• UN Plans Global #TeaPower Promotion | Tea Advice Taken with a Grain of Salt | China Reports Tea Exports Declined in 2023

    UN #TeaPower Promotion Targets Younger Generations | Tea Advice Taken with a Grain of Salt | China Reports Tea Exports Declined in 2023

    Tea News for the week ending January 26, 2024
    Hear the Headlines | Seven-Minute Tea News Recap
    India Tea News | Aravinda Anantharaman

    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 to share insights on this event’s staying power and growing popularity.

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    Toronto Tea Festival Social Media and Marketing Director Rita Fong

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    Tea Power
    UN Tea & Health

    #TeaPower Marketing Campaign Targets Young Tea Drinkers

    By Roopak Goswami
    The Food and Agricultural Organisation’s Intergovernmental Group (FAO IGG) on Tea will launch a global health-focused promotional campaign targeting younger consumers looking for an alternative to sugary drinks.

    “There has been a global increase in consumer awareness of a healthy lifestyle, and dietary habits are changing in response to known linkages between diet and health. However, many campaigns are focused on health benefits that address the concerns of older generations,” the UN agency on tea said in a background paper on Tea and Health, slated for discussion at the 25th session of FAO IGG.

    Ajay Jalan, former president of the Tea Association of India, said, “In current times, health and wellness have become central factors in consumer choices, offering a unique opportunity for the tea industry to tap into new consumer markets, especially among Gen Z and millennials.”
    Tea Biz correspondent Roopak Goswami writes that the gathering provides a forum for intergovernmental consultation and exchange on trends in production, consumption, trade, and the price of tea, including a regular appraisal of the global market situation and short-term outlook.

    “The world market for tea continues to be in oversupply, as yields per hectare have risen without a matching increase in global demand. Critically, the next generation of consumers has a wide range of beverages to choose from, and Tea must compete for a share of throat,” according to IGG.
    This is the first time IGG has met in Assam, a tea-growing region that contributes around 12% of the world’s tea. The three-day session begins on Jan. 31 and is preceded by Batic 2024, a celebration of Assam’s bi-centenary of commercial tea production.

    “Tea Power is the perfect pitch for younger generations looking to increase their performance and energy levels while staying healthy. With carefully crafted messaging, we can create a powerful campaign that will inspire and encourage young people to make tea a part of their lifestyle.”

    – UN Working Group on Health & Tea
    Tongue in cheek release from US Embassy in UK
    Tongue in cheek release from US Embassy in UK

    British Take Tea Advice with a Grain of Salt

    By Dan Bolton

    Professor of Chemistry Michelle Francl caused an uproar this week with the publication Wednesday of her book “Steeped: The Chemistry of Tea.” 

    The text advises tea drinkers to add a pinch of salt to over-brewed tea, a recommendation found in 8th-century manuscripts from China. 

    She reports that salt ions block the bitter receptors in your mouth, resulting in a tea that tastes less bitter.

    The tongue-in-cheek response in media that quoted “agast” British culinary and beverage experts drew the attention of the U.S. Embassy in the U.K.

    “American chemist inspires a moment of diplomatic levity with controversial brewing suggestions,” reads a headline in The Guardian. “US Pledges Support for UK After Egghead Suggests Putting Salt in Tea,” reads a headline in Politico.

    A satirical release said her findings regarding “the elixir of camaraderie, a sacred bond that unites our nations,” could jeopardize relations, placing diplomacy in “hot water.” 

    The ambassador cannot “stand idly by as such an outrageous proposal threatens the very foundation of our Special Relationship,” reads the release. The Embassy declared that adding salt is not official U.S. policy and “never will be,” and jokingly chastised Francl, whose advice in the text is sound.

    Francl, who teaches chemistry at Bryn Mawr, recommends loose-leaf tea. Those seeking convenience will find a large tea bag allows better infusion than a small one. Dunking reduces the release of tannins, she advises, lending scientific backing to the adage  “brew, don’t stew.” Remove the lid from a takeaway cup to enjoy the aroma, she says, and add a squirt of lemon juice to disburse tea scum in the cup.

    Related: The Physics of Black Tea Film

    Francl called for scalding a stout mug before pouring from the pot as the warmth increases the amount of caffeine and antioxidants released. She suggests tea drinkers should not be “miffy” (milk in first). Milk should be warmed before it is added to the tea to prevent curdling. Fancl, who analyzed research papers, ancient texts, and several books on the topic, wrote the book to educate others on how to make a better-tasting tea. She observed with a scolding:

    “I’ve had better cups of tea in gas stations in Ireland than very nice restaurants in the U.S., she told Forbes.

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    Episode 152 | UN #TeaPower Promotion Targets Younger Generations | Tea Advice to Take with a Grain of Salt | China Reports Tea Exports Declined in 2023 | PLUS  Toronto Tea Festival Social Media Manager and Marketing Director Rita Fong share insights on this event’s staying power and growing popularity.

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

    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

    Tea News for the week ending Dec. 22
    Hear the Headlines | Seven-Minute Tea News Recap
    India Tea News Update

    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.

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    Bigelow Tea President and CEO Cindi Bigelow reflects on her father’s innovations in specialty tea

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    Shipping Shock Tea Rerouted to Avoid Drone and Missile Attacks

    Shipping Shock: Missile Threat Diverts Suez-Bound Tea Cargo

    Houthi missile and drone attacks in the Red Sea are diverting ships laden with tea away from the industry’s primary access to Europe, costing time and money.

    Passage through the 120-mile Suez Canal connecting Europe with Asia is one of the world’s most important maritime choke points. A shipping crisis unfolds at the southern strait called Bab-el-Mandeb (the gate of tears). Yemen-based insurgents have deployed hundreds of drones and fired the first anti-ship ballistic missile to strike a commercial vessel, Palatium III.

    This week’s decision by all major shipping lines to bypass the Red Sea route will affect 53% of the global container trade. Dry bulk carriers, oil tankers, and smaller container ships will likely follow their lead. War risk insurance rates have spiked along with the price of oil. About 9.2 million barrels daily transit the canal, approximately 9% of global demand and 4% of the world’s liquid natural gas (LNG).

    The US, UK, and French navies are providing escort with the USS Carney downing a swarm of 14 drones.

    On Dec. 17, the Suez Canal Authority reported that 55 ships that were scheduled to transit the canal had been diverted. That same day, 77 ships passed through the canal, a much higher number than the 50-ship daily average.

    Tea bound for the UK, Rotterdam, and German ports from the UAE, East Africa, and Asia will now travel approximately 11,169 nautical miles around Africa, compared to 6,436 via the Red Sea and Suez Canal. Adding transit days is costly. Operating a container ship costs between $25,000 and $85,000 per day, excluding fuel, which adds up to $130,000 daily. Transit from India to the UK vial the Suez Canal is usually 17 to 21 days. Alternate routes can take five to six weeks.

    In 1869, when the eight-meter (26-foot) deep canal opened, the largest ship that could pass was 5,000 tons, but the cost of transportation and access to the Indian and Sri Lankan was far easier, making Suez a primary trade route for tea. Over 20,000 ships carrying approximately 12% of global trade each year pass through the Suez Canal, carrying 30% of all global container traffic and more than $1 trillion in goods yearly.

    Debsh Tea executives, CEO Akbar Rahimi (4th left). Photo appears on Debsh website.
    Debsh Tea executives and CEO Akbar Rahimi (4th left). The photo appears on Debsh Tea’s website.

    Iran Tea Company CEO Implicated in $3.7 Billion Embezzlement Scandal

    By Dan Bolton

    Akbar Rahimi, the CEO of Iran’s leading tea company, is under arrest, accused of a five-year embezzlement scheme that generated $3.37 billion in ill-gotten gain.

    Privately held Debsh Agriculture and Industrial Group engaged in “large-scale financial malpractice” dating to the presidency of Hassan Rouhani in 2018, according to NCRI. The publication cited unnamed government sources.

    “Several banks, institutions, and ministries, including the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Customs Administration, the Central Bank, the Trade Development Organization, and the regime’s Food and Drug Organization, have been implicated in this widespread corruption scheme,” writes NCRI (National Council of Resistance of Iran).

    Here is how it unfolded

    Debsh Tea ordered grade 1 Darjeeling tea at $14 per kilogram to mislead resellers. In practice, it imported far greater quantities of tea from Kenya and seconds from Iran that sold for $2 per kilogram “with the Food and Drug Organization confirming the quality of the imported teas,” according to NCRI. Origins were falsified, and corrupt customs officials apparently looked away.

    The company also bought domestically grown tea and “re-imported” it, masquerading as expensive foreign grades.

    The tea was traded at the Central Bank’s official exchange rate, known as the “Nimaee-dollar,” which values US dollars at 37,000 tomans, “a rate accessible exclusively to traders affiliated with the regime,” according to NCRI. This compares to the market exchange rate, which hovers around 50,000 tomans per dollar [USD$1 equaled 42,340 IRR on 12/20/23]. “Consequently, each dollar contributes approximately 13,000 tomans to the coffers of the regime’s embezzlers. When multiplied by the billions of dollars received in foreign exchange, this translates to astronomical figures,” writes NCRI.

    Iran’s General Inspection Organization noted a spike in the annual budget, which usually allocates around $300 million for tea imports. The government’s allocation for tea and tea processing equipment tripled in 2021, with $1.472 billion earmarked for machinery.

    Imports totaled 110,000 metric tons, about double the usual amount – quantities sufficient to depress sales of domestically produced tea.

    “Tea cultivators have suffered huge losses,” writes Maryam Shokrani with the state-run Sargh daily newspaper. Mohammad Sadegh Hassani, executive director of the Union of Northern Tea Factories, told NCRI the embezzlement scheme “upset the market balance, confronted the industry with a crisis, and led to the accumulation of a large volume of tea in warehouses.”

    Akbar Rahimi is one of a group known colloquially in Iran as the “smuggling brothers,” who were implicated in another significant case related to irregularities in the import of paper at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. The term “smuggling brothers” refers to organized groups exploiting state connections, particularly with the Revolutionary Guards, to conduct extensive trafficking to bypass international sanctions,” according to NCRI.

    Judiciary spokesman Masoud Stayeshi, on Dec. 5, confirmed, “Various collaborations have been made with this company [Debsh], and a significant amount of foreign exchange and national resources have been allocated to this issue.” Other Islamic Republic officials implicated in the embezzlement include Javad Sadatinejad, the Minister of Agriculture, who resigned in April; governors of the Central Bank; chiefs of the Iranian Customs Administration, and others.

    Iran International reported that Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje said the government had dismissed 60 individuals in the case and later clarified the dismissals included those involved in non-related incidents during the past two years. Government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi said earlier this week that several low and mid-ranking officials have been arrested over the case. According to Iran International, the company’s CEO, Akbar Rahimi, is reportedly under arrest. The court refused to name the suspected collaborators, several of whom are likely highly placed in the government of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

    Reformist newspaper Etemad writes that “the main problem is that, aside from a general headline, no details have been released.

    Iran’s Inspection Organization revealed irregularities on Nov. 30. Besides the abovementioned embezzlement, Rahimi may have traded $1.4 billion in Iranian government-held foreign currency on the open market. The case against government bodies that had provided foreign currency for the firm is to be sent to the Public and Revolution Court of Tehran for certain violations, according to IFP News.

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    Episode 148 | 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 | PLUS  Cindi Bigelow, President and CEO of R.C. Bigelow Tea pays tribute to her father David C. Bigelow, who passed in June at 96.

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  • COP28 Declaration is Good News for Tea Smallholders | Sun Garden Tea Merges with QTrade Teas | Goodricke Group Achieves Carbon Neutral

    COP28 Declaration is Good News for Tea Smallholders | Sun Garden Tea Merges with QTrade Teas | It’s Easier Now to Attend Chinese Tea Tradeshows | Goodricke Group Achieves Carbon Neutral Tea Production

    Tea News for the week ending Dec. 8
    Hear the Headlines | Seven-Minute Tea News Recap
    India Tea News | Aravinda Anantharaman

    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 during the company’s 25th Anniversary year to share valuable insights and a few missteps while traveling a long path to success.

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    Kevin Gascoyne on the 25th Anniversary of Camellia Sinensis tea in Montreal, Canada

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    Nepal-based civil society group Digo Bikas Institute holds an action on loss and damage during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) at Expo City in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Photo by Christopher Edralin UN/COP 28

    UN: Bring the Vulnerable to ‘Front of the Line’ for Climate Funding

    By Dan Bolton

    A Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action adopted by 134 delegates to COP 28 UAE will provide $2.5 billion to address agriculture-related climate issues.

    The declaration was accompanied by the announcement of several related initiatives, including a $200 million agriculture-related research partnership between the UAE and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

    UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment Mariam Mohammed Almheiri said, “Countries must put food systems and agriculture at the heart of their climate ambitions, addressing both global emissions and protecting the lives and livelihoods of farmers living on the front line of climate change.”

    According to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, some 3.5 billion people, nearly half of humanity, live in areas highly vulnerable to climate change. OCHA climate team head Greg Puley told the conference’s participants on Monday that it was a “grave injustice” that people on the frontlines of the climate crisis who were least responsible for it, too often found themselves “at the back of the line” for climate funding.

    Commentators and agriculture experts say COP 28 recognized the important link between food and climate in the declaration. Delegates affirming the statement represent 5.7 billion people, including 500 million farmers. The UN Conference of Parties resulted in the Paris Accords in 2015, signed by 200 countries that agreed to limit long-term global temperatures from increasing above 1.5C. Temperatures currently stand at 1.2C compared to pre-industrial times. Estimates suggest temperatures will increase by 2.4C to 2.7C by 2100. The window for keeping within the 1.5C limit is “rapidly narrowing,” according to the UN.

    Unilever called for urgent climate action. The company, still a major player in tea, has a visible leadership role in investing in renewable energy, switching to low-carbon feedstocks as alternatives to fossil-fuel-based chemicals, and pledging to protect and regenerate 1.5 million hectares of land, forests, and oceans by 2030. The company said it is already sourcing 93% of its electricity from renewable sources.

    “The world isn’t reducing emissions quickly enough to meet global targets and avoid climate breakdown,” writes Unilever, adding that it “calls on governments attending COP 28 to increase ambition and accelerate actions urgently, we can go further, faster in the race to net zero.”

    COP 28 Advisor Edward Leo Davey told VOA that genuine implementation of the declaration “will represent a significant positive step forward in the lives of smallholder farmers.”

    Farmers were encouraged to adopt sustainable practices, including organic farming and agroecology, to reduce harmful agrochemicals, conserve water resources, and protect soil health.

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    Episode 146 | COP28 Declaration is Good News for Tea Smallholders | Sun Garden Tea Merges with QTrade Teas | It’s Easier Now to Attend Chinese Tea Tradeshows | Goodricke Group Achieves Carbon Neutral Tea Production | PLUS Kevin Gascoyne. a partner at Montreal-based Camellia Sinensis shares valuable insights, innovations and a few missteps blazing a 25-year path to success. | Episode 146 |

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  • Holiday Shoppers Lose Confidence | Tanzania Debuts Digital Tea Auction in Dar es Salaam | Tea Barter: Egypt Offers Kenya a Blank Check

    Holiday Consumers Lose Confidence Before Black Friday Sales Begin | YouGov Survey of American Shoppers Finds 52% Won’t Shop on Black Friday | Tanzania Debuts Digital Tea Auction in Dar es Salaam | Tea Barter: Cash Short Egypt Offers Kenya a Blank Check

    Tea News for the week ending Nov. 17
    Hear the Headlines | Seven-Minute Tea News Recap

    Tanzania is the third-largest tea producer in Africa. Smallholders there 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. As Director General, Theophord C. Ndunguru is the voice of the Tanzania Smallholders Tea Development Agency (TSHTDA). In October, I traveled to Dar es Salaam to talk with Theophord and fellow tea board members to better understand the state of tea smallholders. Today’s report is an excerpt from our discussion.

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    Theophord C. Nduguru, Director General Tanzania Smallholders Tea Development Agency
    India News Update
    India Update | Aravinda Anantharaman

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    Tanzania launches digital tea auction
    Tanzania launched a digital tea auction on Nov. 13 in Dar es Salaam, selling 1,320 packages (66,920 kgs) with one-third of dust, 72% of secondaries, and 44% of brokers unsold.

    Tanzania Debuts Digital Tea Auction

    By Dan Bolton

    Tanzania conducted the inaugural Dar es Salaam digital tea auction this week, fulfilling a government mandate to stop exporting locally grown tea through the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

    Four gardens sold a combined 1,320 packages (66,920 kgs), leaving 58% of tea unsold. Marks on offer include Arc Mountain, Chivanjee, Diddira, Kwamkoro, Kibena, Ikanga, and Itona.

    Download Auction Report

    The East Africa Tea Trade Association (EATTA), which runs the Mombasa tea auction, said the competing auction did not impact prices at its twice-weekly sales. The East African reported Mombasa could lose 25% of its current volume if Dar es Salaam meets its goal of selling 65,000 metric tons weekly. Mombasa is the world’s largest tea auction by volume and, in 1992, became the first tea auction outside London to sell teas from multiple origins. Sales of teas from ten countries are offered year-round. The auction handled as much as 545 million kilos before the pandemic, but volume fell to 482 million kilograms of tea in 2022.

    Tea Board of Tanzania (TBT) Director General Mary Kipeja said the Dar es Salaam auction will lower costs, increase transparency, and make Tanzania a regional hub providing services to tea-growing countries in East Africa. Agriculture Ministry Permanent Secretary Gerald Mweli attended the auction, which drew the praise of President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

    The auction and related infrastructure improvements are part of the national 10-Year Industry Strategy adopted by Parliament. The program calls for increasing tea production from 33,000 tons of made tea to 90,000 tons annually by fiscal 2029/30.

    Players in the value chain will benefit, including buyers, brokers, warehouse operators, and transporters, and the port facilities at Tanga and Dar es Salaam, said Kipeja. “More Tanzanians will also be enticed with interests in tea cultivation and management, increasing production and quality of the produce,” she said.

    Sales of Tanzanian tea for export currently generate an average of $60 million in foreign exchange revenue. Direct employment is 50,000 and rising.

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    Episode 143 | Holiday Consumers Lose Confidence Before Black Friday Sales Begin | YouGov Survey of American Shoppers Finds 52% Won’t Shop on Black Friday | Tanzania Debuts Digital Tea Auction in Dar es Salaam | Tea Barter: Cash Short Egypt Offers Kenya a Blank Check | PLUS Tanzania is the third-largest tea producer in Africa. Smallholders there farm 48% of the country’s 23,800 hectares and collectively produce about 40% of the country’s green leaf. As Director General, Theophord C. Ndunguru is the voice of the Tanzania Smallholders Tea Development Agency. In October, I traveled to Dar es Salaam to talk with Theophord and fellow tea board members to better understand the state of tea smallholders. Today’s report is an excerpt from our discussion.

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    Ep 50-96

    Ep 97-143

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  • Starbucks Global Expansion Plans | Bangladesh May Finally Break an Elusive Tea Production Record | Adding Sugar and Cream Does Not Diminish Tea’s Health Benefits

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    Starbucks Announces Ambitious Global Expansion to Operate 55,000 Locations by 2030: Tea Played a Key Role in the Siren’s Record-setting Quarter | Bangladesh May Finally Break an Elusive Tea Production Record
    | Research Findings Challenge the Belief that Adding Cream and Sugar to Tea Negatively Impacts Health Outcomes

    Tea News for the week ending Nov. 10
    Hear the Headlines | Seven-Minute Tea News Recap

    PLUS | 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.

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    Jason Walker, Marketing Director Firsd Tea

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    Tea is a standout in record-setting quarter at Starbucks
    Chai stands out in a record-setting $9.4 billion fourth quarter at Starbucks, which announced plans to operate 55,000 locations by 2030, with 75% overseas.

    Starbucks Announces Ambitious Global Expansion

    By Dan Bolton

    Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan announced a record $9.4 billion fourth quarter to close a $36 billion fiscal year. Revenue was up 12% year-to-year.

    The company will expand to 55,000 locations by 2030, 75% overseas.

    Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Rachel Ruggeri said, “Our customers continue to favor more premium beverages, creating a new normal for mix and customization. To fuel this, we continue to lean in with innovation, offering our Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai Tea Latte, which boosted tea sales, and Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam, which has become a customization favorite with our customers.”

    Gingerbread chai is a hit, I recommend it, Narasimhan told Mad Money host Jim Cramer. Cold beverages, including tea and coffee, are driving sales. Customers add modifiers to cold drinks at a greater rate than hot, and it’s an easier process through the app than anywhere else. These transactions raise ticket and produce personal branding for Gen Z to broadcast via social, according to Ruggeri.

    During the past five years, Starbucks opened 9,000 new stores, 7,000 outside the US. In 2023, foreign locations, including 1,429 in Canada, outnumber for the first time the 16,255 US stores. There are now 6,800 stores in China. Starbucks said it will open an average of eight stores daily, many specially purposed as drive-thru only, double-sided drive-thru, and delivery-only locations. Drive-thru transactions account for 50% of US sales; delivery orders expanded by 24% in 2022. During its year-end earnings call, Narasimhan said the company will spend $3 billion in capital expenditures and grow to 41,000 locations by October 2024.

    “Our reinvention [announced in September 2022] is moving ahead of schedule, fueling revenue growth, efficiency, and margin expansion,” said Narasimhan.

    BIZ INSIGHT – Tea accounts for about 10-20% of beverage sales at coffee shops. Locations serving a wide range of hot and cold teas can increase that share to 20-30% or more. Beverage sales at Starbucks, including tea, generated about 75-80% of revenue, totaling $19.6 billion in FY22, with food products totaling $5.8 billion. Packaged and single-serve coffees and Teavana teas, ready-to-drink products, serveware, and ingredients contributed $6.9 billion, according to the company’s SEC 10-K filings.

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    Episode 142 | Starbucks Announces Ambitious Global Expansion to Operate 55,000 Locations by 2030 | Tea Played a Key Role in the Siren’s Record-setting $9.4 Billion Quarter | Bangladesh May Finally Break an Elusive Tea Production Record | Research Findings Challenge the Belief that Adding Cream and Sugar to Tea Negatively Impacts Health Outcomes PLUS Jason Walker, marketing director at Firsd Tea in New Jersey and one of the architects of the Chinese Sustainability Perspectives report, joins Tea Biz for an in-depth discussion of the results of this ongoing survey.

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