Education is the very core of what we do and believe. We aim to become the leading authority in education within the speciality tea sector and will achieve this through awarding recognised, authentic, verified and transparent certification. – David Veal, Executive Director European Speciality Tea Association.
A one-day Introduction to the tea industry’s newest professional certification program will be rolled out in March. Initially 12 European Speciality Tea Association Authorized Tea Certifiers (ATCs) will offer this course. Certifiers are based in Sweden, Denmark, UK, Ireland, Netherlands, and Germany. Covid-19 restrictions mean that training initially will be delivered online. This enables students from anywhere in the world to enroll.
Reviews and beta testing have so far shown very positive and encouraging results.
Alexis Kaae, vice president and Head of Education for ESTA said ‘This will be an inspirational and sensory journey into the newly unearthed world of speciality tea’
Liesbeth Sleijster, one of the initial ATCs from the Netherlands, added “we are launching this course hopefully as we come out of Covid restrictions and it will be like giving birth to tea in a new time.”
Register here if you are interested in becoming an ESTA Authorized Tea Certifier or if you would like to register for the introduction to tea module. Also keep watching for further modules which will be introduced throughout this year and remember that members of ESTA are eligible for discount off the prices of certification. Full information about the Tea Certification Programme will be added to this website very soon.
The Tea Certification Programme
· Instructors are ESTA Authorized Tea Certifiers. They can be individual educators, tea schools or academies, or work for a company.
· The Authorized Tea Certifiers will issue ESTA certificates which, as the programme grows, will become recognized throughout the tea industry as authoritative and synonymous with quality. It is expected that employers will refer to ESTA certification to help them recruit, and individuals will use certification to help their career progression
· The attainment of a certificate will also carry points for the student which when accumulated will help attain the ESTA Diploma
· Apart from the first module, Introduction to Tea, all subjects will be taught and certified at three levels, foundation, intermediate and advanced
· Introduction to Tea will be available from 1st March initially due to current Covid restrictions, on line
· The next modules to be released. later in 2021, will be Camellia sinensis, botanicals, hospitality and tea barista skills, followed by sensory skills, cultivation and processing, starting and running a tea business, sustainability and tea history, culture and ceremony
Neethanjana Senadheera, Amba, Buddika Dissanayaka, Forest Hill Tea, Udena Wickremoesooriya, Kaley and Chaminda Jayawardana, Lumbini Tea Valley.
Tea tasting webinars
Marketing is one of the most costly and daunting challenges for rural tea entrepreneurs in emerging markets. Digital marketing necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic adds another layer of complexity.
Since December seven artisan garden owners have combined their resources to present inexpensive virtual garden tours with live cupping attended by as many as 50 qualified buyers from around the world and a least one curious journalist.
The hour-long webinar on Feb. 18, hosted by the Ceylon Artisan Tea Association (CATA) and Kaley Tea Estate, is the third in the series. Buyers from major retail ventures in France, Japan, the U.S., and across Europe saw a brief PowerPoint explaining the association’s history and objectives, then set off on a trek into the tea forest where 150-year-old trees rise 30 to 50 feet toward the sky. The plot, formerly a pruned commercial garden, was abandoned and has since returned to its biodiverse tropical ancestry but this forest canopy is uniquely dominated by tea.
CATA began in 2019 as a collective based on a shared vision that focused on efficient micro-production that, in aggregate, could scale. It is a community-centric model that can be adapted by rural entrepreneurs in many tea lands.
The seven small enterprises have limited resources individually but collectively provide buyers diverse offerings in style and the distinct terroir of Sri Lanka’s growing regions. CATA expects to recruit additional gardens representing Nuwara Eliya, Dimbula, Uva, and Uda Pussallawa in the high mountains, Kandy mid-country, and Ruhuna and Sambaragamuwa in the low altitude coastal zone.
Estates are small. Amba grows its tea on only 30 acres. Neighboring farmers grow the remainder. But the price that Amba pays per kilo for fresh leaves is more than double the average in Sri Lanka. High rates encourage locals to grow tea naturally, adhering as close to organic cultivation as possible.
Last year the pandemic quickly decimated the island nation’s tourism sector. Tea sales to foodservice establishments declined at every level. Growers began the webinar series to maintain existing business relationships and later found ways to attract new buyers globally. Each garden sells most of its tea locally, but for overseas buyers, watching these videos offers tea retailers and wholesalers an alternative to sourcing in person during travel restrictions and mandatory quarantines.
A student intern with promising skills as a videographer followed Kaley Tea director Udena Wickremesooriya through the plucking, rolling, and processing steps, capturing Udena chatting with workers and pointing to innovations such as locally built drying racks and equipment customized to make the creative shapes.
Cupping table
Cuppings and the accompanying tasting notes are critical to effectively market artisanal tea. Seventy-five percent of consumers consider taste the most important consideration in choosing tea. No matter how compelling their brand story, growers rely on sampling to seal the deal, but no one has the time to sample all the tea in the world. Webinars that enable face-to-digital-face interaction and user engagement will likely continue long after the pandemic resides.
The live portion of CATA’s webinar delivered a satisfying glimpse of personality and pride a the cupping table with Kaley Tea Director Udena Wickremoesooriya and Buddika Dissanayaka, Director, Forest Hill Tea, Chaminda Jayawardana, Managing Director, Lumbini Tea Valley, and Neethanjana Senadheera, Production Manager, AMBA Estate. Each presented their best white tea, slurping and commenting. Webinar participants got a close look at the leaf and liquor along with descriptions of the tea.
When evaluating tea, considerations such as the precision of the pluck, discoloration due to oxidation, breakage, and leaf style all contribute to the buyer’s decision. Missing, of course, is the aroma, texture, mouthfeel, aftertaste, and overall organoleptic sensations. Fortunately, all this can be replicated in the buyer’s tasting room.
CATA’s webinars offer something more than samples: clues in the facial expressions, gestures, and the enthusiasm of tasters. The casual but informed banter reminded me of gaggles that formed after competitions like The Golden Leaf India Awards (TGLIA) organized by the United Planters Association of South India (UPASI) and the Tea Board of India.
These events, occasionally judged in Dubai, provided a cadre of international buyers an opportunity to discuss the results of skilled tasting judges such as Kurush Bharucha, tea expertise director and head of Unilever’s research and development, and Yahya Beyad owner of Britannia Tea.
Tasting notes with points awarded for specific characteristics motivate participants and provide bragging rights at dinner but vetting the best of the entire crop year annually also helped everyone to better understand the influence of seasonal dry spells, for example, and provided insights into the improving skills of tea makers. Artisanal innovations continuously break new ground as has been the case for centuries – but now, thanks to webinars and one-on-one tastings, innovations in tea are transmitted globally at the speed of light.
Hidden value
There is an interesting parallel in the growth of the organic tea segment that suggests public cuppings elevate the overall quality of tea. The TGLIA competition dates to 2005, a dozen years after Korakundah Tea Estate, part of the United Nilgiris Tea Estates Company, first produced organic tea.
Japan had begun labeling agricultural products in the 1950s and developed organic certifications by 1999. In 2000 JAS (Japan Agricultural Standard) adopted rules for “organic plant,” “organically grown plant,” “organic farmed,” and “organic” classifications. The United States Department of Agriculture organic program was authorized in 1990 but rules establishing the National Organic Program (NOP) were not finalized until 2002. The European Union first instituted organic rules in 1991 and by 2010 EU established an organic logo along with an indication of origin. During the past few years, all three certifications were harmonized but it will take even longer for consumers to understand the hidden value in organic.
To cash in on consumer fears about food safety and the environment marketers were quick to label certified organic products “superior” and “premium” leading consumers to pay a higher price for non-pesticide, ecologically produced teas, but evading an answer to the question: Does organic tea taste better?
Beginning in 2005 Korakundah won its first TGLIA prize. The garden won again in 2006 and for 15 consecutive years inspiring many growers to follow in their footsteps and demonstrating that organic farmed teas were equal in taste or better than conventionally grown tea.
Korakundah is part of a corporate network willing to invest in certification. Artisan tea growers recognize that third-party certifications help sell — but at a price. The webinars convey the hidden value of community building, educating youth, improving health care. Tea plantations economically purchase and maintain fleets of vehicles to bring their tea to market – Kaley chose not to buy vehicles, hiring trucks driven by villagers whenever tea needs to be transported. At Forest Hill, Buddika involves the villagers by commissioning packaging from them.
Transparency in action?
The webinars are the ideal media for demonstrating transparency. Buyers who witness the impact at origin of their purchases have more compelling visuals than labels on a tin.
A video capture of workers hand-rolling tea at Kaley Tea Estate near Kotapola, at the southern end of Sri Lanka
Tea Biz Podcast
A survey by the American Marketing Association last year revealed US marketers increased spending on social media by 74%. During the pandemic, investment in social media grew from 13% to 23% of total marketing dollars spent, according to AMA.
Tea marketers increasingly realized that traditional strategies such as advertising and attending tradeshows, while important for branding, convert only a few leads into buyers. This is because consumer expectation has evolved over time, making personalization and customization of marketing strategies essential.
In mid-February, the Ceylon Artisanal Tea Association (CATA), a collaboration of seven Sri Lankan tea farms, hosted their third garden tour webinar. Those who attended travel virtually to see the garden processing facilities at Kaley Tea Estate attend joint live cuppings where they met the principals, and asked questions face to digital face.
Simon Bell, managing director of Amba Tea Estate and a co-founder of the Ceylon Artisanal Tea Association, writes that digital marketing is often one of the biggest challenges for small growers and rural entrepreneurs in emerging markets. In this report, Bell discusses the effectiveness of this new approach.
Simon Bell discusses the benefits of webinars and virtual tours for small enterprise tea ventures.
Tea Biz:CATA has now hosted three online webinars introducing tea producers to buyers globally. Have these webinars been effective in achieving your objectives? How so?
BELL: Absolutely, ironically, for many of the association’s founding members, finding global buyers has never really been a problem. Nearly all tea in Sri Lanka is made in large factories, so when we started producing teas by hand the products themselves were so unusual that many of the world’s best tea merchants actually tracked us down from day one before we’d even begun any marketing. We’ve always had more orders than we can handle. However, with the advent of the global lockdowns, it was apparent that we were going to lose a lot of our sales locally as the market shrunk due to the absence of visiting tourists at hotels and restaurants around the island.
And it seemed like an ideal time to bring our teams to the attention of a wider audience, and frankly, the response has been far greater than we ever expected. In normal times if you asked a tea buyer if they’d like to join a virtual tea tasting where he or she would not even get to taste the tea, I think they would very politely tell you to stop wasting their time and to send them a sample. But with everyone around the world in lockdown, including our own customers, we were amazed that the CEOs, the chief tea buyers of many of the world’s most prestigious tea merchants have been joining the webinars – and are begging us for more.
Perhaps even more important, than simply showing off our teas, what’s great about the webinar format is the ability to tell the story behind the tea. You know when it comes to artisanal teas, it’s the terroir, the climate, the provenance, the social and environmental impact that is so important to our customers in terms of why they love these teas. And so, you know, during the webinars, we walk around the estate we show the plucking, the rolling and the other steps of the process actually happening, and that’s what makes the teas so unique. These videos show you the land and the people behind the tea. And as such, they can say so much more than static images or text.
Tea Biz: Collaborating on projects like the webinar series is one example of small growers pooling resources, explain other ways that banding together benefits buyers.
BELL: I spent much of my career advising small businesses all over the world about the virtues of combining their resources and combining their efforts through associations and cooperatives and so on, not just in tea but in other areas of agriculture, in tourism, in manufacturing and so on.
Our buyers want variety, but they want that variety in terms of terroir and technique. That doesn’t mean that we can’t pool our efforts in virtually every other aspect of operations.
Joint investments in research and development in developing new varieties and planting and testing new varieties in designing new types of equipment that suit our micro-scale teas. In commissioning equipment from engineering companies which wouldn’t be interested if we were just commissioning on our own from joint purchasing of packaging and certification services and other types of inputs like that that would typically only be affordable to larger enterprises. All across the chain, including, you know, making our voice heard with the government we are much better working together than we are separately. And perhaps most importantly, from a buyer’s perspective, we offer the opportunity to pool their purchases and their shipping, lowering costs. Two or three of our members are already working together and jointly shipping product to several customers around the world saving the customers time and money that they otherwise would be spending having to coordinate orders and shipments from multiple suppliers while giving them the variety that their consumers demand.
Ultimately, we hope to be able to offer buyers a one-stop shop where they can order a whole menu of different Ceylon artisanal teas representing all the different varieties in all the different growing regions of Sri Lanka.
Do webinars work?
The novelty of webinars waned from a time when 73% of B2B marketers and sales leaders identified webinars “as the best way to generate high-quality leads” yet 76% of B2B buyers used webinars in 2019. Last year the number of webinars soared, accelerated by the pandemic. Businesses all over the world are using webinars to attract customers, promote products, and build loyalty.
The Big Book of Webinar Stats, published in 2019, found that webinars were most commonly used by software, financial services, and consulting firms. Since that time travel and tourism, real estate, and retail use have increased. Health care webinars surged in the past year. Agriculture has lagged but travel restrictions, the additional costs, and the inconvenience of flying make webinars an ideal opportunity for small tea ventures to inform and attract buyers.
Go To Webinars analyzed 250,000 webinars to offer these tips.
The most effective channel to promote webinars is email. Expect 59% to register the week leading up to the event with 17% registering same day.
Thursday is the best day to schedule.
Mornings 9-11 am are the best hours for attendance
84% of attendees prefer webinar replays (vs live)
66% of webinars attract 50 or fewer attendees
Attendee engagement drops off at 57 minutes. The ideal length is 45-60 minutes but attendees will stay for about 70% of a webinar that lasts up to 90 minutes.
| Sri Lanka Launches Expansive Ceylon Tea Promotion | Green Tea Cancer-Fighting Breakthrough | Lipton IPO Likely in 2021 | Tea Tourism Stirs from Slumber
Features
A survey of chief marketing officers by the American Marketing Association last year revealed a 74% increase in spending on social media during the pandemic. Investment in social media grew from 13.3% to 23.2% of total marketing dollars spent. Tea marketers increasingly realize that traditional strategies such as advertising and attending tradeshows, while important for branding, convert only a few leads into buyers.
This is because customer expectation has evolved over time making personalization and customization of marketing strategies essential. This week CATA, the Ceylon Artisanal Tea Association, a collaboration of seven tea producers in Sri Lanka, hosted their third “garden tour” webinar. Webinar participants travel virtually to see the garden, processing facilities and meet principals and ask questions face-to-digital-face. Simon Bell, managing director at Amba Tea Estate, writes that “digital marketing is often one of the biggest challenges for small growers and rural entrepreneurs in emerging markets.” Learn more…
Tea Biz asked Bell to discuss the effectiveness of this new approach.
Amba Tea Garden Managing Director Simon Bell on Small Enterprise Marketing via Webinar
“In any tough times – and this is certainly one of them – opportunities present themselves,” says 36-year-old T. Kettle founder Doug Putman, a turnaround investor who has opened 45 tea retail locations in nine Canadian provinces and six U.S. states. He plans to expand to 100 stores in 2021. Tea Biz takes you to Coquitlam, British Columbia for a walk through one of T. Kettle’s newest mall locations. Learn more…
Jessica Natale Woollard takes us on a tour of the new T. Kettle retail store in Coquitlam, British Colombia
News you Need to Know
Sri Lanka Launches a 4.5 Billion Rupee Tea Promotion
Sri Lanka’s Tea Board last week authorized the most expensive promotion in the history of Ceylon Tea. Financed by a tax on tea exports, the global promotion targets 12 markets in Asia, Europe, and North America. The campaign is financed by a promotion and marketing tax, first imposed in 2010. Combined, these taxes are the highest levied by a major tea-producing country. Collection was suspended in June 2020 at the request of the Tea Exporters Association after members complained the added expense reduced competitiveness
Navin Dissanayake, Sri Lanka’s minister of plantation industries said the $23 million investment is necessary to sustain and grow Ceylon tea’s market share.
“We need to be more aggressive in our approach in attracting new consumer segments,” he said, adding, the campaign will re-ignite interest in the Ceylon Tea Brand and strengthen is premium position in the global market.
Biz Insight – Dentsu Grant in Colombo will oversee media planning, scheduling, and buying. The Grant Group, founded in 1958, was Sri Lanka’s first internationally recognized advertising agency. Founder Reggie Candappa is considered the founding father of the island nation’s creative agencies. The company was acquired in 2017 and is now part of the Dentsu Aegis, a consultancy with 355 offices in 143 countries that employs 58,000 workers.
Green Tea Compound Acts Like a Sidekick to Cancer Cell Suppressor
EGCG, the major antioxidant in green tea was found by researchers to increase levels of p53, an important DNA-repairing protein and tumor-suppressor. Cancer specialists refer to p53 as the “guardian of the genome” in cells under attack. EGCG acts to stabilize the cancer fighter like a superhero sidekick.
“The direct interaction between the two, points to a new path for developing anti-cancer drugs,” writes Professor Chunyu Wang, an MD and Ph.D. at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. His team’s findings were published last week in the journal Nature Communications.
Biz Insight – Green tea compounds are known to inhibit the growth and even kill tumor cells that cause breast, lung, bladder, prostate, and colon cancers. This has been demonstrated in the laboratory, animal studies, and a 10-year clinical trial when consumed in quantities of at least three cups per day and up to 10 cups per day. A cup of tea contains 200-300 milligrams of EGCG, roughly 50-80 percent of the catechins present in green tea.
Unilever Likely to Initiate a Lipton IPO in 2021
Previously bifurcated Unilever has now completed its consolidation as a single stock headquartered in London. Bloomberg News reports that separating the weaker performing divisions it intends to sell is underway. CEO Alan Jope said it is “highly likely” these will be structured as IPOs. Lipton-PG Tips-Tazo-Pukka Herbs and smaller brands are likely to be split off as a separate company. In the process, a hedge fund or private equity firm may acquire these brands, collectively valued at $3 billion. The dis-assembly is designed to discover the true value of these properties, the sale of which will be the most lucrative in tea history.
Biz Insight – The consolidation into a single business entity, which cost Unilever $1.2 billion, improved the company’s ability to participate in mergers and acquisitions in a category that rewards global scale.
Tea Tourism Stirs After a Long Pandemic-Induced Slumber
The Taj Chia Kutir luxury resort for tea tourists opens in December 2021
Hospitality venture “Taj” in December opened a new tourist resort overlooking the Makaibari Tea Estate in Darjeeling. The Taj Chia Kutir is a 22-acre luxury property in Kurseong, one of five upcoming projects by the Ambuja Neotia Group. A similar property will open near Gangtok in Sikkim in 2022.
The Taj Chia Kitur’s 45 sq. meter rooms sleep four at prices beginning at ? 16,000 per night
Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, announced this week small business loans of up to 100 million rupees ($1.4 million US dollars) to stimulate the tourism sector which has declined precipitously due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The state will pay half of the interest on these loans during the first year of operation.
“This will largely benefit the homestays and guest houses. The government’s thrust is on the development of rural tourism and smaller places,” writes Sudesh Poddar, president, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Eastern India. He told the Economic Times “We are very happy that the state government has looked up to tourism.”
Biz Insight – Leisure destinations are recovering more quickly than business conference locations like Kolkata. According to V. S. Dwivedi, director of Vistar Properties. “Many Taj units at leisure destinations have already gained over 70% of their 2019 business back. The interest level for Taj Chia Kutir is high,” he said.
Avoid the chaos of social media and start a conversation that matters. Subtext’s message-based platform lets you privately ask meaningful questions of the tea experts, academics and Tea Biz journalists reporting from the tea lands. You see their responses via SMS texts which are sent direct to your phone. Visit our website and subscribe to Subtext to instantly connect with the most connected people in tea.
• Hard tea packs a punch • India earmarks worker subsidies for women and children • Beware of false claims, FDA warns companies to stop misleading consumers with products that claim to cure COVID-19
Features
Since 2013 the US League of Tea Growers has nurtured close collaboration among the more than 60 growers in 15 American states producing tea for commercial sale. Led by Angela McDonald, owner of Oregon Tea Traders, the group hosts online webinars and discussions. This week Kevin Gascoyne, a well-known tea buyer and co-owner of the Camellia Sinensis tea company in Montreal, counseled the group on what American tea growers need to do to make themselves competitive on the world stage. He also had this to say about what makes America’s experiment in tea growing relevant to the industry at large.
Kevin Gascoyne on the contribution of American tea growers to the world of tea.
Enrollment in the Tea & Herbal Association of Canada’s Tea Sommelier Certification Program surged during lockdowns and continues to grow in the new year. The program, designed for tea professionals, costs between $2,500 and $3,500 to complete online, or, on campus. In this report Jessica Natale Woollard talks with founder Shabnam Weber and with MacKenzie Bailey, a tea sommelier enrolled in the online program.
TAC Tea Sommelier Certification Program founder Shabnam Weber
News you Need to Know
Hard Tea
Rates of alcohol consumption in spring 2020 were up 14 percent compared with the same period in 2019 and drinkers consumed nearly 30 percent more than in pre-pandemic months, according to Modern Healthcare magazine. The spike is due in part to the onset of “cabin fever” and the speedy delivery to your door of every kind of booze you can imagine from high-proof bourbon and Scotch to crafty beers and juice coolers. Michigan residents, as one example, consumed an average 956 alcoholic drinks per person in 2020.
Hard tea with its moderate volume of alcohol and healthy halo is in sync with this trend. Well-known Twisted Tea, a 5% alcohol by volume (ABV) iced tea dates to 2000 but leave it to America’s big bottlers to add a new layer of glitz by combining tea with trending seltzer.
Biz Insight –Beware. Five percent ABV delivers more than a half-ounce of alcohol per serving, the same as a 12-oz can of beer. A 5% tea seltzer contains 25 percent more alcohol than a 4% light beer (the equivalent of 1.8 alcohol units vs .1.4 alcohol units, a measure of how our bodies process alcohol). Adults typically process 1 alcohol unit per hour so drinking two or three seltzers delivers far more than a gentle buzz. Moderation is trending. Globally the low alcohol beverage category grew to 3% of the entire alcohol market in 2020. Volume increases are projected to grow by 31% by 2024.
Tea pluckers at Cinnamara Tea Estate, Assam, India
India Earmarks Worker Subsidies for Women and Children
India’s Ministry of Commerce announced $137 million in welfare subsidies for tea workers in the government’s new budget last week. Officials say a major portion of the 10 billion rupees will specifically address challenges facing women and dependent children. Women constitute 50% of the workforce, deftly performing the “entire gamut of activities from nursery to planting, bringing up young saplings, plucking, pruning and manufacturing in the factory” writes the Tea Board of India.
“It is due to the strenuous and untiring efforts of the tea garden workers that the Indian tea industry has exhibited remarkable resilience in the midst of multilateral challenges-climate change, upheaval in the market, and the Covid-19 Pandemic,” according to the tea board.
Biz Insight – There are 200,000 female tea workers in West Bengal and 400,000 in Assam. Together these provinces produce 81% of India’s tea. Many women working in the fields are poorly educated, older, and not in good health. Younger women confront a shortage of childcare and lack training that imparts a broader range of skills. Many lack a feeling of self-reliance. The intent of the investment is to significantly enhance women’s quality of life, writes The Economic Times
There is No Cure for Coronavirus
Tea is known to bolster the body’s immune system. Its composition of polyphenols, catechins, and nutrients offer many health benefits, but tea does not cure coronavirus. The US Food and Drug Administration this week ordered Ausar Herbs, marketers of “Coronavirus Destroyer Tea” to remove inaccurate claims about their product or face stiff fines. The company promptly complied. Similar products promoted as “Virus Bioshield”, “Flu Immune Drops” and “Spike Protein Vaccine” were also called out for false claims.
Biz Insight –FDA maintains an online list of products that fraudulently claim to “mitigate, prevent, treat, or cure COVID-19” FDA has sent 145 warning letters to pharmaceutical, holistic, and herbal companies since last March. Self-policing is in everyone’s best interest, report unlawful sales of medical products to the FDA.
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Subtext
Avoid the chaos of social media and start a conversation that matters. Subtext’s message-based platform lets you privately ask meaningful questions of the tea experts, academics and Tea Biz journalists reporting from the tea lands. You see their responses via SMS texts which are sent direct to your phone. Visit our website and subscribe to Subtext to instantly connect with the most connected people in tea.
• Shipping container shortage threatens timely tea deliveries • Kenya’s High Court has ruled against unions seeking to prevent mechanical harvesting of tea • Bombs Away… Tea bombs encased in confectionary get rave reviews online
Features
This week Aravinda Anantharaman speaks with Narendranath Dharmaraj who has spent nearly five decades in plantation and agribusiness management. In the conversation around the viability of the Indian tea industry and in particular the outdated nature of the plantation model, Dharmaraj has proposed an alternative where he recommends that estate owners distribute land-ownership in favor of the plantation employees and buy back the raw material through a co-operative. Here, we speak to Dharmaraj on how this model will address the issues of labor and wages that have hit an impasse. Read more…
A conversation on the future of India’s tea industry with Narendranath DharmarajInternational Tea Training Center on the beach in Mexico
Traveling to origin is no long practical, yet tea retailers must still learn tasting skills essential to selecting fine tea. Dan Robertson, founder of the International Tea Cuppers Club, has constructed an international tea training center in Mexico where tea masters share their knowledge during a week-long immersion program. The soon-to-open facility is on the Riviera Maya near the Mayan Ruins, south of Cancun and Cozumel.
ITCC founder Dan Robertson on why tasting skills are essential to sales and success.
The cost of shipping a container of goods increased 80 percent since November and nearly tripled in 2019. One third of the containers transiting the world’s 20 largest ports failed to ship on schedule. Unlike grains, tea is not shipped in bulk. Depending on its density, 10 to 12 metric tons of tea can be loaded into a 20-foot container.
Beginning last spring the pandemic shifted the normal shipping cycle leaving hundreds of thousands of empty shipping containers at destinations with no loads to return. In China and India, the shortage is acute. Bloomberg reports that in January India shipped less than a fifth of its normal volume of sugar. Responding to a 30 percent surge in orders for goods, last fall China offered top dollar for the return of empty containers. The strategy is working so well that coffee and rice are piling up at the docks in Thailand and lentils in Canada as shippers rush return containers instead of filling them with Asian-bound goods. Gradually equilibrium is returning with predictions that the shortage will abate in time for the first of the tea harvest shipments in April.
Biz Insight – Eliot Jordan, vice president of tea at Mighty Leaf Tea in California writes that he is “backing up orders by a month on anything that has to move on the ocean.” He says, “The problem is, as long as COVID is running rampant, all the forecasts I have are throwing darts in my basement with the lights off – sometimes it’s better to throw very few darts until the lights come back on.”
Kenya’s High Court has ruled against unions seeking to prevent mechanical harvesting of tea
The appeals court decision follows a 2018 ruling that Unilever Tea Kenya had the right to adopt new technology. The Kenya Plantations and Agricultural Workers Union sought a universal ban on tea harvesting machines.
Biz Insight – Kenya’s flatland tea farms are uniquely suited to mechanical harvesting, but planters have faced stiff opposition to mechanization since 2010. In 2018 workers led a strike in protest. Lower courts sided with workers initially but were overturned on appeal, a reversal that allowed planters to dismiss all who joined the boycott. During confrontations, several pieces of expensive harvesting equipment was destroyed. The expansion of mechanical harvesting (and subsequent loss of jobs) now appears likely.
An assortment of 2.5-inch Tea Bombs made with a sugar free shell by Confection Bombs. | Etsy
Bombs away
Tea encased in confectionary sold as Tea Bombs are easily created in partnership with a local candy company or with the use of silicon molds in your own tea shop. Made with a shell of liquid sugar, the two-inch translucent spheres can be filled with tea leaves, tea bags and a variety of inclusions such as edible flowers, spices, and herbs. The bomb explodes as hot water is poured into the cup, lightly sweetening the mix. Bright colors, food-safe glitter and sparkles add to the fun.
Biz Insight – Nudge Coffee bars are an example of beverages sold as food. Ultra fine powdered roasted coffee beans are processed with cocoa butter into a shelf-stable paste similar to Nutella that can be molded into bars. The company’s candy coated coffee pellets resemble M&Ms and deliver caffeine in consistent doses. Natural grocer Sprouts reports a strong debut among coffee lovers.
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Subtext
Avoid the chaos of social media and start a conversation that matters. Subtext’s message-based platform lets you privately ask meaningful questions of the tea experts, academics and Tea Biz journalists reporting from the tea lands. You see their responses via SMS texts which are sent direct to your phone. Visit our website and subscribe to Subtext to instantly connect with the most connected people in tea.
