• China International Tea Expo

    Live tea expositions, seminars, and tradeshows are returning with vigor in China. The five-day China International Tea Expo (CTE) that opened in Hangzhou on International Tea Day (May 21) drew a crowd of 152,000 mainly domestic tea buyers. In aggregate they spent RMB6.4 billion purchasing 254 million tons of tea, a 14% increase compared to the previous event. The average value of transactions was up 20% to RMB223 million and orders topped 13,000.

    Opening ceremonies
    Opening ceremonies

    China International Tea Expo

    By Dan Bolton

    Live tea expositions, seminars, and tradeshows are returning with vigor in China. The China International Tea Expo (CTE) that opened May 21 is the largest live tea industry event since lockdowns force show organizers to cancel in May 2020.

    CTE is the largest tea exposition in China. Buyers collectively spent RMB6.4 billion purchasing 254 million tons of tea, a 14% increase compared to the previous event. The average value of transactions was up 20% to RMB223 million and the number of on-site orders topped 13,000. In 2019 there were 10,787 transactions, suggesting pent up demand.

    An estimated 152,000 attended, down 18% from the May 2019 third edition of the show which drew a crowd of 185,200. The 2019 expo attracted 3,425 foreign buyers from 46 countries. In addition, there were nearly 200 foreign VIPs from 42 countries and international organizations. In 2021 only a few in-country foreign buyers attended as travel restrictions apply.

    In 2019 on-site transactions during the five-day event averaged RMB186 million. Sales totaled RMB5.4 billion for 222.9 tons of tea.

    Chinese buyers purchase direct instead of at tea auctions. The largest tea order was valued at $188 million (RMB1.2 billion), according to the Expo and reports in the China Daily newspaper.

    There were 3,432 booths on the 750,000 square foot (70,000 square meter) show floor. Buyers numbered 3,600. In May 2019 the expo set up 3,139 booths which included 2,793 tea and coffee related booths.

    In 2019 exhibitors representing 25 domestic provinces, cities and districts, numbered 1,563 according to the Hangzhou News

    The 2021 show floor was busy with high-value transactions demonstrating a return to normal. Since China is virtually virus free, precautions were not enforced. Attendees wore masks and careful attention was paid to hygiene, ventilation and crowd size.

    Special thanks to Coco Xintong Lu who attended the show and provided photos and statistics. Coco is International Business Officer for the Tea Industry Committee, China Association for the Promotion of International Agricultural Cooperation.

    International booths
    Travel restrictions prevented foreign exhibitors from attending but local distributors displayed teas at 17 booths.

    Foreign Tea Buyers Face Formidable Restrictions

    Foreign guests joined the Opening Ceremony via pre-recorded videos and ambassadors to China, representing several countries, flew from Beijing to Hangzhou. On the show floor the International Pavilion featured 17 booths operated by domestic distributors of international brands.

    In China COVID-19 rates are low thanks to an effective test, trace, and isolate policy. The country has reported 103,000 cases with fewer than 5,000 deaths.

    China’s borders remain closed to all but residents of these 23 countries. Travelers must provide proof of receiving second of two shots at least 14 days prior to entry and they must present two negative tests PCR and antibody tests, taken within 48 hours of travel. Travelers are checked once again on arrival. Anyone failing the test will be isolated at a government facility. All others quarantine for 14 days, often at home, a approved hotel or government facility. In some regions the requirement is 14+7 (with the last seven days monitored by local community health officials).

    Eligible vaccines include the World Health Organization approved Sinovac or vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson. Foreign nationals currently in China can travel freely as long as they have the required documents including ID (usually passport) and a green health code. The green code is issued after confirmation of receiving a vaccine using any one of China’s five domestically manufactured vaccines.

    Restrictions vary by region depending on community spread. In Guangzhou, the quarantine policy is currently “14+7” (14 days centralized + 7 days community health monitoring). “Some destinations will not accept travelers from medium-risk areas such as Zhangjiajie and Ningxia. Some cities will be cautious about receiving tourists from Guangdong, even if you are not from medium-risk areas,” according to China Highlights.

    The government is vaccinating individuals at high rates with goal of 40% of Chinese citizens in June. As of May, 400 million have been vaccinated. China aims to vaccinate up to 80% of its population of more than one billion by the end of 2021 or mid-2022.

    The government is vaccinating individuals at high rates with goal of inoculating 40% of Chinese citizens in June. As of May, 400 million have been vaccinated at a pace approaching 10 million daily. China aims to vaccinate 80% of its population of more than one billion by the end of 2021 or mid-2022.

    Entry restrictions are not likely to ease until February 2022 just before the Beijing Winter Olympics. The events are scheduled for February 4-20.

    ? Dan Bolton

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  • Tea Biz Podcast | Episode 19

    Tea Biz Podcast Logo

    Hear the Headlines

    | Tea History Collection Unveiled
    | Indian Commodities Logjam
    | THIRST Undertakes a Tea Human Rights Analysis
    | A Series of Major Quakes Rattle Yunnan

    Seven-minute News Recap

    India Tea Price Watch | Sale 19

    Features

    Tea Biz this week travels to Nepal to meet Aasha Bhandari the newly named International Trade and Promotion Executive at the Himalayan Tea Producers Cooperative

    …and to the North Carolina campus of Wake Forest University to learn from student William Liu why ancient teas and rituals retain their appeal with young people.

    Nepal Tea Garden
    Nepal is expanding the country’s tea growing regions to produce more specialty loose leaf tea.

    Himalaya Tea Opportunity

    Nepal Increases Production of Quality Specialty Teas

    By Aravinda Anantharaman | Bengaluru

    Nepal’s tea industry reported record sales in 2020. The fabled tea land is growing greater quantities and greater varieties of loose and broken leaf teas thanks to a government-initiated expansion of the industry to high altitude gardens in non-traditional growing areas. Rural agrarian entrepreneurs are redefining offerings for an international market thirsty for the distinct taste of Himalayan grown oolongs, white teas, and premium black whole leaf. In this segment Aasha Bhandari, newly named to promote trade at the Himalayan Tea Producers Cooperative, discusses her plans for HIMCOOP.

    Read more…

    Aasha Bhandari discusses Nepal’s tea industry in transition.
    William Liu
    College sophomore William Liu founded the World Tea Association and To Tea Together podcast.

    Why Ancient Tea Appeals to Young People

    By Dan Bolton

    William Liu is a 20-year-old sophomore at Wake Forest University so inspired by tea that he and his classmates established the World Tea Association on campus and online. The group offers tea discovery and tasting sessions weekly and hosts occasional tea panels with presentations by tea professionals, tea scholars, and tea explorers. The events bring together many who are new to tea, says William “we aim to redefine the tea experience through an interdisciplinary approach and expose the true leaf to a greater audience.”

    In this discussion he describes why tea appeals to young people and explains his view that tea learning is ongoing. “The tea journey has no destination, he says, it involves only intention and lifelong learning.”

    Read more…

    William Liu on advancing our knowledge of the leaf.

    Tea News you Need to Know

    By Dan Bolton

    An extensive private collection of historical tea artifacts and modern facilities for meetings and tea research were unveiled on International Tea Day by Tea Ambassador Mike Bunston, OBE.

    The Tea History Collection, located in Banbury, Oxfordshire in the DCS Group complex, is the inspired work of entrepreneur Denys Shortt, OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire). The facility, valued at £100,000 ($140,000) is open by appointment to tea-related organizations and academia. It is equipped with a tasting bar, high-speed internet, archive cabinets, a video-conference room and work areas.

    Shortt, who founded DCS in 1994, grew up on a tea estate in Assam. His family worked at gardens there for 20 years before moving to Africa where his father managed the Ikumbi Tea Factory in Thika, Kenya.

    “We do not believe there is anything like this in the world,” says Shortt. “We have items from Plantation House (now demolished) which was where the London Tea Auctions were held.” The collection of more than 500 items includes teas, books,  and sample cabinet with 200 tins containing teas dating to 1904. The collection will be maintained as a non-profit.

    Learn more….

    Commodities Logjam

    Fifty thousand in West Bengal are homeless this week due to a tropical cyclone that halted air traffic and port activity in Calcutta. Every link of India’s tea supply chain is under stress. Restrictions to stop the spread of COVID-19 are once again limiting the number of harvest workers in the gardens and reducing by half staffing at factories processing tea, while simultaneously forcing the cancellation of tea auctions… delaying transport and causing local warehouses to overflow.

    Truckers essential to transporting tea were virtually halted last year and while many delivering to cities face delays due to curfews that prevent unloading at night, local transport is much less problematic in 2021.

    The weak link in the commodities supply chain during the second wave are buyers who cannot easily judge what quantities are required for manufacturers and to meet varying retail demand. For example, Kochi-based spices trader Kishor Shamji told the Hindu Businessline that a lack of buying interest from masala manufacturers in upcountry markets has affected the sales of almost all spices, including pepper, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Meanwhile, traders worry that the tea they purchase to send overseas will experience costly shipping fees and delays. Last year’s first wave dealt urban areas the hardest blow but in 2021 it is rural areas that suffer.

    Biz Insight – In India, as in many countries, mandatory lockdowns and health concerns have accelerated sales of tea. A survey of 22,000 rural small market stores known collectively as Kirana revealed a 140% increase in tea sales. Sales of hand sanitizers that appeared near the top of the list last year are flat but sales of soap increased by 50%, according to StoreKing. Pest and mosquito repellent experienced a 200% increase and comfort snacks and biscuits are up 83%.

    Assessing Human Rights in Tea

    THIRST The International Round Table for Sustainable Tea, is launching a three-year program to analyze the root causes of human rights breaches in the tea industry and come up with an action plan for how to solve them.

    Founder Sabita Banerji objects to “rights assessments” which have a negative connotation she favors an “impact analysis.” Banerji calls it a ‘constructive solution-oriented approach’.

    The program will document conditions for workers and farmers and identify problems “but more importantly, what can be done to address these problems,” said Banerji. The first step is to consolidate existing research and then conduct in-depth studies where there are gaps, providing a global picture of the interdependencies of tea.

    Read more on the Tea Biz blog.

    A Series of Major Quakes Rattle Yunnan

    Three major earthquakes and hundreds of aftershocks damaged 14,000 structures, killed three people and seriously injured 28 in Yunnan Province last week. The first in the series struck Dali located near the heart of the tea growing region. That deadly 6.0 magnitude quake on Tuesday was followed Friday by a much stronger 6.4 quake that damaged homes and forced rescuers to pull several people from under debris. Five hours later a 7.4 temblor located in adjacent Yangbi [YANg BY] rattled Yunnan again.

    The steep mountainous region, subject to landslides, is jittery about quakes. In 2008 a 7.9 earthquake centered in Sichuan province killed 87,000 people and left 4.2 million homeless, causing $150 billion in damage.

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  • Why Ancient Tea Appeals to Young People

    William Liu is a 20-year-old sophomore at Wake Forest University so inspired by tea that he and his classmates established the World Tea Association on campus and online. The group offers tea discovery and tasting sessions weekly and hosts occasional tea panels with presentations by tea professionals, tea scholars, and tea explorers. The events bring together many who are new to tea, says William, “we aim to redefine the tea experience through an interdisciplinary approach and expose the true leaf to a greater audience.” In this segment he describes why tea appeals to young people and explains his view that tea learning is ongoing. “The tea journey has no destination,” he says, “it involves only intention and lifelong learning.”

    William Liu, a student at Wake Forest University, discusses why tea appeals to young people.
    A joint meeting of the Anthro Club and World Tea Association at Wake Forest University.

    Tea Awakening

    Traveling with his mother to China awakened in William Liu a strong interest in gong fu style preparation of single-origin teas. When the 20-year-old sophomore returned to the Wake Forest University campus he discovered others were also eager to explore tea. Crawford Wheeler, who grew up in London, and Roxie Ray, who grew up in a Persian household, joined him in establishing the World Tea Association, a group that hosts weekly tastings and occasional panel discussions. William hosts a podcast on behalf of the association and continues his education in tea.

    Dan Bolton: Thanks for joining us on the podcast William. Tell us the story about how you first discovered fine tea.

    William: My family on my mom’s side is from Yunnan but my mom only started drinking tea in recent years. I only started drinking tea a year ago. The inspiration was a trip back to China where I was first exposed to gongfu tea. My mom brought me to various tea shops in Chengdu and Yunnan, and it was for me personally a way to connect with my cultural roots. Growing up in Canada as a Chinese Canadian, that wasn’t something that I was really aware of and so I found a greater appreciation and I realized that tea is so much more than a drink. 

    I realized that this type of brewing and single-origin tea isn’t common at all in the West, at least not now.  I really wanted to share with my fellows on campus and that’s what led to the creation of The World Tea Association.

    Dan: What is it about tea that appeals to young people?

    William: A few things really capture the attention of young people, it’s new, it’s very new for a lot of young people and also the nature of tea is that it’s very healthy and the trend with our current generation right now is that we are becoming much more aware of what we are putting into our body. In other words, we’re becoming a lot more health-conscious and we’re seeking mindful practices. Brewing tea is one of those things that provides an experience that teabags are not able to do. Quality tea allows you to really sit down and reflect on life and become more mindful with the tea.

    Our society right now is growing a lot more diverse and globalized. People are seeking different cultures and people are seeking new ways to do things that might be different from what they’re accustomed to and also with COVID, especially with COVID, I’ve seen a lot more young people get into tea because with COVID everyone has been forced to reflect and isolate and pretty much contemplate our life. Tea is the perfect activity to practice mindfulness and to become much more aware of ourselves. 

    Dan: Are they also drinking herbals and tisanes?

    William: A lot of my friends consume a lot more of the tisanes and herbal tea mainly to help them to calm down. I also noticed a lot also drink, for example, chamomile to help sleep at night to get in the mood to level down. These teas usually are a lot more floral, so people like the scent, people like the sweetness of it, and that’s what attracts them.

    Dan: Talk to me about the appeal of bubble tea.

    William: We don’t have a lot of bubble tea shops. I do notice that bubble tea is already really big and a lot of people do gravitate towards bubble tea because it’s accessible, it’s convenient and it’s also very sweet, and so that’s one of the things that probably attracts a lot of people. It’s also a way for them to bond and to connect together similarly to how we have gone through tea as a way to socialize and to, you know, discuss what’s going on in our lives. Tea has that same purpose with a lot of people our age. 

    Dan: What can tea professionals do to bring more young people into the tea community?

    William: I think the best way for tea professionals to bring more young people into the community is essentially just through exposure, reaching out to universities in your local cities and establishing collaborations with various groups and student organizations.

    What I see right now is that a lot of people have not been exposed to it, but once they do become exposed to tea, it’s something that a lot of people become interested in. So I would say tea professionals reach out to the young people that they know, find something to connect. For example I noticed that some local tea shops would host weekly nights playing chess and serving tea. People can come in and they will sit down and while they’re playing chess they would be exposed to the environment in the shop. The tea that they consume will be the tea from the tea shop. 

    The World Tea Association is committed to building community, promoting health and life long learning.

    Bringing People Together Through Tea

    The culture of tea today is present but faint and wrongly perceived. The World Tea Association redefines the tea experience through an interdisciplinary approach to expose the true leaf to a greater audience and community.

    We believe that strong bonds are formed through intentional activities done together such as having tea. Conversations around tea are always insightful and introspective. We hope to create a community where tea is just as much the center as it is not.

    Promoting the health benefits of tea is a core principle. Tea is more than a dose of caffeine. The physical and mental health benefits of consuming tea will always be felt.

    Our vision extends beyond just drinking and sharing. To create a successful community with tea, the learning aspect must be continual and mutual. Advancing our knowledge of the leaf and keeping an open mind is important as it cultivates the quality of humility. Nobody at the World Tea Association knows everything about tea nor does anyone claim they are a “Tea Master.”

    The tea journey has no destination, it involves only intention and lifelong learning.

    William Liu, Founder and President
    Crawford Wheeler, Vice President & Director of Coordination
    Roxie Ray, Director of Marketing & Public Relations
    Tyler Pruitt, Faculty Advisor & Treasurer

    ? World Tea Association

    To Tea Together Logo

    The TO TEA TOGETHER podcast celebrates and promotes artisanal tea culture by engaging in conversations that bring diverse minds together and bridge cross-cultural gaps over a pot of quality tea. TO TEA TOGETHER shares insightful conversations from the next generation of leaders, athletes, artists, entrepreneurs, and scholars while cultivating a new era for the appreciation of artisanal tea culture.

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  • Tea Biz Podcast | Episode 18

    Caption: Tea Forest in the Hawaiian sun near the village of Volcano. Courtesy Tea Hawaii/Eva Lee

    Tea Biz Podcast Logo

    Hear the Headlines

    | International Tea Day Celebrations
    | Assam Forbids Tea Workers to Isolate at Home
    | Nepal’s First Flush is Delayed
    | Kagoshima May Soon Outproduce Shizuoka

    Seven-minute News Recap

    India Tea Price Watch | Sale 19

    Features

    Tea Biz this week travels to the slopes of the Kilauea Volcano where Tea Hawaii Founder Eva Lee describes the ongoing tea harvest as unusually wet and seven weeks later than normal.

    …and then to Massachusetts to learn from author and historian Chitrita Banerji how a simple beverage transformed Indian culture.

    Tea Hawaii owners Eva Lee and Chiu Leong

    Uniquely Hawaiian

    Constant rains delayed Hawaii’s first flush by several weeks

    By Dan Bolton

    Eva Lee is a pioneer of modern tea cultivation in Hawaii, establishing with her husband, Chiu Leong, a tea garden and nursery in the village of Volcano 20 years ago. The farm supplied growers with hearty cultivars first introduced in 2000 by researchers at the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. Hawaiian tea is grown on farms producing less than 100 kilos a year. Small amounts of premium tea are exported, but most is purchased by local restaurants and tourists. In this conversation, Lee describes how the “modest but very strong tea industry” adapted during a difficult year. Read more…

    Tea Hawaii co-founder Eva Lee shares details about the 2021 harvest.
    Chitrita Banerji

    Tea is Both Cultural and Personal

    By Aravinda Anantharaman | Bengaluru

    Humans readily adapt to new foods and drink, most with little affect “we make them our own by accepting them and enjoying them” says distinguished food and culture author Chitrita Banerji. But some are transformative: “It’s interesting that a foreign drink brought in by a foreign colonial power became such an important thing. We don’t think of tea as a foreign drink anymore,” she tells Aravinda Anantharaman during this International Tea Day interview.

    Read more…

    Chitrita Banerji on the transformative

    Tea News you Need to Know

    By Dan Bolton

    Villagers have celebrated tea at local festivals that date to millennia. In the past hundred years, regional and national tea celebrations gained momentum — driven primarily by corporate marketers.

    A decade ago, the idea of a global day of recognition with a different message took hold. Joydeep Phukan, who directs the Tocklai Tea Research Institute in Assam, was tasked by the FAO’s Intergovernmental Group on Tea to convince the United Nations General Assembly to focus on producers, creating awareness and appreciation for the small growers responsible for most of the world’s tea. That took five years.

    Then the real work began. In 2019 when he learned of the General Assembly vote in favor of International Tea Day, Phukan challenged the industry: “Now that we have a dedicated day for tea, we need to do interesting things around the day to re-position tea as the most preferred beverage in the world.”

    Today you see that commitment passionately on display. There are virtual festivals, seminars, and academic presentations, an all-day SofaSummit to hear the voices of origin and the YouTube series “Around the World in 80 Teas” a marvelous virtual visit to the tea lands narrated by Will Battle and Dr. Sharon Hall, who directs the UK Tea & Infusions Association. The UN organized a presentation on sustainability and panel discussion. In Argentina, the Misiones tea growers are presenting a Spanish-language tea conference. In Sri Lanka the focus is marketing. In China the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs is hosting the Hangzhou International Tea Industry Expo, the largest face-to-face tea expo in China since the pandemic.  If you love tea please promote and participate in these activities, either live or over the weekend since most are recorded.

    Today is a glorious day, let’s all share in the tea industry’s ten-year overnight success.

    Biz Insight – Tea Biz presents Behind the Headlines, a 15-minute YouTube presentation by Dan Bolton describing trends that shape today’s news. Available in English and Spanish.

    Assam Forbids Tea Workers to Isolate at Home

    The situation has worsened in Assam to the point that workers who test COVID positive, many of whom are mothers and grandmothers, must quarantine outside their home until they recover. The practice is controversial but necessitated by the fact entire families have perished on the return of infected workers.

    Assam Health Minister Keshab Mahanta announced that

    “In the tea gardens, we have taken a tough stance on isolation of the positive patients. No one will be allowed to avail home isolation in the tea gardens.”

    Workers that do not require hospitalization must remain in COVID Care Centers where they are provided food and medicine. The vaccination rate remains low in part because many are unable to navigate the Co-WIN online registration system. Registration is mandatory for all those 18 years of age and older.

    During the past year Assam counted fewer than 1000 deaths but there were more than 500 cases in Dibrugarh this week. There were more than 6000 cases reported May 19 and the seven day average is more than 5000. Deaths are approaching 2,500.

    India recorded the highest COVID one day fatalities of any country this week. There are now 26 million active cases with almost 300,000 deaths officially recorded, a tally that is likely an undercount.

    Biz Insight – There were 1,851 tea workers who tested positive on 229 tea gardens of Assam last week. There are now 214 COVID Care Centres in operating with more opening this week. There are 850 registered gardens in the state, any that are found to have 20 or more workers test positive are declared a containment zone.

    Nepal First Flush Delayed

    Tea growers in Nepal faced a formidable combination of wet weather, expensive fertilizer, high transport costs, a shortage of labor, infestations of leaf curl and black tip that led to declines of as much as 40% last year compared to 2019.

    In 2021 drought is the big concern.

    Harvest totals or the first flush are half that of 2020. New leaves did not sprout on schedule due to drought conditions that lasted from December until February. The Kathmandu Post writes that unlike last year, the price of CTC (cut, tear, curl) teas are 200 Nepal Rupees per kilo, well below highs of 360 Nepal rupees last year.

    Nepal is also seeing a replay of last year’s Covid-19 crisis. Nepal reported 9,198 new confirmed cases on Monday around 3000% increase from last month. The positivity rate is averaging 45% with 174 deaths per day in a country of around 30 million population.

    Biz Insight – Nepal Tea founder Nishchal Banskota, who manages the family’s Nepal tea garden remotely from New York, writes that “along with the health crisis, the small farmers in the agricultural sector face even longer term impact due to their crops getting wasted due to the lockdowns and lack of market access. The farmers that were just hoping to recoup the losses from last year’s crisis are yet again faced with challenges to produce and sell their crops. The tea farmers find themselves in the same situation where they might not be able to harvest their most productive second flush due to the rise in the cases.” 

    Learn more on the Tea Biz Blog.

    Kagoshima May Soon Outproduce Shizuoka

    Shizuoka, Japan’s picturesque and most productive tea prefecture since 1959, may soon have to relinquish that title to Kagoshima, according to data released by Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Acreage under tea and green leaf output has slowly declined since the 1980s in Shizuoka which produced 25,200 metric tons of unprocessed tea leaves in 2019. The total is 34% of Japan’s tea production. The 2019 crop was valued at ¥ 25.1 billion yen (about $230 million US dollars). Kagoshima growers, who harvested only 2,700 metric tons in 1959, by 2019 were recording ¥ 25.2 billion in sales. The prefecture harvested nearly the same amount of tea on 7,970 hectares, compared to Shizuoka’s 13,700 hectares. The reason is that Kagoshima invested heavily in mechanized harvesting equipment now used on 97.5% of the prefecture’s farms. Due to steeper slopes and smaller plots, only 65.8% of Shizuoka’s tea is mechanically harvested.

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  • Hawaiian Tea Harvest Report

    Eva Lee is a pioneer of modern tea cultivation in Hawaii, establishing with her husband, Chiu Leong, a tea garden and nursery in the Village of Volcano. The farm supplied growers with hearty cultivars first introduced in 2000 by researchers at the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. Hawaiian tea is grown on many farms producing less than 100 kilos a year. Small amounts of premium tea are exported, but most is purchased by local restaurants and tourists. In this conversation, Lee describes how Hawaii’s “modest but very strong tea industry” adapted during a difficult year.

    Eva Lee describes the 2021 harvest in Hawaii
    Tea Hawaii owners Eva Lee and Chiu Leong

    Uniquely Hawaiian

    Eva Lee and Chiu Leong came to tea with a background in the arts, creating an estate within the temperate rainforest near the summit of Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano. The couple are involved daily in every aspect of the farm production including managing a nursery propagating tea, tea processing, conducting tea tours and educational workshops and marketing home grown tea. During the pandemic they added co-packaging and labeling to their set of skills. Lee says that Hawaii has a “significant role in furthering tea culture.” The willingness of the Hawaiian tea community to collaborate with fellow growers, with the support of institutions and researchers has enabled Tea Hawaii & Company to express teas unique to the world, says Lee.

    Dan Bolton: Eva, will you update listeners on this year’s harvest?

    Eva Lee: Our spring season began quite late, the reason is Hawaii has been inundated with a very, very extensive rainy season we’re coming off of about seven plus months of pretty much straight rain resulting in deep, deep saturation. 

    The plants have really responded as spring is now revealed itself. The tea plants throughout the state are expressing themselves considerably more this time of year than they have in the past. Usually we would have begun harvesting in February or March for our first flush spring harvest. Right now we have quite a bit of production of harvests going on.

    Dan: What makes Hawaii-grown tea special?

    Some of the teas are grown in the native forests. We’ve got shade-grown tea up at 4,000-foot elevations and we also have teas that are in full sun, at 900-foot elevations on the East side of the island.

    Our particular garden on the summit of Kilauea Volcano at 4,000-foot elevation is on the windward side of the volcano. A fellow grower on the Leeward side, same elevation, experienced conditions that are quite different. It’s much drier, much more sun. They also had a late spring harvest but here the microclimates, the conditions on the mountain, can be quite considerably different, just moments away.

    One of the reasons why the tea is so special is that this generation of tea growers are first generation tea growers. We haven’t had a history of tea agriculture in this state, everyone that is growing tea is doing a lot of experimenting. They are growing it out of a love of the leaf. 

    Those of us that established ourselves in the areas that are most conducive to tea cultivation have a mulch and forest canopy built over hundreds of years. 

    In Hawaii, we don’t have the same plant diseases and the same problems or challenges that other tea producing countries have because we are isolated in the middle of the Pacific. We also don’t have continents that are close by, so we don’t have fall-out and pollutants. Every season has a kind of excitement. This year was unusually wet. Each season is quite different. It’s very, very exciting now that we’re at that place where growers here can provide the public with a variety of teas. 

    Dan: Will you describe the economics of tea in 2021 and how Hawaiian growers adapted to the sharp decline in the tourist and restaurant business?

    Here in Hawaii we rely a lot on agritourism. Many of the restaurants here in Hawaii closed down due to the pandemic.

    We had to very act quite quickly on decisions as to production. We had to slow gardens down because we were faced with inventory that was not moving because of restaurant closures. 

    Labor costs in Hawaii have always been much more than in other tea producing countries, so decisions that we had to make definitely hurt some labor because we were not able to have as many people work at the gardens at the same time.

    tea withering rig

    We changed some of the harvest techniques and processing and how much time that we would put into or not some of our crafted teas.  So the percentages changed from premium grades to secondary grades.

    Our first thought was maybe they’re not as good, but actuality we were nicely surprised that we were able to produce some very wonderful secondary and third grade teas. Instead of selling direct to restaurants, it would go direct to consumers, for instance in food hubs, so we always did a lot of distribution of our teas direct to consumers, in farmer’s markets, but many of the farmers markets were closed down during that time. 

    So we ended up manufacturing teas that we called “Tea to Go” for people that were here locally to take our tea and be able to steep them very easily. We were moving from bulk loose leaf to individually filter packing our tea and doing it all here in Hawaii. 

    We’ve turned into not only growers, and producers, but also co-packers, and so our co-packing activities are also on location.

    In Hawaii we have a modest but very strong tea industry. and now some of the people that ended up experiencing the teas found that they were more accessible. Well for premium teas, by the kilo, we were talking about $400. 

    We are wholesaling them by so many units but to break it down for you they are wholesaled for $7.00 for that 1 ounce 10 filter package so to the consumer pays $8.25, I believe, is the markup of some of these stores and food hubs are doing.

    So we also have to have discussions with even on some of our premium tea local retailers. So if I sell this to you for $10, you know instead of selling it for $20, think about $18. That’s a formula that seems to work pretty well with some of the retailers.

    We also cut down on some of our costs of packaging. We made our own packaging and so that has helped for this period of time.  We may continue, you know. We share a little information on the inside of each package so people can learn a little bit more about us and I think it gives people the confidence to maybe try the premiums. 

    Tea Hawaii Farm
    Tea Hawaii Farm, Volcano, Hawaii. Photo courtesy Tea Hawaii/Eva Lee

    Collaboration Expands Variety

    Tea Hawaii & Company partners with other Hawaii tea growers to expand their offering of rare, premium Hawaii grown teas.

    Growers include Mike Riley, who produces oolong tea at the Volcano Tea Garden, located at 3,600 feet above sea level in Mauna Loa Estates. His plantings are from cultivars originating in China, Japan, and Taiwan.

    “Johnny’s Garden” owned by John and Kathryn Cross, was established in 1993 in Hakalau on the eastern slopes of Mauna Kea adjoining Kaahakini Stream a perennial spring fed river along the Hamakua coast on the island of Hawaii. It is the oldest of Hawaii’s commercial gardens. John grows Rare Makai Black teas.

    ? Eva Lee

    Tea Hawii
    Shop Tea Hawaii

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