to the company’s ability to exceed expectations in overseas markets, says second-generation planter Managing Director Chaminda Jayawardana. He joins us today to discuss how smallholders became the foundation of Lumbini’s success. 

Foundation For Success – Forty-eight years ago, Dayapala Jayawardana planted tea in the lowlands along the south coast of Sri Lanka near Galle. The pristine 220-acre Lumbini Tea Valley garden he founded was surrounded by 18,900 acres of virgin Sinharaja rainforest(a UNESCO World Heritage site). The factory he built in 1984 was remote and self-reliant, soon becoming an essential means of support for the many smallholders in Ruhana. Twenty-four years ago, his son, Chaminda, was named managing director after several years as assistant superintendent at Kahawatta plantations. In 2000, he received a diploma in plantation management from the National Institute of Plantation Management. 

Lumbini received the presidential award as the best small-scale factory in the nation in 2017, one of many awards for excellence, including this year’s well-deserved recognition by the SriLanka Tea Exporter’s Association as the Ruhuna tea growing region’s OutstandingTea Producer for 2023. 

Smallholders contributed to that success from the beginning, says Jayawardana. “It’s mainly the bond we have with the small farmers from when my father started the tea factory. We have the farmers from my father’s era working with us. So they have a great loyalty to our brand and with us.”

HEAR THE HEADLINES – A Daily Cup of Dark Tea Reduces the Risk of Diabetes: Researchers Demonstrate Tea Helps Control Blood Sugar Levels | Mintel Consulting: Consumers Feel Culpable for Climate Change | Kagoshima Benefits from Diverse Tea Exports

| GUESTS – Professor Katharine Burnett, Founder and Director of the Global Tea Institute for Tea Culture and Science at UC Davis, UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education Program Manager Heather D. Ogle, and Brendan Shah, CEO at ITI (International Tea Importers) in Los Angeles.

| FEATURE INTRO – The Global Tea Institute at UC Davis is a hub connecting tea professionals and academics, a virtual campus enabling the creation and sharing of new knowledge about tea. Last week, the Institute conducted the first of 15 Professional Tea Program lectures in collaboration with tea industry experts. The live online learning advances the vision of a Certificate Program for tea professionals. The deadline to register is Oct. 10

Tea Industry Leaders Sharing Knowledge from the Own-Lived Experience – Fifty years ago, career tracks for tea professionals were the province of global brands and expansive plantations. Future executives were recruited young, rigorously trained, and tested. Aspiring brokers spent hours in labs refining their ability to discern tea quality and set market prices. Future managers assimilated a wealth of knowledge as leaf line supervisors in the fields and junior factory officers. There is no substitute for on-the-job experience, but the 15 industry veterans who teach the course engage in a lively exchange of information among peers, replicating the one-on-one training essential to building confidence when dealing with real-world situations. GTI Founder and Director Prof. Katharine Burnett explains, "We started the UC Davis Global Tea Institute Professional Tea Program at the request of the tea industry. The instructors are largely from the industry itself. And that means these are leaders in the field who can talk to you about the tea supply chain, blending or plucking, and transport. They know from their own lived experience what they're talking about. Bringing this wealth of expertise to the classroom and the group is, frankly, pretty extraordinary."

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Retail Sales Projections are Ho-Hum for the Holidays | Sales growth adjusted for inflation will be in the single digits, the lowest growth rate since the financial crisis | India Abandons Bharat Experiment and Returns to English Tea Auction Rules | UC Davis Tea Institute Launches a Training Program for Tea Professionals 

| FEATURE INTRO – A greater share of revenues from tea needs to reach growers. Smallholders worldwide produce most of the world’s tea by volume – yet their net earnings are only a tiny fraction of the product's retail price. Establishing price minimums for raw leaves encourages overproduction – but failing to price green leaves high enough to recover the rising cost of labor and inputs leads to low yields and mediocre quality. The situation is acute in South India, where thousands of growers gathered daily this month to draw attention to their plight. Aravinda Anantharaman reports from the Nilgiri mountains. 

Desperate Tea Workers in India Protest Silently for Weeks – For over 20 days this September, more than 30,000 people took part in a silent hunger protest on behalf of farmers, mainly from the indigenous Bataga Community living in Ooty, Kothagiri, and Coonoor in the Nilgiris mountains of South India. The demonstrations ended last week, but only after the High Court took cognizance of the petitions that urgently plead the case for fixing a minimum price for green leaf.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – New Report Examines the Causes of Gender-based Abuse in Tea | Case Study of James Finlay Kenya following BBC expose | Tea Price Protests in India Continue for Third Week | High Temps Lower Yields of Türkiye’s Black Sea Tea

| FEATURE INTRO – This week, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s World Heritage Committee, meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, inscribed as a World Heritage site the Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests of Jingmai Mountain in China’s Yunnan Province.

Ancient Forests are a Model for Sustainable Tea Production – UNESCO inscribed five well-preserved ancient forests on its World Heritage List, totaling 1.2 million tea trees on Jingmai Mountain. Two rivers and steep valleys bound the 1,200 acres (18,000 mu) under tea. Jingmai is China’s 57th World Heritage Site.

The forest dates to the Quaternary Ice Age. Yunnan is where tea trees likely first evolved. Ancient cultivars growing there rise to 30 feet with crowns spanning 36 feet with trunks several feet in diameter. The oldest have survived 3,200 years.

The inscription, one of 41 announced, recognizes the efforts of the Bulang [Blang] and Dai tribes responsible for devising and maintaining forest cultivation of more than a million tea trees for over a thousand years. The model they created, climbing high into the limbs to harvest leaves from trees untreated by chemicals, predates tea gardens and plantations and survives profitably today.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Tea in a Flash: PG Tips Introduces 60-Second Tea Bag | Tea Reforms Benefit Kenya Growers | Rapid Growth of Tea Subscription Programs Slows

| NEWSMAKER – Joydeep Phukan, Secretary and Principal Officer, India Tea Research Association

| FEATURE INTRO – The UN FAO’s Intergovernmental Group on Tea is a forum for consultation and exchange that has provided exceptional market insights and guidance since 1969 for one of the most important cash crops in the world. Members include all the major tea-producing countries. India is hosting the 25th gathering in November in Assam. Aravinda Anantharaman spoke with Joydeep Phukan, secretary and principal officer of the Tea Research Association, India, responsible for organizing and managing the event. Joydeep talks about the FAO IGG, the focus areas, what they've achieved in the past through it, and what he looks forward to at this upcoming event.

FAO IGG Major Emphasis on Smallholders – During this session, the primary emphasis would be on the smallholders because the FAO is trying to focus on how the tea produced by smallholders can be integrated into the international supply chain, says India's Joydeep Phukan, TRA Secretary and Principal. "That will gel well with India because India's smallholders already produce more than 50% of the country's tea."

And the second is basically on climate issues because so much change is happening. Many things have been done, but I would like to revisit what can be done because tea is more of an agriculture-based industry. Third is the Tea and Health Group. They will pitch at least two or three areas to promote tea among the young and increase demand.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Kenya's Nandi County Assembly Considers a 4900pct Tax Increase on 150,000 Acres of Tea Lands | Major Tea Producers All Report Half Year Export Declines | Green Tea Market Growth Accelerates

| GUEST – TeaBookClub Founder Kyle Whittington

Tea House Recipes to Make at Home – TeaBookClub founder Kyle Whittington describes Easy Leaf Tea by Postcard Teas founder Timothy d’Offay as a "tea recipe book with a difference. This sumptuously illustrated book focuses on recipes for brewing tea and tea-centric kitchen creations. This isn’t a book about cakes with a dash of tea thrown in; this is tea, tea, and more tea, but with a twist. Tea is, as it rightly should be, the star of the show. Indeed, the book has the feel of the d’Offay’s London shop: incredible teas, thoughtful brewing, and a big splash of heart.”

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Planting Hope Acquires Argo Tea Assets | Foodtech Venture Will Market Tea and Veggies to College Students | Bangladesh Opens a Third Tea Auction Center | Coffee Overtakes Tea Consumption in the UK

| NEWSMAKER – Sabita Banerji, Founder and CEO THIRST, The International Roundtable for Sustainable Tea

| FEATURE INTRO – THIRST founder and CEO Sabita Banerji is overseeing a three-year human rights impact assessment of the tea industry. In August, she toured Kenya and Tanzania, seeking examples of innovative alternative approaches to better understand how tea workers and farmers see the future of tea. She joins Tea Biz from Oxford, England, to share insights from her travels.

Alternate Models Emerge as Tea Smallholders Aggregate – Control distributed amongst its elements makes for a much more powerful, stronger, sustainable, and more efficient entity, says THIRST CEO Sabita Banerji.

“I've seen some very good plantations in my travels, in India, in Tanzania, in Kenya, and I'm sure there are others in many other countries as well. But at the end of the day, a plantation is still a plantation, and the workers are still in that large entity,” says Banerji.

“I think that an alternative model of smallholder farmers sort of aggregating is starting to emerge in Tanzania and Kenya, where I've visited many different smallholder farms and a few plantations,” she said. “Just comparing the two, the difference between how a tea plantation worker lives and how a smallholder farmer lives are really quite significant.

“I think this model will gradually replace plantations in the long run,” she said.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – India Tea Board Weighs Auditor Concerns: Additional Resources Needed to Market Tea | Overindulgence and High ABV Tea | India’s Oldest Captive Elephant Dies 

| GUEST -  Managing Editor Aravinda Anantharaman 

| FEATURE INTRO – Tea is intricately woven into India’s cultural tapestry. In its latest marketing campaign, Tata Tea Premium acknowledges and elevates several of the Indian state’s distinctive patterns in fabric and symbols of pride, drawing attention to the tea company’s extensive range of hyperlocal blends. Tata tells the story of extraordinary weavers whose homespun artistry was digitally enhanced in an interactive tribute to handlooms. Aravinda Anantharaman reports on this eye-catching effort: 

India’s Vivid Handloom Legacy –  Tata’s TV campaign features a celebrated singer at the heart of great campaigns that evoke nationalistic pride and emotion, which ties in with what Chai means to people nationwide. And that’s not all. The brand also launched one of the largest 3D LED anamorphic auto activations ever seen in the country in time for Independence Day at the DLF Cyber City Mall in Gurugram. Tata’s Desh Ke Dhaage campaign, celebrating India’s vivid handloom legacy, pushes creative boundaries to bring the consumer an experience that will visually delight and establish powerful connections. 

HEAR THE HEADLINES – India Audit Cites Regulatory Shortfalls of Tea Board: More than a third of tea smallholders were not even registered | China Tea Exports Decline as Travel Restrictions Ease | Kenya Tea Production is Up, Exports are Down 

| GUESTS – UKTA Director Jennifer Wood and Jo Selman-Smith, a project manager with the UK Tea Academy 

| FEATURE INTRO – Jennifer Wood, founder of Canton Tea Co., and Jo Selman-Smith, a project manager with the UK Tea Academy who, in 2022, oversaw the launch of The Leafies, join us this week to discuss the academy’s international judging of tea in 12 categories. This year’s competition is open not only to farmers and suppliers but also to tea retailers worldwide. 

All teas must be received in Scotland by September 18.

The Leafies Competition Welcomes Retailers - Entry is now open for the Leafies International Tea Awards, organized by the United Kingdom Tea Academy and in partnership with Fortnum and Mason. The awards are open for entries across the globe. This is Dananjaya Silva, and I sat down with Jennifer Wood and Jo Selman-Smith of the UK Tea Academy to talk about this year’s awards, what’s new, and how to enter.

HEAR THE HEADLINES –  CVC Capital Partners Exploring Sale of Kericho Tea Gardens | Unilever Brands Are Not for Sale | Dunkin’ Will Soon Begin Selling Hard Tea at Select US Locations | A Study of UK Biobank Data Shows Tea May Lower the Risk of Gout

| GUEST – ZhenTea Co-owner Phil Rushworth

| FEATURE INTRO – Phil Rushworth loves adventure camping, canoeing, climbing, and hiking. This week the Ottawa-based co-owner of ZhenTea describes teas and techniques to help Tea Biz listeners enjoy special moments in the great outdoors.

Taking Tea in the Wilderness – When Studio Executive Phil Rushworth married Zhen Lu, he became part of an established Chinese tea family. His mother-in-law Jianli Wu is a nationally certified tea art specialist, taster, and appraiser with more than 25 years of experience in the tea business. She has authored five books on tea. The couple live in Ottawa and visit China frequently. Phil has a background in science and engineering and brings his unique “scientific” perspective focusing on the mechanism and chemistry of tea and its processing. Although a relative newcomer to Chinese tea, Phil explains that he has gradually come to understand the nuance in teas cherished in China. He describes his work as a bridge between science, intuition, and Western and Eastern culture.

Wayanad Rescue Update | Tea Board Officials Visit North Bengal Gardens | Trustea Issues First Version 3 Certification

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HEAR THE HEADLINES – Sustainable Practices are Correlated to Brand Loyalty: Age and income influence consumer loyalty, healthy brand attributes help | JDE Peet’s Will Halt Sales of its Best-Known Tea Brands in Russia | UN Global Peace Council Honors WomenServe Founder Nioma Narissa Sadler

| NEWSMAKERS – Anuruddha Gamage, General Manager of Human Relations & Corporate Sustainability at Kelani Valley Plantations, and Dr. Roshan Rajadurai, Managing Director of Hayleys Plantations

| FEATURE INTRO – The recently concluded International Plantations Sustainability Summit hosted by The World of Hayleys in Colombo, Sri Lanka, last week encouraged tea professionals to visualize “Reimagined | Redesigned | Resilient” large-scale tea plantations in Sri Lanka and beyond. Forum attendees, at the invitation of Hayleys’ Managing Director, Dr. Roshan Rajadurai, forged new pathways for collaboration and integration of Sustainable Development Goals into modern plantation strategies.

Forum Considers Sustainable Factors that Define Long-term Solutions – Anuruddha Gamage, the General Manager of Human Relations & Corporate Sustainability at Kelani Valley Plantations, spent the past two years identifying ways to integrate the BIO (Biosphere), GEO (Geosphere), SOCIO (Social), and ECONO (Economy) elements of sustainable tea. Participants, drawn from government, academia, NGOs, and research institutes, met in pre-summit workshops to identify the unique, sustainable factors that define the long-term solutions for current challenges. He reports that climate change was top of mind.

As the architect of the summit, Hayleys Plantations Managing Director Dr. Roshan Rajadurai seized what he called “a unique opportunity to bring together stakeholders to share best practices and drive long-term change.”

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Kenya’s KTDA Chair Resigns Following Tea Reforms Conference | David Ichoho Later Filed and then Withdrew a Lawsuit Alleging His Resignation was Forced | Nestle Announces Cost-Effective Sugar Reduction Technology | AriZona Unveils a 5% ABV Hard Iced Tea – Monster is next

| GUEST – Rajesh Bhuyan, Director of India's Trustea Sustainable Tea Program

| FEATURE INTRO – A decade has passed since the Trustea Sustainable Tea Program established benchmarks for tea growers supplying India’s domestic tea industry. Director Rajesh Bhuyan joins South Asia Editor Aravinda Anantharaman to discuss why 65% of India’s tea now meets the trustea code.

India's Home-Grown Supply Chain Sustainability Code – Rajesh Bhuyan, Director of India's Trustea Sustainable Tea Program, says, "We cover the supply chain from the fields where the tea is picked up to manufacturing and dispatch from the factory. So that is the ambit of the program. Because we look at sustainability in a holistic way, we think that environment, livelihood, and safety go hand in hand. We must have one with the other. The activities we deem sustainable, which we would like people to follow, cover these three pillars and all the operations, people, and processes in this part of the supply chain.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Unrelenting Heat is Lowering Tea Yields | Global average air temperatures reach a new high | Herbal Tea Market Growth is Accelerating | Dilmah Tea Founder Merrill J Fernando Passes at 93

| GUEST – Pradeep Kumar Sacitharan, CEO of London-based Donsfield

| FEATURE INTRO – Pradeep Kumar Sacitharan is an expert in business development with a passion for assisting online entrepreneurs in dealing with disruptions like the tea industry is facing. He is CEO of London-based Donsfield, a trade development firm that buys and builds successful global brands. Pradeep writes that “growth in life is to be able to take bigger risks at a faster pace at every stage.”

The Critical Role of Data in Defining Consumer Demand – Pradeep was born in Sri Lanka but fled at six during a tragic civil war. In England, he earned a master's degree at Imperial College in London, a doctorate in molecular and cellular medicine from the University of Oxford, and he was named a Fulbright Scholar and studied medicine at Harvard University with fellowships at the Sorbonne University in Paris and Xi’an Jiaotong University in Suzhou, China. Pradeep grew up in a tea-drinking family and was involved in a tea business that failed to thrive. He shares that story and offers valuable insights into sales and marketing. In this discussion, he advocates for MTC (manufacturer-to-customer), a business model suited to specialty tea. He is a digital marketing resource with expertise largely untapped by the tea industry.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Scotland Court Will Hear Kenyan Tea Workers' Lawsuit | The landmark class action was filed against James Finlay Kenya | Market Leading Twisted Hard Tea Doubles Down on ABV | EGCG is a Promising Treatment for Uterine Fibroids 

| GUEST –  Lisa Boalt Richardson, Director of the World Tea Academy 

| FEATURE INTRO – World Tea Academy Director Lisa Boalt Richardson joins us this week on the 10th anniversary of the Academy, an online resource offering comprehensive basic and advanced training for tea professionals and enthusiasts. The program has taught classes to more than 1,250 students from 64 countries. 

World Tea Academy as Relevant Now as When it was Founded – Educator Lisa Boalt Richardson first began teaching tea professionals the basics of cultivation and processing and how to cup tea as an instructor with the Specialty Tea Institute, where she later served as a board member.

In 2015, Donna Fellman, the founding director of the World Tea Academy, recruited Lisa as a substitute teacher for the growing online program. Lisa advanced to assistant director in 2018 and succeeded Fellman when Donna left the post in 2019. In the decade since its founding, instructors have taught 5,200 classes. The Academy has awarded nearly 400 certifications since graduating its first class of 36 students in July 2013. Certifications include Certified Tea Sommelier, Certified Tea Health Expert, Certified Tea Blender, and Certified Tea Aroma Expert. 

Today the Academy enrolls between 150 and 230 students a year. The cost to become a Certified Tea Specialist is $2,173, which includes six three-week basic courses. Students must also complete one advanced course. To experience tea in their homes and offices, students purchase tea and supplies bringing the total expense to about $2,525.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Kenyan Convenes National Tea Summit | Kenya Deputy President Promises Action on Lagging Tea Act Reforms | The World Awaits the Hottest Days On Record | Author Horacio Bustos Announces an English Edition of El Té Gourmet Argentino

| IN MEMORIAM – David C. Bigelow, former president and CEO of Bigelow Tea

| GUEST – Sivanathan Selliah, retired plant manager, now a tour guide at Helpewatte Tea Factory, Uva Province, Sri Lanka

| FEATURE INTRO – Sri Lanka is among the most popular tourist destinations. Tea lovers find that the island nation offers hundreds of options, from quaint tea gardens, homestays, and bungalows to tea trails, landmarks, waterfalls, caves, and historic sites. In May, Tea Biz toured the Halpewatte Tea Factory and then visited Ella to see the Ravana Pool Club, the country’s first day-use retreat for the adventurous and those who want to sit and sip tea in the scenic splendor of the central mountains.

Tea Factory Tour and a Splendid Day at the Ravana Pool Club – Our day began with a visit to the Halpewatte Tea Factory, about six kilometers from Ella. The five-story factory is perched at 4,035 feet altitude (1,230 meters) in what is known as Hill Country. Halpe was built in 1940 and is the largest tea factory and plantation in Uva Province. The impressive structure is rated among the country’s best garden and factory tours. Admission is $5.Sivanathan Selliah, a retired administrative officer in the tea plantation sector, leads tours of the factory. He has worked in tea for 50 years.

Next, we traveled to Ravana, a spacious Balinese-inspired bamboo complex of public and private swimming pools, a heated jacuzzi, a restaurant and bar, and a dance floor with a DJ. There are boutiques to shop, trails through the garden, archery, an air rifle range, all-terrain vehicles, mountain bikes to rent, abseiling rock climbing in the cliffs, and a mega half-kilometer zipline to spike your adrenaline. The resort offers a splendid view of Little Adam’s Peak and Ella Rock, an impressive monolith across the valley. Operated by 98 Acres, the resort is a 2.5-kilometer taxi ride from Ella, a town of 50,000 located 130 miles south and east of Colombo, a five-hour drive. Take the nine-hour daily express train cross country for spectacular views or the Night Mail that departs Colombo at 8 pm and arrives at 6 am.

Then, we traveled to Ravana, a spacious Balinese-inspired bamboo complex of public and private swimming pools, a heated jacuzzi, a restaurant and bar, and a dance floor with a DJ. There are boutiques to shop, trails through the garden, archery, an air rifle range, all-terrain vehicles, mountain bikes to rent, abseiling rock climbing in the cliffs, and a mega half-kilometer zipline to spike your adrenaline.

The resort offers a splendid view of Little Adam’s Peak and Ella Rock, an impressive monolith across the valley. Operated by 98 Acres, the resort is a 2.5-kilometer taxi ride from Ella, a town of 50,000 located 130 miles south and east of Colombo, a five-hour drive. Take the nine-hour daily express train cross country for spectacular views or the Night Mail that departs Colombo at 8 pm and arrives at 6 am.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Sri Lanka Restarts $250 Million Tea Barter to Settle Iranian Oil Debt | India Exporters Expect Iran to Resume Tea Orders Halted Last November | Israel Declares Wissotzky Tea a Monopoly | Rohit Jawa Takes Charge at Hindustan Unilever

| NEWSMAKER – Ksenia Hleap, Development and Communications Director at AVPA, the Paris-based Agency for the Valorization of Agricultural Products, updates listeners on the 6th Teas of the World contest.

| FEATURE INTRO – AVPA is a non-governmental, non-profit organization mainly composed of producers and taste enthusiasts. AVPA’s annual Teas of the World contest offers more value than a medal. AVPA services include tasting workshops, technical support, and distributor staff training. During the past six years, the organization has elevated the status of tea and herbal producers, large and small, not only on the global stage but in their local markets. Teas must be traceable from origin and cannot be chemically flavored. A technical jury of professionals evaluates the teas, followed by a gastronomic jury of enthusiasts that mirror consumer preferences. The deadline to enter is Aug. 31, 2023. Register at AVPA.FR (Agence pour la Valorisation des Produits Agricoles)

AVPA Call for Entries for 6th Teas of the World Contest – Over the years, there’s been a steady increase in how many entered the competition, says Ksenia Hleap, Development and Communications Director at AVPA. “Last year, we had more than 300 participants, 33% more than the previous year. This year was very, very rich in possibilities for us. And for some members from AVPA to visit the producing countries. We are in contact with all producing countries for monovarietal teas, infusion lands, and herbal teas. The difficulties sometimes are just the way of communication because we contact the tea boards in every country. Unfortunately, not all tea boards respond. We are contacting the associations and tea cooperatives also. So, it depends on the countries and depends on different histories.” Hleap said recognition in Paris, in the capital of gastronomy, gives contest winners the right to put the AVPA medal on their packaging and promote their tea worldwide. “But the biggest advantage is recognition in their local market. Even those who do not earn a medal benefit, she explains. “All our participants are winners because they dare to register for the contest and sell their products. Unfortunately, not all of them are winners this year, but they will probably be next or another because they are doing a very great job. They are putting their hearts and time into what they are doing,” she said.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – India’s Tea Board Orders a Review of its Raw Leaf Price-Sharing Formula | Consultancy BDO India has six months to complete an extensive report on cultivation and processing costs | Fast-food Outlets Have Yet to Rollout Boba Nationally | The European Speciality Tea Association Offers Tea Foundation Certificates to Coffee Shop Staff

| NEWSMAKER – Dilhan C. Fernando, CEO Dilmah Ceylon Tea Company

| FEATURE INTRO – Tea Biz travels to Sri Lanka to attend the Dilmah School of Tea hosted by Dilmah Ceylon Tea Company CEO Dilhan C. Fernando. The school teaches that knowledge inspires passion. In this interview, Fernando shares his love for modernizing the tea experience for consumers ordering tea at restaurants, hotels, and resorts.

Teaching Hospitality Pros to Share The Magic of Tea – Dilmah Ceylon Tea was founded in 1988 by Dilhan’s father, Merrill, who recently celebrated his 93rd birthday. Merrill was one of six Sri Lankan tea tasters selected in 1950 to replace British tasters following the country’s declaration of independence. Forty years later, Dilmah launched the first native producer-owned brand to offer tea handpicked and packed at its origin. Dilmah teas are authentic, ethically sourced, and packaged unblended; many are sold as single estate. Dilhan Fernando was energetic on the Colombo Hilton’s grand ballroom stage, inspiring a room filled with chefs, restauranteurs, and mixologists with insights into the “magic” behind camellia sinensis. This was the 75th edition of the training program, which has graduated 6,000 alums during the past 15 years. Fernando recorded this interview between sessions.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Scrutiny of Tea Supply Chain Intensifies | An online Tea Traceability Tracker permits consumers to compare sustainability policies of tea supply chains | Tea Auction Prices Remain Firm as Inflation Ebbs | DAVIDsTEA is Adding Tea Bars to its Retail Locations

| NEWSMAKER – TeaFit founder Jyoti Bharadwaj

| FEATURE INTRO – Harvard University researchers report that people who consume sugary drinks regularly — 1 to 2 cans a day — have a 26% greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes. Mixed alcohol, sports and energy drinks, fruit juices, and soda are the worst. Unsweetened tea is the perfect alternative, according to Mumbai-based TeaFit, which bottles award-winning blends of ayurvedic botanicals and tea. TeaFit founder Jyoti Bharadwaj shares her vision of sugarless bliss with Aravinda Anantharaman.

Feature Headline – Sweet Success: Jyoti Bharadwaj launched TeaFit in 2021, offering a range of unsweetened iced teas. She has since added unsweetened premixes to the product portfolio. For a country with a large population suffering from diabetes, she says, unsweetened beverages were needed, and tea offered the perfect vehicle to create it. More recently, Jyoti Bharadwaj was featured on Shark Tank, where she secured a 5,000,000 rupees investment. Jyoti talks to us about tea, RTD, and how her brand is helping tea shed its fussy image.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Thirst Quenching Cold Brewed Teas are Steaming Along | Consumers favor boldly flavored, non-sweetened blends | Kenya’s Costly Tea Crisis | India Tea Association Lists Tea Industry's Most Pressing Concerns

| GUEST – Romesh Walpola, Chief Executive Officer of Tea Smallholder Factories, a Division of John Keells Group, Sri Lanka

| FEATURE INTRO – This week’s guest is Romesh Walpola, Chief Executive Officer of Tea Smallholder Factories in Sri Lanka. Walpola talked with Tea Biz in May at his headquarters in Colombo and later arranged a visit to one of the company’s seven bought-leaf factories. Combined, these factories produce three million kilos of black tea a year. Walpola explains that investing in programs to earn the loyalty of thousands of small tea growers is one reason why their teas get top dollar at auction.

Factories Earn Smallholder Loyalty to Achieve Competitive Quality - Bought-leaf factories play a significant role in processing Sri Lanka’s 250 to 300 million kilos of tea annually. Smallholders farming tea gardens of ten acres or less contribute 62% of the total crop, a percentage that has increased over time. Bought leaf factories purchase an estimated 70% of smallholder-grown tea. Only 18% of Sri Lanka’s factories process tea exclusively grown on their own estate. Large estates own 56% of the 188,000 hectares under tea but contribute only 38% of total production. In aggregate, smallholders cultivate 44% of the land under tea, selling to both large estates and bought-leaf factories. All sectors compete at the weekly Tea Auction in Colombo, where quality is rewarded with the world’s highest average auction prices for black tea.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Tea is Experiencing a Melancholy Midyear | Yields are down across the tea lands | China Exports Continue to Expand | Demand for Darjeeling is Down

| FEATURE INTRO – Tea Biz traveled to Badulla, Sri Lanka, in early May to participate in a spring harvest ceremony with hundreds of local tea growers. Each carried a ceremonial plate with intricately arranged tea leaves or a small sack of processed tea as an offering. Then, accompanied by drummers and dancers, they paraded to the courtyard of an ancient temple, where a Buddhist monk blessed their first fruits of the season.

Badulla Harvest Blessing – Badulla is an ancient city of 50,000 located in the remote central mountains of Sri Lanka. It is the capital of Uva Province, where tea is grown on steep hillsides exposed to the northeast and the southwest monsoon winds. Plantations are located between 3000 and 5000 feet above sea level. Here, Thomas Lipton cultivated the world’s most famous tea blend. Every year the city sponsors a parade to receive the blessing of the first fruits of the harvest. On their arrival at the Buddhist temple, celebrants unveiled a brass urn on a long marble altar. Planters then began tearing open small bags of tea and pouring the tea into the urn. Next, pluckers brought fresh leaves, forming a large pile near a statue of the Buddha. The crowd was devoted, joyous, and eager to present their teas before sitting cross-legged in the sand to join a meditation led by the monk. The monk’s harmonic chants calmed the crowd, who joined in. He then spoke of the harvest before blessing the teas on the altar. He explained that Buddhist blessings rely on energetic cultivation, not simply prayer. To be blessed requires practical actions to accumulate merits and good deeds. Buddhists earn merit through mindfulness, meditation, chanting, and performing rituals.

Kenya May be Forced to Borrow Billions to Pay Grower Bonus | China and Vietnam Tea Exports Rebound in 2024 | Turkish Agronomists Seek Drought-resistant Black Sea Tea

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HEAR THE HEADLINES – Violent Protest Halt Ekaterra Tea Operations | Workers set fire to tea harvesting equipment | China Anticipating Massive COVID Wave | India’s Wagh Bakri Tea to Expand to 200 Tea Lounges by 2026 

| NEWSMAKER – Asia Siyaka Managing Director and CEO Anil Cooke 

| FEATURE INTRO – The world’s 14 public tea auctions account for 77% of global trade. Each year about 1.5 million metric tons of tea cross the trading desks of sell-side brokers. Asia Siyaka Managing Director and CEO Anil Cooke spoke to Tea Biz on a recent visit to his Colombo, Sri Lanka office. Cooke heads one of eight accredited brokerages responsible for assessing the quality and transacting the sale of millions of kilos of Ceylon teas generating more than 1 billion dollars annually. 

Inside Sri Lanka's e-Auction – In 1883 the Colombo Tea Auction sold its first five lots. Brokers now sell more than 5,000 metric tons weekly, about 300,000 metric tons yearly. The total represents 90% of Sri Lanka’s tea production. Auctions were conducted in person for 150 years until COVID-19 forced the Colombo Tea Traders Association (CTTA) to select, install and test a digital auction platform in May 2020. The first e-auction went live in only seven days with the help of CICRA Solutions, the local Microsoft affiliate. Several upgrades have followed. Looking over his shoulder, Cooke explains the digital bidding process that is now routine: 

HEAR THE HEADLINES – International Tea Day Makes a Big Splash | This year’s theme is Bringing People Together Over a Cup of Tea | Receding La Niña Expected to Boost Summer Temps | Catchy TV Campaign Promotes Lipton’s New Hard Tea

| NEWSMAKER – Nadia de la Vega, Director of Tea Sustainability and Content at DAVIDsTEA

| FEATURE INTRO – Tea Biz travels to Montréal, Quebec, to talk with Nadia de la Vega, director of tea sustainability and content at DAVIDsTEA. This company fosters a spirit of POSITIVI-TEA which she describes as doing what’s right for our local communities and global suppliers. Jessica Natale Woollard reports.

Sustainability is a Long-Term Commitment, Not a Campaign or Promotion – Cheerful packaging and bright aqua for a signature color have made DAVIDsTEA one of Canada’s most recognizable tea brands. Founded in 2008, DAVIDsTEA expanded to become Canada’s largest specialty tea boutique, offering over a hundred teas and blends. The company made tea accessible, attracting a new generation of tea drinkers. Pre-pandemic, it operated 240 retail locations in Canada and the US but today focuses on e-commerce and wholesale. From day one, DAVIDsTEA has been sustainably oriented. It’s in the company’s DNA, says Nadia de la Vega, DAVIDsTEA’s director of tea sustainability. Nadia joins us on the podcast to discuss sustainability in the tea industry and how mindfulness and fun can go hand in hand. “Sustainability is not a campaign,” says de la Vega. “When you’re doing sustainability work, you are not doing a sale, and you’re not doing a promotion. This is a long-term commitment to your product and the people that provide the product you consume and love.”

HEAR THE HEADLINES – The Cost of Shipping Tea is Near the Pre-Pandemic Normal and Falling | In May, the Drewery Container Composite Price was $1,741 for a 40-foot container | Andrew Yule Tea Sets Export Record | Market Researchers Predict Nitrogen Infused Tea Will Experience Double-Digit Growth

| GUEST – Buddika Dissanyaika, founder of Forest Hill Tea

| FEATURE INTRO – Tea Biz travels to Sri Lanka this week to the foot of Adam’s Peak, where Forest Hill Tea founder Buddika Dissanyaka led us on a hike to a forest of 900 trees growing wild on an estate abandoned 135 years ago.

Revitalized Tea Forest Offers Distinctive Wild Taste –

Millions of tea trees, first Introduced in 1867, can be found along the 268-mile length of Sri Lanka, a tropical paradise of tea estates that employ 1.5 million people today. The trees at Warnagala Tea Estate, established in 1890 by Scottish planters, rise 40 to 50 feet into the rainforest canopy on the slopes of the sacred Sri Pada Mountain range. Pluckers from Forest Hill artisan tea climb into the trees to retrieve green leaves for tea making.