“We launched the tea center in 2005 to further develop and grow the trade through Dubai by connecting tea producers and merchants, allowing tea-growing countries to reach a global market,” said Suwaidi.

The tea center, which spans over 20,000 square meters, offers a business center, storage, and blending solutions. “Our machines can produce up to 45 million tea bags per month with the capacity to store up to 5000 metric tons of bulk tea at any given time,” he said

DMCC provides free storage allocation to all its members due to increasing demand. The tea center has increased its service area by 25% In recent years, accommodating new state-of-the-art machinery and temperature-controlled storage facilities for specialty teas as well. 

South India Planters Name Golden Leaf India Award Winners

Eighteen tea estates took home prizes during award ceremonies at the 18th annual Golden Tea Leaf India Awards organized by the United Planters Association of South India (UPASI).

An international jury attending the Global Dubai Tea Forum selected winning teas from 118 entries in eight categories. Estates owned by Kanan Devan Hills Plantations (KDHP) won seven awards. Four estates from Parry Agro Industries and four Harrisons Malayalam estates also stepped forward to receive their prize at awards ceremonies on April 27.

Cherian George, a United Planters Association member and CEO at Harrisons Malayalam tea estates, said, “It’s been five years since judges last convened at the Global Dubai Tea Forum to select the winners. Unlike most competitions, he explained, UPASI coordinators select samples randomly. 

“The coordinating committee walks across each factory and randomly* picks the sample. That’s a big differentiator. Those samples are tested blind by highly skilled brokers with great experience in the whole thing. 

South India, unlike other tea-growing areas, has multi-locational tea growing. I mean, you have a mid-elevation, you have a low elevation, you have a high elevation, and each of them has got character. Some of the teas have got body, some have got strength, and some have got very high flavor. 

He said preliminary screening resulted in 62 samples from 118 entries. “I don’t think we have ever brought more than 40 samples here,” said George, adding, “The Dubai Tea Forum has been very helpful in coordinating this. This time, we had some fantastic tasters globally, including Canada’s Shabnam Weber from Toronto and the UK’s Dr. Sharon Hall and Gundlach Packaging Managing Director Sanjay Sethi, based in Dubai.

So, you had a real plethora of people from multiple origins, and when they taste, it is not from one individual or one origin is multiple origins, giving complete visibility. The next phase is a special auction back home,” he said.

*The estate/factory participating in the competition should ensure a minimum lot size of 1.5 tons for Organic Tea and Green Tea, 2 tons for the Orthodox category, and a minimum of 3 tons for the CTC category.

ITA Seeks Tea Price Floor Indexed to Production Costs for Growers and Processors

The India Tea Association (ITA) has asked India’s Commerce Ministry to declare a minimum price for tea.

An ITA press release described how rising production expenses squeeze growers out of the tea market.

“According to ITA membership crop data, the Darjeeling crop is estimated to be down by 39% in March. Crop fall has been reported in the Dooars region, adding woes to the state’s ailing agro-industry. Tea prices are not keeping pace with the rising cost of production.”

Since 2014, West Bengal tea prices have registered an annual combined growth rate of around 4%, less than half the growth rates of fuel, fertilizer, and plant protection chemicals. Workers now earn Rs. 232 rupees daily, an increase of 144% from Rs. 95 rupees in April 2014.

The situation is more acute than in past years due to falling yield, the Hindu Businessline reported.

“Auction prices of Darjeeling tea have been more depressed than the overall West Bengal Average price – recording a CAGR of only 1.86% since 2014. Given that the cost of production in Darjeeling Hills is significantly higher than in the plains, most Darjeeling tea estates find it difficult to sustain operations.

ITA is seeking a floor price indexed to the cost of production payable to small tea growers and to made tea producers.  

ITA writes that enforcing a floor price mechanism for smallholders selling green tea leaves offers an immediate solution to the “unremunerative price of tea” without any additional cost to the government. 

State government officials in West Bengal and Assam conveyed their support in correspondence with the Ministry. 

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FEATURES

Conscious Consumerism

By Dan Bolton

Finlays annually publishes a beverage trends report. This year’s eighteen pages of statistics and market research revealed that consumers have growing concerns about food inflation and economic growth, but research cited in Finlays Beverage Trends 2023 indicates that consumers continue to view good tea as an affordable luxury, explains Group Insights Manager Siân Edwards.

“The desire to treat themselves, coupled with concern for their health and the planet, drives the trend toward conscious consumerism. We’re seeing how each purchasing decision is carefully evaluated regarding financial, health, and environmental cost. Throughout this report, we’ve sought to encapsulate this broad sentiment under the banner of ‘mindfulness,’ as people mindfully allow themselves indulgences, choose healthy products, and opt for brands with a lower environmental impact.”

Listen to the interview.

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A Billion People Participate in Earth Day Activities

More than 1 billion people participated in Earth Day in the past year, making it the largest civic observance in the world. 

This year’s focus was investing in the planet, a theme embraced by many tea companies. “Everyone accounted for, everyone accountable,” comments Kathleen Rogers, President of EARTHDAY.ORG who writes that the environmental awareness campaign that began in 1970 is now celebrated in 192 countries.

“In 2023 we must come together again in partnership for the planet. Businesses, governments, and civil society are equally responsible for taking action against the climate crisis and lighting the spark to accelerate change toward a green, prosperous, and equitable future. We must join together in our fight for the green revolution and for the health of future generations. The time is now to ‘Invest In Our Planet.’”

Yogi Tea is an example. During the past year, tea team members planted 300 trees in the US. In Germany, the company helps wild bees and in Italy, the company hosts educational sessions and community cleanups. See yogitea.com for suggestions on what individual consumers can do to make a difference. 

Just Iced Tea founder Seth Goldman, Cofounder and CEO of Eat the Change, Chair of the Board of Beyond Meat, and Co-founder of PLNT Burger and Honest Tea, will receive Earth Day’s 2023 Climate Visionary Award in recognition of his exceptional leadership and decades of tireless efforts as an innovative entrepreneur, environmental and climate activist, and philanthropist. 

Rogers writes that “his bold passion for democratizing plant-based and plant-healthy foods worldwide has significantly contributed to solving the challenge of climate change and building a strong and equitable green economy.”

“This year’s honorees are leading the way to create widespread awareness and accelerate critical action to change the trajectory of the defining crisis of our time: the climate crisis.,” said Rogers.

Goldman and several other notable earth advocates were recognized at Earth Day’s annual Climate Leadership Gala, on Saturday, April 27 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC.

Iran Snubs India Suppliers as Tea Exports Set Record

Iran imported a record $665 million worth of tea in the fiscal year ended March 20, 2023. 

The Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) said tea exports estimated at $44.2 million were also at record levels, increasing by 90% in the five years ending 2021. Exports were up 34.8% compared to the same period last year, according to IRICA.

Volume totals exceeded the previous fiscal-year high in 2014 despite cutting off trade with India. Export value totaled $38 million that year, plummeting to $6 million during the pandemic when lockdowns prohibited guest workers from nearby countries from plucking tea.

Iran was once one of India’s top tea export destinations, accounting for almost half of all Indian tea exports. Iran also shipped teas to India, valued at $4.3 million in 2021.

In November 2022, Iran initially slowed and, in December, stopped sourcing tea from South India auctions by refusing to register new contracts, a requirement for landing tea at Iranian ports. The pullback remains unexplained but may be related to internal protests and violent clashes in major Iranian cities. During the past three months, withdrawal from tea auctions has depressed auction prices for orthodox categories. 

The auction at Kochi is most impacted.

“Nobody knows what’s happening in Iran,” Ansuman Kanoria, chairman of India Tea Exporters Association, told the Hindu Business Line  “Shipments have been made under previously registered contracts, but even their payments are coming very slowly. New orders are not getting registered, and it’s a very difficult situation,” Kanoria said. 

The IRICA release indicates Iran continues to import premium-grade tea from trading partners Turkey, Germany, China, Japan, Vietnam, and Poland. The main export destinations include neighboring CIS countries, Iraq, Canada, Spain, and the Czech Republic.

Tea is popular in the nation of 88 million, where annual consumption is around 120,000 metric tons per year, according to the Iran Tea Association.

Iran’s 55,000 tea farmers are concentrated in Gilan Province. Local suppliers in the northern portion of the country produce about 30% of domestic consumption. Growers earn around $15 million annually (about 4 trillion rials) in sales to the government, which processes the tea. Harvesting begins in May, with production rising by double digits during the past few years. The market prefers top-quality leaves (about 79% of total output is processed as orthodox black tea).

Long-Running Drought in Kenya Depresses Tea Yields

Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) officials reported this week that scarce rainfall and high temperatures depressed first-quarter tea yields by 100 million kilos in the Mt. Kenya and Embu regions.

Export volumes declined by 19% in 2022 to 450 million kilograms, the first drop in volume since 2017. Output fell slightly to 535 million kilograms because of unfavorable weather.

KTDA Chair David Ichoho [I CHO HO] told a gathering of 225 directors representing 37 factories that the demand for orthodox teas from Kenya is rising.

“Orthodox tea, which includes oolong, green, white or black tea, has a high demand, and KTDA has identified markets that require more than 2 million kilos annually,” he told the directors. 
Ichoho said KTDA is initiating a program supporting the processing of orthodox tea for export. Kenya currently exports 95% of its tea, with only 5% consumed in the domestic tea market.

BIZ INSIGHT – Meanwhile, in West Bengal, India, weeks of temperatures between 35 and 40 degrees centigrade have inhibited the second flush harvest now underway. A lack of rain has encouraged infestations of red spiders that feed on yellowing tea leaves weakened in the extreme heat. There has been no rain for 15 days, complicated by high winds that increase evaporation. Tea yields average between 1200 and 1500 kilos per hectare in the Dooars. Yields average 2,200 to 2,400 kilos per hectare in bordering Assam.

India’s tea exports for the 2022-23 financial year registered a 17.61% increase in value to more than $800 million US dollars.

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FEATURES

Spice and Tea Synergy

By Aravinda Anantharaman

Bala Sarda’s Vahdam Tea turned eight this year. From launching Vahdam as a brand that connects tea drinkers with producers to a range of superfoods with turmeric, moringa, and matcha, Vahdam’s journey has been about an Indian brand offering consumers across the world what they want, direct from the source. The latest addition to the brand is a range of Indian spices, now offered not unlike their tea. We talk to Bala about the new launch and what it means for Brand Vahdam. Read more…

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