• Tea Biz Podcast | Episode 23

    Tea Biz Podcast Logo

    Hear the Headlines

    | Sri Lanka’s Clean Tea Ambitions
    | COVID’s Toll on Tea Garden Workers
    | Tea Day Auction Yields Record Prices
    | Nayuki’s Lucrative IPO

    Tea Price Report

    The worst of the pandemic’s second wave seems to be behind India as the number of cases have come down in many parts of the country, and lockdown restrictions are slowly being lifted. The focus now turns to production and prices across auction centres. Read more…

    Features

    Tea Biz this week travels to Boulder, Colo. where Maria Uspenski, founder of The Tea Spot explains the relationship of beneficial adaptogens and tea…

    …and then to Milwaukee, Wis., where Jeff Champeau, vice president of business development at Rishi Tea & Botanicals, explains that marketing seasonality is a great way to introduce craft-brewed tea into our lives.

    Maria Uspenski
    Maria Uspenski

    Adaptogens and Tea

    By Marilyn Zink | Herbal Collective Magazine

    Our guest this week is Maria Uspenski, a cancer survivor, and author of Cancer Hates Tea. In 2004 Maria founded The Tea Spot, a tea wholesaler and teaware design company in Boulder, Colo.  Read more…

    Maria Uspenski on Adaptogens and Tea
    Jeff Champeau, vice president of business development at Rishi Tea & Botanicals
    Jeff Champeau, vice president of business development at Rishi Tea & Botanicals

    Healthful Effervescence

    By Dan Bolton

    Tea is on a trajectory akin to small-batch, craft-brewed beer where carefully selected ingredients are individually prepared to showcase their best characteristics. Recipes emphasize balance, with efficacy and taste foremost. Excellence in blending and brewing preserves high concentrations of polyphenols and other beneficial plant compounds with minimum calories, nothing artificial, the convenience of cans – and the fun of fizz. Read more…

    Jeff Champeau on sparkling craft-brewed teas
    Jayampathy Molligoda, Chairman SLTB
    Jayampathy Molligoda, Chairman Sri Lanka Tea Board

    Sri Lanka’s Clean Tea Ambitions

    By Dan Bolton

    The Sri Lankan government’s ban on chemical fertilizers including nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium urea pellets, in favor of organic fertilizers is generating vigorous debate as the tea industry weighs methods for increasing yield.

    Jayampathy Molligoda, chairman of the Sri Lanka Tea Board, attributes the gradual decline in productivity in Sri Lanka’s tea gardens to continuous application of chemical fertilizer. In a 2,500-word article titled “Sustainable Solution to the Decline in Tea Production, Export Revenue and Livelihood” Molligoda advocates a “radical shift in our perceptions, our thinking, and our values.” He writes that the only viable solutions are those that are sustainable.

    His views are in sync with business leaders in Sri Lanka from many industry sectors, who are advocating a “green normal” in which companies collaborate to protect nature. One such coalition, known as Biodiversity Sri Lanka (BSL), is at the heart of building “truly sustainable economies and livelihoods.”

    Molligoda’s challenge is science as critics point to the myriad difficulties of switching from a compact, precisely applied plant food to a bulky and much more expensive alternate. Organic fertilizers are limited in their capacity to deliver nitrogen (12%) compared to chemical fertilizers (46%) and the price can be 50 times greater per kilo than synthetics that sell for less than $1 per kilo.

    Sri Lanka’s growers can produce enough fertilizer for 100,000 hectares and the nation’s 27 licensed domestic organic fertilizer manufacturers can provide enough fertilizer for 224,000 hectares. The country will have to import sufficient fertilizer essential for 500,000 hectares of paddy land and 600,000 hectares of other crops, including tea, according to a report in Economy Next.

    BSL is chaired by Dilmah Tea CEO Dilhan Fernando who writes that, “beyond the pandemic, we all face a threat that could literally suffocate, starve and extinguish humanity. The measures we must take now to assure our health, food security, and survival must be universal, science-based, innovative, and definite.”

    Biz Insight – The prize for Sri Lanka are teas that not only reflect the island nation’s extraordinary terroir but demonstrate in laboratory tests a level of purity no other tea producing country has achieved. In short, Sri Lanka will grow the cleanest teas in the world.

    COVID's Toll on India's Tea Gardens
    COVID’s Toll on India’s Tea Gardens

    COVID’s Toll on India’s Tea Gardens

    Last year the coronavirus pandemic plunged India’s economy into a recession for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century. Tea production, tea exports, and tea retail all suffered, but rural workers were largely spared the high death counts experienced in the nation’s crowded cities.

    That is no longer the case as the COVID-19 second wave crests. The tea industry employs 3.5 million workers who reside in small homes and who rely on crowded vans for transport, resulting in much higher rates of infection than in 2020. Currently more than half of the 800 tea gardens in Assam and 300 of the registered gardens in West Bengal report active cases. Confirmation in a single tea estate of 20 or more cases results in the designation of containment zones. There are now 3,000 active cases among tea workers in Assam, but deaths of tea workers are rare at 102. Kerala reported 331 deaths of tea workers with 11 in Tamil Nadu. On June 15 West Bengal reported 4,371 active cases and 84 deaths.

    The rate of infection has dropped significantly since May, but vaccine hesitancy remains ‘rampant.’ Fewer than 100,000 tea workers in Assam have received their first shot with only 6,000 getting the required booster so far. Globally only 10% of the world’s population had been vaccinated as of June. Read more…

    Jorhat Tea Auction Centre
    Jorhat Tea Auction Centre

    Tea Day e-Marketplace Auction Yields Record Prices

    Selections of Indian tea harvested on May 21, International Tea Day, sold at record prices this week on a cloud-based digital marketplace launched at the height of the pandemic.

    The auction was conducted by mjunction, India’s largest B2B e-commerce platform.

    A whole leaf tea from Pabhojan Tea Estate sold for INRs 4000 (about $54 per kilo US) with a specialty green from Diroibam earning a winning bid of INRs 1000 (about $13.50 per kilo US). More than 93% of the teas on offer were sold.

    Pabhojan Tea Estate INRs4000 Record Price
    The Pabhojan Tea Estate orthodox above brought INRs 4000 ($54 per kilo)

    Additional tea estates with lots sold includ Lankashi, Aideobari, Muktabari, Rungliting, Narayanpur Panbarry, Durgapur, Tirual, and Kathonibari.

    Since June 2020 the marketplace’s 300 registered users have traded 1.3 million kilos of tea. Read more…

    Nayuki’s Lucrative IPO

    China’s fresh-fruit, bubble, and foam-cheese tea chain Nayuki debuted with a $656 million valuation this week on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Shares of the initial public offering traded at nearly $20 and were 190 times oversubscribed. Husband Zhao Lin and wife Peng Lin opened their first store in Shenzhen in 2014. Each is now a billionaire based on their holdings.

    The company operates 500 locations in China with 300 more planned in 2021 and 350 in 2022. International locations include Japan and the US. The IPO debuted before a planned IPO by cross-town rival Hey Tea, a larger venture with 450 Chinese locations that has also established a foothold in the US.

    Nayuki introduces a new flavored tea weekly
    Nayuki introduces a new flavored tea weekly

    Share this episode with your friends in tea.

    Sign up
    News Archives
    Tea Journey
    https://teabiz.sounder.fm/episode/news-01212021

    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.

    Subscribe to Subtext

    Subscribe and receive Tea Biz weekly in your inbox.

    •

    Dan Bolton

    •

    ,
    , , , , , , , , , ,

  • India’s Cloud Auction Option

    Jorhat Tea Auction Centre
    Jorhat Tea e-Marketplace in Assam, India is the nexus of five major tea-growing districts with annual output of more than 200 million kg,

    Tea Day e-Auction Highlights Boutique Teas

    Buyers seeking quick turn-around of fresh tea from specialty and smallholder gardens in India bid record prices at a the first International Tea Day auction, the latest of 1.3 million kilos of tea traded since June 2020. All teas on offer were plucked May 21.

    The e-Marketplace at Jorhat is cloud-based making it accessible to buyers around the world.

    There are currently six auction centers in physical locations, each run by a separate committee which acts as the auction organizer, all sharing an electronic auction system pioneered by the Tea Board of India. About 500 million kg of tea out of India’s annual estimated at 1,350.

    “We created India’s first e-marketplace for buying and selling bulk tea. Along similar lines, we want to develop an international e-marketplace where foreign buyers can directly buy fresh tea from the gardens in the shortest possible time with complete transparency” says mjunction managing director Vinaya Varma.

    Vinaya Varma
    Vinaya Varma

    The International Tea Day Special Auction on June 21 was organized by mjunction Services, India’s largest B2B e-commerce company. The e-Marketplace launched last year amidst the lockdown. India offers a wide bouquet of teas across the year and ships regularly  to more than 90 countries. At a webinar on the occasion of International Day, Indian Tea Association Chairman Vivek Goenka said that India has set an export target of 300 million kg by 2023 — a 20% increase by next 2-3 years.

    Mjunction is an equal joint venture of Tata Steel and SAIL (the Steel Authority of India), is India’s largest B2B e-commerce company and a leading e-marketplace for steel in the world. Since inception in 2001, mjunction has e-transacted over INRs 1,053,663 crore ($142 billion) on its various e-platforms (an Indian crore is currently valued at $135,000 USD).

    Varma said there is a lot of excitement amongst stakeholders on the teas offered in the special auction and have got tremendous response and fetched some record prices. “More than 93% of the total teas on offer got sold. Buyers had logged in from Assam, West Bengal, Delhi, Gujarat, and Rajasthan,” he said.

    Nilesh Divekar of Shangrila Enterprise, who purchased Pabhojan Orthodox at Rs 4,000 per kg, said he  appreciates the efforts of the mjunction team to provide such a platform where best of the teas are available fresh and in small quantities without any hassles.

     Most of the best marks of Upper Assam like Hookhmol, Lankashi, Diroibam, Aideobari Premium, Muktabari, Rungliting Tea Estate, Narayanpur Panbarry, Durgapur, Tirual, Arin, Kathonibari, Friends Tea and Pabhojan participated.

    Pabhojan Tea Estate INRs4000 Record Price
    The Pabhojan Tea Estate orthodox tea pictured above brought a record INRs 4000 ($54 per kilo)

    Pabhojan Orthodox tea was sold at a record price of INRs 4,000 per kg. Diroibam Speciality Green tea was sold at INRs 1000 per kg, and a Hookhmol CTC tea fetched INRs 510 per kg – also record prices in their respective categories.

     Rakhi Dutta Saikia of Pabhojan Organic Tea Estate  lauded mjunction’s efforts on the occasion. “I am very happy that Pabhojan has fetched a record price, and  hope the mjunction platform continues the good work,” she said.

     Dr. Nazrana Ahmed of Diroibam Tea Estate, whose Green Tea was sold at INRs 1,000 per kg, said, “Today’s special auction is of special significance to us, as we have received the highest bid for our Specialty Green Teas. We are happy with the professional approach of the mjunction team and the trust reposed on the platform by the buyers.”

     He said the company is trying to make small tea growers’ tea available to the connoisseurs of tea worldwide.

     “Our Jorhat office is in constant touch with the small tea growers  segment. There is a lot of interest from STG to be part of our platform.

    We are very well aware of their struggle and contribution to the tea industry in Assam as well as the rest of the country. “mjunction is also very well aware that many of these small tea growers are producing some of the finest handcrafted tea in the country. Some of the tea is also organic and there is a huge demand in the world market for such tea” he said.

    He said in one year, it has  been able to bring a lot of buyers and sellers who have been outside the purview of auctions till now. There are many first-time tea entrepreneurs who are now associated with our platform.

     “We hold weekly sales. Our first sale was on June 1, 2020 and since then we have not dropped a single weekly sale. During the past year the e-Marketplace connected with hundreds of sellers and buyers across the country, fetched some record prices and received offerings of more than 1.3 million kg of tea from Assam, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh. Nearly 300 stakeholders, consisting of major tea buyers and sellers, are registered in this tea e-marketplace.

     “The founding principles and processes of our e-marketplace and Tea Board are different, so a comparison is not really possible,” he said.

     The event organized by mjunction elicited positive response from buyers and sellers alike. Kamal Sharma and Pradeep Sharma, Directors of Tea World who purchased Hookhmol CTC from the platform at INRs 510 per kg, said, “With shorter cycle time, teas sold on the mjunction platform are the freshest. We are pleased to have bagged Hookhmol. We have had our own packet with brand name Shree Mangalam since 2002, and we are committed to give our customers the best of Assam tea.”

    “While the pandemic hit the industry adversely, it has also given us a chance to let go of inefficient and archaic systems. If we look around in the last one year, the adoption of technology and digital platforms has been wide, deep and rapid. Similarly, the industry leaders must think of ways to include technology in plantation, manufacturing, trading etc while focussing on delivering quality produce.

     “I am optimistic about the Indian tea industry picking up using new-age processes and technologies,” he said.

     “Many specialty tea producers from North East India have approached our Jorhat office for inclusion. We are going to have separate catalogues for specialty teas and we are expanding our buyer base of Speciality teas” he said.

     He said the company will shortly be introducing Buyer and Seller Finance. Again this will be a first of its kind in the industry, as this shall be provided through the platform in a transparent manner. “We are also planning a B2B bulk packet platform, where single-origin and other packeteers may directly sell to retailers across the country, without intermediaries,” he added.

     The company is focused on bringing down the sales cycle-time and making freshly produced tea available in the market, directly from the producing region in the shortest possible time. “We want to make the supply-chain efficient, and ease up the working capital burden of the stakeholders,” Varma added.

    Share this post with your colleagues

    Signup to receive Tea Biz weekly in your inbox.

    •

    Roopak Goswami

    •

    , , , , , , , , , ,

  • COVID’s Toll

    COVID's Toll on India's Tea Estates
    India’s tea industry is excempt from lockdowns but there are limits on workers in factories and masks are mandatory.

    COVID-19 2nd Wave Strikes Blow to Rural India

    Rural India is home to 895 million of the nation’s 1.35 billion people, most of whom live in small villages and towns.

    Last year the coronavirus pandemic plunged India’s economy into a recession for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century. Domestic consumption decline so severely that the economy contractedd by an estimated 7.7% according to the OECD’s Economic Outlook 2021.

    Agriculture accounts for a third of India’s gross domestic product and tea production, tea exports and tea retail all suffered. Agrarian workers, however, were largely spared the high death counts experienced in the nation’s cities.

    That is no longer the case as the COVID 2nd Wave crests. India’s tea industry employs 3.5 million workers who reside in small homes and are reliant on crowded vans for transport, resulting in much higher rates of infection this spring than in 2020.

    Although the tea industry is designated essential and therefore exempt from the strict lockdowns ordered in 2020, containment zones are in place at more than half of Assam’s 800 registered gardens. A combination of dry weather and reductions in labor due to COVID restrictions depressed harvest totals during the first six months of 2021.

    The situation is less dire in the Nilgiris following a major push by Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma. Subramanian. The state ministry prioritized tea workers and reported June 28 that all tea estate workers and factory workers have received a first shot and that 21,500 of 27,500 tea workers in tribal communities had been vaccinated. The ministry has vaccinated 289,000 individuals to date and will soon begin administering booster shots.

    Situation summary

    • Daily wage earners face reduced hours and fewer work days harvesting and processing tea. Declines of INRs 250-500 daily are common. As a result, many now find it difficult to meet daily food and loan obligations. Pay varies by region and there are incentives for the most productive workers, but wages are low at INRs 7,000 ($96) per month.
    • Testing is inadquate. Rapid antigen tests are available but workers, most without vehicles, must travel long distances to testing centers. Traffic restrictions limit travel between districts.
    • Hospitalization is expensive. Sugarcane grower Dattatray Bagal, told The Economic Times that a hospital bill of INRs 820,000 ($11,191) to care for his father, who died of COVID-19, “not only exhausted our savings but also forced us to borrow from relatives.” Some farmers were hit so badly that they don’t have money to buy seeds and fertilizers to plant summer-sown crops such as corn and soybean, according to the newspaper.
    • Accustomed to malaria (6.7 milllion cases in India, 9,620 deaths annually), tuberculosis (440,000 deaths annually) many workers are far more fearful of diseses they know. Mandatory quarantines and isolation during hospitalization lead to rumors that once someone is taken away, COVID victims never return.
    • Hospitals in the tea growing regions are small and generally equipped to provide only first aid and basic medical care. Few are staffed with full-time doctors and nurses. Medicines for fever, headaches, stomachaches are in short supply.
    • Many who fall ill restort to home remedies, fearful they will be sent to a COVID Care Centre (mandatory in Assam). Standard contact tracing often identifies family members who work at the estate, as well as neighbors and friends of those who test positive, leading to 15-day quarantines and loss of wages.
    • Tea workers do not receive paid leave. Central and state governments have issued pandemic guidelines for paid leave. West Bengal’s Department of Personnel and Training instituted its paid leave policy June 7. Categories include commuted leave, special casual leave, earned leave, half-pay leave for any government worker who tests positive for COVID. Tea Estates are asked to consider the same.

    Christian Kharia, who lives at Nagasuree tea garden and is the president of the UBCSS (Uttar Bangal Chai Shramik Sangathan) said that “People in the tea gardens are very casual about COVID. They treat it like any other sickness. People are not following COVID protocols.”

    Workers Face Long Term Financial Setback

    In India, in 2019, there were are an estimated 138 million subsistence households earning $1,000 to $5,000 a year, ($85 to $400 per month), according to Statista. The impact of COVID-19 on household income will slow that growth due to lost hours and a significant decline in commerce due to lockdowns.

    Prior to the pandemic, income growth was projected at 5% in rural India with the lower middle class expected to expand to 131 million households earning $5,000 to $10,000 annually by 2022, up from 92 million households in 2019. The 30 million rural households earning $10,000 to $25,000 were estimated to grow to 48 million by 2022, according to Statista market research.

    The pandemic dashed that promising outlook, taking its toll in every sector.

    Deaths Due to COVID-19

    COVID-19 ImpactAssamWest BengalKarnatakaKeralaTamil Nadu
    Population (2020 in Millions)35.99729696.78684868.809637.9612888.32544
    Population Density (per k2)3971,029 320860550
    Tea Garden Workers (registered)
    Tea Smallholders1.3 million
    Infections (curent)39,837
    Confirmed Cases (total)466,590100,437
    Positives per 100 tests (Positivity)
    COVID Deaths4,0387,663
    Compiled from state and territory COVID websites. Click link to view source for latest updates. | Updated 1 July 2021.

    Assam

    Update 6-29: Assam is reporting that a high percentage (12%) of those testing positive are young people under 18 with 5,778 under five years of age, according to the National Health Mission. Deaths number 34 since April. During the second wave 280,504 have so far tested positive in Assam. The Deccan Herald writes that 28,851 of those who tested positive were between the ages of 6-18 years.

    Dibrugarh reported 2,430 cases among children, which was 12.19% of total cases. Nagaon was third with 2,288 cases (14.38%) followed by Kamrup (2,023) and Sonitpur (1,839). During the first wave, 8% of those who tested positive were younger than 18 years, according to the National Health Mission.

    Update 6-28: Vaccination sites are active at 415 tea estates as of June 22. In Assam 99,701 tea workers have received a first shot and 6,027 have received a second shot. A total of 508 tea estates reported COVID cases. Those with 20 or more were ordered to designate containment zones and activate COVID Care Centres.

    During the period May 18-28 Assam recorded a 300% spike in COVID cases, according to Bidyananda Barkakoty, adviser at the North Eastern Tea Association (NETA). He said that the number of workers in the factory and fields was reduced by half. Workers who tested positive are forced to stay at Covid Centres to prevent spreading the virus to their families.

    OVERVIEW

    Assam’s 800 registered tea estates and 1.3 million smallholders produced 725,000 metric tons in 2019. Last year Assam’s big gardens produced 336,000 metric tons and smallholders produced 290,0000 metric tons for a combined 626,000 metric tons. Production is expected to decline by 20-25% as a result of dry weather and COVID mandates that reduce the first flush production by 60,000 metric tons. About 18% of Assam’s population works in tea.

    Assam (Tea Estate Workers)

    LocationTea Workers
    Active Cases    		Tea Wokers
    Total Cases    		Tea Workers
    Recovered    		Deceased
    Tea Workers
    DibugrahN/A N/A N/A
    Jorhat N/A N/A N/A
    Guwaharti N/A N/A N/A
    xxxx N/A N/A N/A
    Total2,81713,22910,410 102
    Source: North Eastern Tea Association (NETA) | 2nd Wave March-June

    Tamil Nadu (Nilgiris)

    Updated 6-23 Active cases stand at 6,895 for the Nilgiris. The state government has also placed Nilgiris on the priority list for vaccinations, as the drive continues.

    Mobile vans deployed for vaccination drive in the Nilgiris

    Supriya Sahu (IAS), COVID Monitoring Officer for the Nilgiris said, “The population of tribals in the Nilgiris stands at 27,000 of which 21,500 are 18 years and older. We have so far vaccinated 15,414 tribals. We are involving Primary Health Centres (PHC) and Block Medical Officers completely in the planning. Everyday, they inform the NGOs about the number of vaccine doses that are coming in so that the NGO teams can mobilise people in different villages. The PHCs then follow that list in a true example of bottom up community-owned planning. We had launched an awareness programme with NGOs to break the vaccine hesitancy. Key was to try and mobilise the entire village and not just individuals so that we can achieve 100% coverage in a village.”

    Tamil Nadu (Nilgiris Tea Estate Workers)

    Location Active
    Cases     		Tea Workers
    Hospitalized     		Deceased
    Tea Workers
    Coonoor549637
    Udhagamandalam6740
    Kotagiri97131
    Gudalur294333
    Total1,00711311
    Source: Supriya Sahu | 2nd Wave March – June 23, 2021

    Kerala

    Updated 6-23: According to the state COVID portal, on 1st April, Kerala had recorded 4,632 deaths from COVID-19 and active cases were at 26,201. The first reported death was 30th March, 2020. On 22nd June, the number of active cases were 100,437 with fatalities between 1st April, 2021 and 22nd June, 2021 reported at 7,663. 

    The main tea-growing districts of Wayanad and Idukki saw slightly lower numbers than other districts in the state. The two districts combined report 331 deaths and have 9019 active cases as of 22nd June 2021. Vaccinations are underway with 28.17% vaccinated at present. Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram districts on the other hand, were more severely affected. Palakkad reported over 1000 deaths from COVID so far, with 7,320 active cases as of 22nd June, 2021. Thiruvananthapuram was the worst affected district and currently has nearly 100,000 active cases. Reported fatalities stood at 2,562 in this district. 

    Ashok Dugar of Chinnar Tea said that the 2nd Wave saw more cases and the workers were reluctant to shift to the isolation centres. So at their estate, the 30-bed hospital was converted to a District COVID Care Centre in May. They are also preparing for the 3rd Wave now. The disruption in production that came with the first wave was not there in the second wave as tea was exempted from lockdown.

    He added that estate managements who have large infrastructure and ready machinery should come forward to set up and upgrade their facilities to take care of not only their own but neighbouring patients in the remote rural areas, which will be great relief to the government’s much-stressed resources .

    Kerala (Tea Estate Workers)

    Location Active
    Cases     		Tea Workers
    Hospitalized     		Deceased
    Tea Workers
    Idukki 5,244 N/A N/A
    Wayanad 3,215 N/A N/A
    Total 8,659 N/A 331
    Source: Kerala COVID Portal | 2nd Wave April 1 – June 23

    West Bengal

    Updated 6-1: In West Bengal, more than 4,500 cases have been recorded across 300 of the state’s 800 tea gardens, according to government data, as reported by Thomas Reuters Foundation.

    West Bengal (Tea Estate Workers)

    Location Active
    Cases     		Tea Workers
    Hospitalized     		Deceased
    Tea Workers
    DarjeelingN/A N/A N/A
    Dooars N/A N/A N/A
    Terai N/A N/A N/A
    xxxxx N/A N/A N/A
    Total N/A N/A N/A
    Source: West Bengal

    Regional Updates

    Tea Biz welcomes COVID updates from tea estates, labor unions, tea associations, medical and and government authorities. Write Dan Bolton, Aravinda Anantharaman (Nilgiris), or Roopak Goswami (Assam)

    Share this post with your colleagues

    Signup to receive Tea Biz weekly in your inbox.

    •

    Dan Bolton

    •

    , , , , , , , , ,

  • Tea Biz Podcast | Episode 22

    Tea Biz Podcast Logo

    Hear the Headlines

    | Cold Brew is Trending for Iced Tea Month
    | DAVIDsTEA in Canada Settles its Debts
    | Kenya Exports Surge but Auction Prices Remain Low
    | PLUS Smith Teamaker’s Ravi Kroesen explains the company’s new plant-based café concept and Amy Dubin-Nath talks about the future of whole leaf Indian teas.

    Tea Price Report

    As India’s second flush gets underway, the mood is glum as the industry continues to deal with many challenges. Local media reports on rising imports of tea into India and in Darjeeling, producers have expressed concern about zero-duty imports from Nepal. Read more…

    Features

    Tea Biz this week travels to Columbus, Ohio to visit with Amy Dubin-Nath, founder of Janam Tea and an ad hoc India tea ambassador to the US.…

    …and then to Portland, Ore. where Ravi Kroesen, head teamaker at Smith Teamaker, explains the many uses of tea at the company’s recently opened plant-based café.

    Amy Dubin-Nath
    Amy Dubin-Nath

    India’s Spectacular Specialty Teas

    Amy Dubin-Nath sees a bright future for specialty teas originating in India, “but I don’t think it is going to be a quick flip where people are only after high end teas.” Instead, the process will be gradual, following a path similar to wine. “Do I want to see the spectacular teas of India keep selling at a high price?” she asks, “Yes, definitely, as that elevates the perceived value, making it something precious. I believe that message should be spread throughout the world — including in India.” Read more…

    Ravi Kroesen, Head Teamaker Smith Teamaker
    Ravi Kroesen, Head Teamaker at Smith Teamaker, Portland, Ore.

    A Plant-Based Café where Tea Reigns Supreme

    By Jessica Natale Wollard

    The intent of the new café concept, says Smith Teamaker Ravi Kroesen, is to “develop foods that really reflect our ethos of plants, as well as utilizing tea as an ingredient.” The new Smith Teamaker café sources locally with a menu that includes snacks, lattes and iced concoctions with full meals that demonstrate how tea and food can live in harmony from leaf to cup to plate. Read more…

    Cold Brewed Tea
    Cold Brewed Tea

    Iced Tea Month: Cold Brewed Teas are Trending

    By Dan Bolton

    The challenge of correctly steeping a delicate green to avoid bitterness disappears when the tea is brewed overnight in the fridge. “I’m cutting calories and want something more flavorful than water,” begins one Reddit thread. “Can you explain to a total cold brew newbie how to get the most flavorful green tea without additives.” The responses were enthusiastic and numerous, evidence that the technique rivals more traditional fresh-brewed, flash-chilled black tea.

    Whether boiling tea to pour over ice, or making cold brew, the tea to water ratio is critical. Begin with about twice the normal weight of tea, 6-8 tablespoons for 1.5 quarts (or 8-12 grams per 950 milliliters). Stale tea requires more leaves, quality whole leaf requires fewer. Make sure your vessel is airtight as tea will pick up the scent of leftovers.

    Allied Market Research estimates RTD tea generated $30 billion in 2019 and will grow 5.5% annually to $39 billion in 2027. Health-conscious millennials are driving sales. Mintel reports that 25% of new tea innovations are RTD. In China where 78% of consumers are frequent drinkers of freshly brewed hot tea, RTD enjoys 49% penetration, which is greater than tea bags, according to Mintel.

    Biz Insight – Cold brew coffee experienced remarkable five-year growth in both bottled ready-to-drink and foodservice. North America is the largest cold brew market globally with 66% market share, followed by Europe (17%) and Asia (11%). In the US – 2015 toles of cold brew coffee are expected to increase ten-fold from $110 million to $945 million in 2025, according to Statista market research. Three-sixty market research estimates the market globally will reach $2.8 billion by 2026.

    DAVIDsTEA Settles Debts

    A Quebec Superior Court approved the Montreal-based tea company’s plan to settle $118.2 million in claims for $18 million payable in July. A US Bankruptcy Court this week approved a similar plan for resolving debts owed by DAVIDsTEA’s US subsidiary.

    The settlements are a final step toward exiting a year-long reorganization precipitated by the closure of all but 18 of the company’s more than 200 locations. The settlement will be divided with $15.3 million going to Canadian creditors and $3.1 million to US creditors, according to PwC, Canada. The company has sufficient cash on hand to meet settlement obligations.


    Under the direction of CEO Sarah Segal, DAVIDsTEA has adopted a “digital first” market strategy for sales to consumers. Its wholesale products are now found in 2500 grocery and pharmacy outlets. The company reported sales of $40.2 million in fourth quarter 2020. Revenue from the fast-growing online and wholesale segment has increased from $42 million in 2019 to $97.2 million in 2020. Greatly reduced brick and mortar revenue now accounts for only 12.9% of total sales. Revenue overall declined 38% in 2020 leading to $55.9 million in losses.

    Kenya surge
    Kenya tea exports surge during first three months of 2021

    Kenya Tea Exports Surge

    Despite upheaval at the factory level, Kenya exported much higher tea volumes this year. First quarter exports increased 18.9% compared to 2020, according to the national Tea Directorate. Volume topped 153 million kilos, up from 128 million during the same period in 2020.

    Smallholders that produce 65% of the country’s tea experienced variable weather conditions in 2021 creating an overall decline in production during the first three months of 2021. Growers, primarily in the far west, harvested 18 million fewer kilos since January compared to the same quarter in 2020. Auction prices are on the rise, reaching $1.84 per kilo last week but remain below the $2 per kilo threshold considered essential to cover production costs. Weekly prices so far averaged $2 only once in 2021. Tea prices averaged $1.80 per kilo in 2020, down from $2.05 per kilo in 2019.

    Biz Insight* – Kenya’s tea growers are benefiting from payment of 50% of the total due thanks to national reforms instituted this spring. Half the price for green leaves delivered within the month to Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) factories, is paid by the 20th of the following month. The balance is paid in the fall at the end of the financial year. KTDA’s factories are owned by smallholders and managed by KTDA.

    *Corrected 6.20.2021

    Link to share this episode with your friends in tea.

    Sign up
    News Archives
    Tea Journey
    https://teabiz.sounder.fm/episode/news-01212021

    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.

    Subscribe to Subtext

    Subscribe and receive Tea Biz weekly in your inbox.

    •

    Dan Bolton

    •

    ,
    , , , , , , , , , ,

  • Tea Biz Podcast | Episode 21

    Tea Biz Podcast Logo

    Hear the Headlines

    | Inflation Dampens Enthusiasm Over Rising Tea Prices
    | India’s Tea Industry Under Duress
    | European Union Grants Rooibos GI Protection

    Tea Price Report

    While lockdowns continue, tea auctions in India resumed last week at all the major centers. In the Nilgiris, discussions on whether bought leaf factories can open are still underway.
    Read more…

    Features

    Tea Biz this week travels to Frankfurt Germany to discuss best practices in sustainable wholesale with Jan Holzapfel, owner of Ronnefeldt Tea, a 198-year-old company that is replacing its tea packaging this year with eco-friendly materials, embracing traceability, and reducing emissions by longer air freighting tea.

    … and then to London where Tea Biz Reviewer Kyle Whittington has a single word for INFUSED, a book by Rare Tea Founder Henrietta Lovell that describes her adventures in tea: “Wow,” he writes, “You really feel like you are sitting over a cup of tea with Henrietta as she regales you with her stories, the highs, the lows, and the off on a tangent.”

    Jan-Berend Holzapfel
    Jan-Berend Holzapfel, owners Ronnefeldt Tea

    Sustainable Wholesale

    Sustainable best practices at tea gardens are well established, but the rest of the supply chain offers significant opportunities to protect and conserve resources. Listen to the latest Tea Biz Newsmaker Q|A as Jan-Berend Holzapfel, owner of Germany’s Ronnefeldt Tea, discusses sustainable wholesale.

    Read more…

    Henrietta Lovell
    Rare Tea Lady Henrietta Lovell

    A Book to Re-ignite your Tea Flame

    You really feel like you are sitting over a cup of tea with Henrietta

    By Kyle Whittington | Tea Book Club

    Infused Adventures in Tea

    Wow! What a book! From start to finish Henrietta had me captivated, excited and enthralled by her world. A Tea Book unlike most, this is the very personal story of Henrietta’s adventures with tea in tea and all around tea. From her first fledgling sips out of dainty China Cups at Diana’s House as a child, we are taken along on a ride of reminiscence. With trips to far flung tea fields swathed in mist via the odd lightning strike or two we zip off to tea tastings with chefs at some of the best restaurants in the world, accompanied by her little yellow suitcase and strange meetings on trains. To name to mention but a few of her adventures. 

    Read more…

    Food Inflation
    Food Inflation

    Food Inflation Dampens Enthusiasm Over Rising Tea Prices

    By Dan Bolton

    In the US and Asia, an energetic post-pandemic recovery is underway. Demand is quickly rebounding as consumers spend down their savings and make up for the lost time. Consumers in the largest economies amassed $2.9 trillion in savings since March 2020, according to Bloomberg Economics.

    Now they are eager to spend.

    Retail sales in the US are projected to approach $4.5 trillion in 2021, according to the National Retail Federation. The NRF, which initially estimated 6.5% growth, increased its full-year GDP projection to 7%, the fastest rate in decades. In China, household income grew 13.7% during the first quarter of 2021.

    Widespread inflation is dampening that good news.

    The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reports inflation in member countries is at the highest level since 2008. Globally, food prices rose for the 12th consecutive month in May, according to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization. The FAO’s Food Price Index was 40% higher in May 2021 when compared to May 2020. The Bloomberg Commodity Spot Index, which tracks price changes across a range of metals and agricultural commodities, has jumped roughly 60% in the past 12 months.

    Food prices, including the cost of tea, are rising on demand. Tata Consumer Products, Nestlé and Unilever all announced price increases across their ranges in response to commodity inflation.

    Rooibos plants
    Rooibos Plants, South Africa

    EU Grants Rooibos GI Protection

    The European Union this week awarded Rooibos, which is also known as Red Bush tea, status as a protected geographic indication affording the same protection to products such as champagne and Irish Whiskey.

    The registration allows South Africa’s Rooibos industry to display the EU Seal if the tea consists of 100% Rooibos that is either cultivated or wild-harvested from local municipalities of the Western and North Cape provinces.

    The South African Rooibos Council welcomed the news. Council Chairperson Marin Bergh said that while it is important that nobody else use the name Rooibos “it also gives a certain status about quality, reliability, and sustainability – all those things that go together with a GI.”

    India’s Tea Industry Under Duress

    While the peak of the horrific second wave has passed, India’s tea industry remains under duress as the coronavirus simultaneously strikes down workers, limits plucking and processing, halts inter-district transport, and forces the early-day closure of restaurants and beverage stalls.

    The government estimates more than one million workers, mainly women, are losing productive days and wages due to the pandemic and inclement weather with the arriving monsoons.

    The delivery of 235,000 doses of vaccine this week halted a steep increase in Coronavirus caseloads in Assam’s tea gardens. Daily average infections in June are now 4,000 per week, down from almost 6,000 per week in May. Positivity rates remain high, forcing an extension through June 16 of lockdowns and a daily curfew from 1 pm through 5 am. Shops and restaurants must close by noon and inter-district transport is prohibited. The state reported 450,000 cases and 3,600 deaths. The seven-day average for new cases is 7,400 in West Bengal and 9,000 in Kerala.

    India reported fewer than 100,000 cases for a fifth day and while daily death totals are high at 4,000, this average is expected to decline as the drop in new cases continues. During the peak of the spring infections, from April 1 to May 6, India recorded 926,000 news with a positivity test of 26%. Testing continues at the same pace, but positivity has declined to an average 4%. Active cases are now at 1 million, according to the Union Health Ministry.

    Buyers at auction are finding it difficult to arrange for transport despite the fact tea is listed as an essential commodity. Drivers are in short supply and enforcement of restrictions that prohibit inter-district transport is inconsistent. The immediate impact is a spike in retail prices above records set in 2020. Buyers at auction are spending an average of INRs211 per kilogram in Assam and INRs125 per kilo in Tamil Nadu.

    Biz Insight – There is no slack in demand for tea. Tata Consumer Products reports that revenue from its beverage segment (which includes coffee) grew by 59.6% during the period January-March 2021. Volume was up 23% largely due to an increase in at-home consumption. India’s packaged tea market is estimated at $2.26 billion. An additional $1.3 billion is spent on tea from unbranded suppliers, according to ICICI Securities.

    Share this episode with your friends in tea.

    Sign up
    Archives
    Tea Journey
    https://teabiz.sounder.fm/episode/news-01212021

    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.

    Subscribe to Subtext

    Subscribe and receive Tea Biz weekly in your inbox.

    •

    Dan Bolton

    •

    ,
    , , , , , , ,
Verified by MonsterInsights