• Tea Biz Podcast | Episode 14

    Listen to the Tea Biz Podcast on iTunes | Spotify | Sounder | Stitcher | Alexa

    Hear the Headlines for the Week of April 23

    Hear the Headlines


    | Earth Day Takes on New Urgency
    | Restaurants are Rebounding
    | World Tea Expo Co-locates with The Nightclub & Bar Show in Las Vegas
    | Bubble Tea Boba is Languishing at Sea

    Listen to this week’s below, read the India Price Watch summary or subscribe to the in-depth Tea Price Report featuring a Q|A with ITA Secretary Sujit Patra. Click to read the China Tea Price Watch.

    This week’s India Tea Price Watch

    Features

    This week Tea Biz travels to the famed Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew to explore a prized collection of 174-year-old tea recently examined and catalogued for its organoleptic properties

    …and we visit Paris to learn how the Agency for the Promotion of Agricultural Product (AVPA) elevates the world’s tea origins.

    Horticulturalist Robert Fortune completed five expeditions to China. The paintings above, three of 24 in a series showing the processing of tea circa 1853 are in the Royal Botanic Gardens collection at Kew. Collection No. 33725. Photo courtesy Kew.

    Rediscovering 174 Year Old Tea

    By Dan Bolton

    In 2019, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew began analyzing the provenance of more than 300 tea specimens, mainly Chinese and Indian grown teas dating to the 1850s. Ethnobotanist Aurora Prehn began by examining labels. She then proceeded to record non-textual evidence experienced through sight, touch, and smell. She shares her findings and offers some interesting insights into the work of Horticulturalist Robert Fortune whose specimens are included in the collection. Listen as we learn about tea from 1853. Learn more…

    Ethnobotanist Aurora Prehn talks about tea from 1853.
    Presenting Tea Award
    Philippe Juglar, right, presents AVPA award to Chaminda Jayawardana, MD, Lumbini Tea Factory, Sri Lanka

    How AVPA Elevates Origins

    By Dan Bolton

    The Paris-based AVPA (Agency for the Promotion of Agricultural Products) is allied with tea producers globally. Recognition, professional education programs, and competitions build self-esteem and economic recognition that directs a larger share of the value chain to the country of origin.

    “This is why we cling to local transformation of agricultural products so that producers benefit from the pursuit of excellence,” says AVPA President Philippe Juglar. Juglar explains how AVPA competitions that exclude international judges in favor of local experts, reveal that what the gastronomic world thinks and what the professional tea world thinks are quality tea leads to some “very interesting differences.”

    Learn more…


    AVPA President Philippe Juglar on how competitions build self-esteem and economic success that directs a larger share of the value chain to the country of origin.
    India’s first carbon-neutral tea estate is constructing the country’s most sustainable tea factory.

    Tea News you Need to Know

    Earth Day Takes on New Urgency

    Teacraft’s Nigel Melican predicts that before the year 2050 the tea industry will be struggling to maintain volume on less land and with less labor and with far higher input costs for scarce resources. Progress is slow but there are initiatives underway to address climate change worthy of celebration on Earth Day. In Assam, India the Jalinga Tea Estate is building a zero-emission factory capable of processing millions of kilos tons annually – a first in that country. The estate is partnering with Atmosfair, a German non-profit committed to reducing CO? emissions by promoting, developing, and financing renewable energy projects in more than 15 countries. In the US Bigelow Tea, which produces two billion teabags annually, relies on solar and renewable energy sources for 100% of its energy requirements, is certified as a zero waste landfill company and owns electric vehicles. Climate volatility resulting in floods, droughts, hail damage, increased pests and reduced yields is apparent in China, India, and East Africa, according to Melican. “Sustainability is the goal,” he says, “but I fear sustainability may be severely challenged by upcoming events.”

    Biz Insight – US President Joe Biden challenged the United States to cut greenhouse gas emissions by half before 2030, reversing controversial policies of the previous administration. America will resume its role as a global leader in halting potentially catastrophic climate change Biden told  member nations at a virtual climate summit this week. “The signs are unmistakable, the science is undeniable, and the cost of inaction keeps mounting,” said Biden, adding that “The countries that take decisive actions now will be the ones that reap the clean energy benefits of the boom that’s coming.”

    India’s Earth-Friendly Tea Factory

    By Roopak Goswami

    Contractors at the Jalinga Tea Estate in South Assam, India’s largest organic tea grower, will complete India’s first zero-emission tea factory in July.  The factory is jointly financed through the Jalinga Climate Tea Research Foundation (JCTRF), a partnership between Jalinga Tea Estate and Atmosfair, a German non-profit committed to reducing CO? emissions by promoting, developing, and financing renewable energy projects in more than 15 countries. Learn more…

    Restaurants are Rebounding

    The US economy is rebounding with 90% of restaurants open nationally. Revenue at fast-food outlets has returned to pre-pandemic totals. Food delivery and third-party ordering are growing and here to stay but waitstaff may be wearing COVID masks for a very long time, according to Jack Li, principle at Datassential market research.

    A year after lockdowns began, the resilience of the restaurant sector is apparent as approximately 90% remain open. Permanent closures as of April 2021 are 10.7% nationally with 2% temporarily closed. Buffets were hardest hit with 24% closures followed 16.5% for soup and salad outlets. Eleven percent of fine dining restaurants were either permanently or temporarily closed as of April 2021. Pizza, salad, chicken, Mexican and sports bar chains added units during the past year, every other format contracted with full-service American restaurant chains down 7.3%.

    The closure rate is now evenly distributed across the country as both urban and rural areas contend with the virus. Initially city centers were hardest hit and that remains true with 14.3% of urban locations closed. Metro areas Miami, Portland, Ore., New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. report the most permanent closures. Combined these markets are home to 120,144 restaurants of which about 12.5% are permanently closed. Rural and suburban restaurants fared better with closure rates of 11.2% and 11.6% respectively in ZIP Codes with at least 100 restaurants.

    Biz Insight – The greatest disparity in closures is at the local level. Closures rose to and remain at 48% in San Francisco’s embarcadero and 45% in the financial district. Forty-two percent of the restaurants in the Chicago Loop closed along with 40% in Minneapolis and South Boston. New York City closures totaled 35% in Manhattan and Grammercy-Flatiron. In contrast, 95% of the restaurants in cities including Mesquite, Tex. And Williamsport, Penn., Findlay, Ohio, and Virginia Beach remained open all year.

    US restaurant closures. Source: Datassential Firefly.

    World Tea Expo Co-locates with The Nightclub & Bar Show

    The World Tea Expo + Conference will return to Las Vegas June 28-30, co-locating with the Nightclub & Bar Show. Both events are owned by Questex and managed by the company’s Denver-based hospitality division. The division hosted two World Tea virtual events after it was forced to cancel the tradeshow last spring.

    Co-locating the events offers “new opportunities for business growth and evolution, in addition to expanding the audience reach, and encouraging innovation and new business partnerships, according to Tim McLucas, vice-president, Bar & Restaurant. In recent years, the World Tea Expo, which was founded in 2003, attracted 3,500 attendees, down from a peak of 5,500. The Nightclub & Bar Convention and Trade Show, now in its 36th year, features 60 educational sessions and six in-depth workshops. The 2021 event is expected to draw 40,000 attendees.

    Early registration fees are $99.

    Bubble Tea Boba is Languishing at Sea

    A bubble tea catastrophe is brewing at sea. The black tapioca pearls, known as boba, that are essential to the experience are in short supply pitting consumers against foodservice outlets. Due to lockdowns many bubble tea drinkers were forced to make their favorite treat at home, ordering the ingredients in bulk online.

    Sweet syrup, milk and tea are readily available but packages of Buddha Bubbles Boba, and Wu Fu Yuan boba to cook at home ship from Asia. The favored port of call is Los Angeles where an average of 30 ships a day are anchored and idling, waiting to unload. As shops reopen, managers ordering direct from Asian suppliers find consumer shipment clogging the supply chain. Along the East Coast arrivals were delayed by the obstruction of the Suez Canal. Further complicating supply is a drought in Taiwan that led to government orders curtailing water use by boba manufacturers, writes Smithsonian Magazine. Taiwan is the hub of boba production globally. Tea Zone, one of the largest US suppliers, and Bubble Tea Canada, report shortages of the most popular boba balls due in part to over-orders and hoarding.

    A return to sufficient stock and normal delivery times is not expected before summer.

    Black Tapioca Pearls

    Wikipedia: Bubble Tea

    The oldest known bubble tea drink consisted of a mixture of hot Taiwanese black tea, small tapioca pearls, condensed milk, and syrup or honey. Now, bubble tea is most commonly served cold. The tapioca pearls that make bubble tea so unique were originally made from the starch of the cassava, a tropical shrub known for its starchy roots which was introduced to Taiwan from South America during Japanese colonial rule. Larger pearls (Chinese: b? bà/h?i zh?n zh?) quickly replaced these.

    Biz Insight – The global market for boba tea is predicted to increase by $963 million by 2023, according to market research firm Technavio. The annual growth rate is accelerating at 7% with Asia dominate but Europe and the Middle East experiencing 38% growth. New outlets are expanding availability and that’s fueling demand. Kung Fu Tea, the largest US boba chain, currently operates 250 locations and expects to open 70 more in 2021.

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  • India’s Earth-Friendly Tea Factory

    Jalinga Tea Factory
    A worker a Jalinga Tea Estate in South Assam making biomass pellets from tea waste to fuel tea dryers

    India’s first carbon-neutral tea estate is constructing the country’s most sustainable tea factory.

    Contractors at the Jalinga Tea Estate in South Assam, India’s largest organic tea grower, will complete India’s first zero-emission tea factory in July. With a capacity of 900 metric tons, the solar-powered factory is a large-scale model of efficiency using pellet-fired dryers, improved composting, biochar, and biomass gasification. Jalinga is India’s only Soil & More Impacts certified CO2 neutral estate.

    The factory is jointly financed through the Jalinga Climate Tea Research Foundation (JCTRF), a partnership between Jalinga Tea Estate and Atmosfair, a German non-profit committed to reducing CO? emissions by promoting, developing, and financing renewable energy projects in more than 15 countries.

    Jalinga Tea Factory
    Jalinga has produced organic tea since 2004 at this organic certified factory.

    Patrizia Pschera, Atmosfair’s Manager of Climate Mitigation Projects, writes that Jalinga “is making great efforts to minimise CO2 emissions and to make tea cultivation sustainable.”

    JCTRF is developing and testing climate-friendly ways of growing and processing tea while promoting adaptation to changing climate conditions, she explained. “The aim is to establish a self-sustaining concept for the climate friendly and ecological cultivation of tea that can be transferred to tea gardens all over Assam,” according to Pschera who authored a case study on the project published on the Atmosfair website. 

    Pschera praised the estate for “making well thought-out and far-reaching changes to its production, which goes further than buying CO2 neutrality through certificates.”

    In May, Atmosfair will visit Jalinga with reporters and a camera team from ZDF, a German TV channel making a documentary.

    Jalinga Director Ketan Patel said the factory is half-finished and would be complete with solar panel installation by July. “It will run on 100% biomass pellets and briquettes and replace coal completely. Electricity will be generated through solar panels,” he said.

    The factory will cost €300,000 ($360,000) to build and equip; an investment split equally between Atmosfair and Jalinga.

    “This is my most passionate endeavor to date,” said Patel, a long-time advocate of Earth-friendly endeavors on the 650-hectare estate.  Jalinga is a third-generation family business farmed organically since 2004. In 2018 Jalinga Tea Estate received the North American Tea Conference’s “Sustainability Award” presented annually.

    Low emissions cook stove

    The estate has adopted several climate-friendly social initiatives. Workers are supplied low-emission cookstoves instead of using firewood to improve air quality within dwellings, Patel explained, a simple innovation that reduces deforestation and improves the health of workers and their families.

    “Jalinga is a demonstration site, we intend to commercialize the technology and share it with the whole tea industry,” said Patel.

    “Atmosfair will look at the carbon emissions in the factory and develop carbon credits and take these back into the EU. They sell these carbon credits to airlines, government, etc.,” he said, adding, “It’s a win-win situation for the industry and environment.”

    Pellet-Fired Dryers

    The Indian government has the mandate to cut carbon emissions. One of the biggest problems in the industry is the reliance on coal to fuel dryers. Burning fossil fuels leads to the release of pollutants into the atmosphere. The availability of coal is also an issue. Coal mining is now illegal in Meghalaya, raising costs and making coal less available. Patel said that coal leaves a residue on tea plants, soot that is not suitable for human consumption.

    Jalinga will rely on tea waste, an excellent fuel when converted to biomass pellets. Prunings, waste leaves, and grass from weeding have relatively low ash content and generate 20 MJ of energy per kilo.

    “Many crop residues remain unused every year. Their decay in local dumps produces the greenhouse gas methane. At the same time, tea plantation operators dry the tea leaves with coal, releasing CO2. The JCTRF will test how plantation operators can use a pelleting machine to compress crop residues to use them as fuel instead of fossil coal,” said Patel. “We will be doing extensive research on climate-friendly ways to produce tea, both in the plantation & the factory so that the whole chain can lead to zero carbon tea production,” he said.

    Toward Carbon Zero

    The garden is also doing extensive R&D on a carbon removal program that will drastically improve soil fertility, explains Patel. Jalinga has been using compost from a special composting method (Novcom compost) in combination with manure to fertilize the tea plants for more than 15 years.

    “We are continuously trying out new ways of creating compost with green matter available in the estate. We have an in-house lab that tests the compost, compost water, and soil regularly for microbial growth, microbial diversity. Nitrogen content is also measured off-site,” he said.

    In a Facebook video, Patel explains that Jalinga follows the three pillars of climate-smart tea:

    • sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and income
    • adopting and building resilience to climate change
    • reducing and removing greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions

    “Our policies are aligned with the 17 goals developed by the United Nations that aim for a better and more sustainable future for all,” he says.

    Jalinga supplies private-label tea to more than 150 5-star hotels with exports to the UK, Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, and soon Russia, Australia, and Japan.

    Next up is a brand launch.

    Meeting the India Tea Board mandate to produce earth-friendly tea at a profit while enhancing India’s ability to market quality tea ? Jalinga is leading the way.

    “Currently tea needs a quarter million metric tons of Nitrogen from non-renewable methane; 138,000 metric tons of Potassium from fossil sources and 27,500 metric tons of Phosphorus to dig from fast-depleting reserves. Conventional farming has the tools to meet demand, but supplies are fast running out. Peak phosphorus comes in 2030,” according to Nigel Melican, founder Teacraft.

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  • Tea Biz Podcast | Episode 13

    Listen to the Tea Biz Podcast on iTunes | Spotify | Sounder | Stitcher | Alexa

    Hear the Headlines for the Week of April 16

    Hear the Headlines


    | India Surpasses Brazil as the World’s COVID Hotspot
    | The Global Tea Initiative at UC Davis to Host Second Virtual Event
    | Tea Imports Spike in Pakistan
    | Tea Masters Cup Names Champions in Moscow

    Read this in-depth Q|A with ITA Secretary Sujit Patra or listen to this week’s India Price Watch summary below. Click to see China Tea Price Watch.

    This week’s India Tea Price Watch

    Features

    This week Tea Biz offers a glimpse of the many teas of India as Aravinda Anantharaman takes us on a tour revealing there is lot more to savor than chai

    …and we travel to the idyllic Summer Lodge Country House Hotel in Evershot, Dorchester for a new take on the old English tradition of afternoon tea.

    Smoked Falap
    Falap tea in bamboo is of the many teas of India. Photo courtesy Rajesh Singpho.

    The Many Teas of India

    By Aravinda Anantharaman

    The 1.4 billion people who live in India consume about 20% of the tea produced globally, including most of the tea grown there. Consumption averages 840 grams per person annually. Growth slowed to 2.5% in 2020—much weaker than in previous years—largely due to retail closures, but India has not lost its taste for tea, people there just prepared more at home during the pandemic. Aravinda Anantharaman takes us on a tea tour that reveals there is lot more to savor than chai. Read more…

    Aravinda Anantharaman takes us on a tour of the Many Teas of India
    Afternoon Tea Reimagined
    The combination of lockdowns and travel restrictions closed many hotels and restaurants serving afternoon tea.

    Afternoon Tea Re-Imagined

    By Dananjaya Silva

    Situated in the rolling hills of Dorset, the Summer Lodge Country House Hotel & Restaurant is the perfect setting to savor Afternoon Tea in the idyllic English countryside near Evershot. But when the pandemic closed the hotel the restaurant staff, at the direction of general manager Jack Mackenzie, were forced to cleverly design an afternoon tea takeaway so memorable that this old English tradition became an Instagram hit for patrons unboxing their dainties at home.

    Jack Mackenzie, general manager, Summer Lodge Country House Hotel & Restaurant

    Tea News you Need to Know

    India Surpasses Brazil as World’s COVID Hotspot

    Tea gardens are taking extra precautions as a second wave exceeding an average of 200,000 daily infections forced lockdowns in Mumbai and New Delhi this week and heightened fears across the country. In March, the daily count was under 15,000 across India — last week it exceeded 261,000. Nine states, including tea growing regions Kerala and Karnataka, reported their highest-ever daily count.

    The virus is now killing more than 1,500 daily. This week, West Bengal, which includes Kolkata, recorded its highest single-day spike of 4,817 cases. The state’s death count is 10,434, about 10 times greater than Assam. West Bengal is inoculating more than 100,000 people a day. Assam is faring much better with 1,023 active cases. The state reported 221,000 cases and 1,119 deaths since the onset of the pandemic. India has reported 178,793 COVID-19 deaths and 15 million cases since the onset of the pandemic.

    A worrisome new variant (B.1.617) first detected in January in Maharashtra, India has been reported in England and California. Learn more…

    Biz Insight – India’s second wave will impact distribution and suppress retail sales in urban Mumbai and New Delhi but dry weather in west India is causing greater havoc for the tea industry than the coronavirus right now, driving down yield and idling workers and factories.

    The Global Tea Initiative to Host Second Virtual Event

    The Global Tea Initiative (GTI) at the University of California, Davis will host the second in its Talking about Tea series from 3-5 p.m. Friday, April 23. The virtual presentation on Myths, Legends, and Anecdotes includes research papers, presentations on tea poetry, and early writings about tea, with a review of tea gardens of London in the 17th and 18th centuries. The GTI website has more than 30 presentations available for viewing. Founding director Katherine Burnett said this will be a more “casual, conversational” event than the first session in January. She said people will be able to chat with each other and comment and network and share ideas, learn from each other and get that kind of personal engagement that you can do onsite.” Admission to the Zoom event is free. Visit globaltea.ucdavis.edu to register.

    Tea Imports Spike in Pakistan

    The pandemic boosted tea imports by 27% to 171.5 metric tons, for the eight months ending February 2021. The value of tea imports grew 17% compared to the same period ending in February 2020. Pakistan ranks third among tea importing nations, spending more than $500 million on tea annually, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The bureau recorded a 20% increase in the country’s trade deficit last year, lending new urgency to reducing foreign exchange outflow. Pakistan has grown small quantities of tea since 1958 but until recently it was less costly to import tea from India. Due to border hostilities India no longer ships tea direct to Pakistan.

    Biz Insight – Last week the Guizhou Tea Association in China (GTAC) offered to assist Pakistan grow more tea locally, utilizing cultivars, expertise, and machinery from China to produce broken leaf black tea. Five years ago in Morocco, Guizhou began working with local blenders and packers to create a profitable local brand in North Africa. “We can make breakthroughs in technology and increase productivity,” said GTAC secretary general Xu Jiamin. In Guizhou small farmers rely on an enterprise-driven model that could find success in Pakistan.

    Tea Masters Winners
    Olga-Alecia Daineko, center, won the Tea Masters Cup for Tea Tasting, Alisa Sytina, left, took second place, and Elena Pazhetnykh, right, took third place in the global event held in Moscow.

    Tea Masters Cup Names Champions in Moscow

    The pandemic forced the cancellation of qualifying rounds and limited appearances at exhibitions to a single event during the 2020/21 cycle, but the Tea Masters Cup concluded successfully at the recent Coffee Tea and Cacao Russian Expo in Moscow. Sixty-one tea masters competed in Tasting and Tea Preparation categories modified to prevent sharing cups.

    Nikolai Dolgiy, the reigning tea tasting champion, successfully defended his top ranking by identifying every outlier when presented with six sets of three infusions in three minutes. Olga-Alecia Daineko won the Tea Preparation category, besting 16 contenders in preparing two teas. Learn more…

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    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.

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  • Tea Biz Podcast | Episode 12

    Listen to the Tea Biz Podcast on iTunes | Spotify | Sounder | Stitcher | Alexa

    Hear the Headlines for the Week of April 9

    Hear the Headlines


    | A Sparkling Future for Fizzy Tea
    | Bubble Tea Drinkers Froth Over Drinking Straw Ban
    | Vahdam Tea Partners with Goodricke Group
    | Starbucks Introduces Rent-a-Cup

    Click to read this week’s in-depth Q|A with ITA Secretary Sujit Patra or listen to the India Price Watch summary below. Click here to read the China Tea Price Watch.

    This week’s India Tea Price Watch

    Features

    This week Tea Biz visits the Nilgiri tea growing region in South India where Managing Director Supriya Sahu has harnessed the creative and collective energy of 30,000 small farmers at the INDCOSERVE tea farmer’s co-operative.

    …and we discuss the challenges of timely tea delivery in the new harvest year with Jason Walker, spokesperson for Firsd Tea, the US division of the largest green tea supplier in the world.

    Supriya Sahu
    “Our ambition is to transform an organization that was a sleeping giant into one that can show the world that a small growers’ organization can be the best among the best,” says INDCOSERVE’s Supriya Sahu.

    Awakening a Sleeping Giant

    By Aravinda Anantharaman

    A money-losing federation of small grower co-operatives in Tamil Nadu, the largest of its kind in India with a history dating to 1965, languished for decades before Supriya Sahu emerged as a leader with a singular message: produce tea that builds the lives of farmers and a better future. “That’s our ambition, to transform an organization that was a sleeping giant into one that can show the world that a small growers’ organization can be the best among the best,” she says. Read more…

    Supriya Sahu, managing director INDCOSERVE in Tamil Nadu
    Ships awaiting berth
    Sea transport is stretched to the breaking point as reinvigorated economies stir from pandemic weariness.

    Finally Under Way

    By Dan Bolton

    New harvest tea is on its way. Early harvests in China, India, and Kenya sent new teas to market early this year – a fortunate head-start. Unlike last year, labor availability is good despite COVID-19 restraints, tea regions report fine weather, and orderly processing is raising expectations of a bountiful crop. In this segment Jason Walker, spokesperson for Firsd Tea, the US division of the largest green tea supplier in the world, discusses two remaining challenges impeding timely tea delivery. Read more…

    Jason Walker, marketing director for Firsd Tea, the US division of Zhejiang Tea Group

    Tea News you Need to Know

    A Sparkling Future for Fizzy Tea

    Actor Brad Pitt is all fired up about fizzy tea. Specifically, small batch, cold-brewed, certified organic sparkling tea launched by Enroot in five flavors. Pitt invested in the 25-calorie, botanically diverse bottled blends of teas, herbs, fruits, and spices inspired by co-founder Cristina Patwa’s grandmother in the Philippines.

    Marketed as wellness tonics that relax, re-energize, revitalize, rejuvenate, and revive… the teas are made without sweeteners or artificial flavors and bottled in plastic-free packaging.

    Enroot co-founders Cristina Patwa and Brad Pitt.

    Sparkling teas are a small volume niche that grew nearly 10% each year from 2017 to 2021, according to 360 Market Updates. The category has matured in the past 15 years to include high-end, gourmet non-alcohol versions by Copenhagen Sparkling Tea sold at the legendary Fortnum & Mason in London and soon-to-launch innovations like Nomad Tea Soda, a concentrate from Maya Tea for bartenders and fans of SodaStream — an at-home carbonation appliance.

    Biz Insight – Retail sales of ready-to-drink tea in the US totaled $7.9 billion in 2019, according to Beverage Digest. Volume has steadily increased for the past seven years to 860 million, 192-oz. cases. Sales globally are estimated to reach $25.6 billion in 2021 rising to $29.7 billion in 2024, according to market researchers MRFR, making RTD the most lucrative segment in tea. Carbonated beverages of all types this year will generate an estimated $255 billion in sales with RTD now contributing about 10% of global revenue.

    See: A Sparkling Tea Suited to Fine Dining
    and, A Sparkling Future for Fuzzy Tea

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    Enroot Organic Sparkling Tea
    Enroot Organic Sparkling Cold Brew Teas

    Bubble Tea Drinkers are Frothing Over a Drinking Straw Ban

    In 2020 China adopted several policies to make the Earth a better place, one of which is a ban on plastic straws in restaurants. The well-intentioned directive, however, drew the ire of bubble tea lovers forced to slurp tapioca balls through soggy paper straws. Alternatives include re-usable metal, glass, and bamboo but bubble lovers complain it’s just not the same. Plant-based plastics made of corn or sugar cane are emerging as an acceptable compromise. PLA decomposes into carbon dioxide and water and China’s king of straws now uses PLA exclusively. Milk tea chain HEYTEA which operates 450 stores in 35 cities made the switch to more expensive PLA. Said one satisfied customer, “We welcome the green shift, but not at the expense of spoiling our experience.”

    Biz Insight – April 22 is Earth Day. This year’s theme is Restore the Earth, a concern shared globally. In China plastic bags and plastic cutlery are next on the list to be phased out. Xinhua news service reports that by 2025, China’s degradable plastics market will grow to 35.8 billion yuan (about $5.5 billion US), according to analysts at Huaxi Securities.

    Vahdam Tea Partners with Goodricke

    Direct-to-consumer e-commerce retailer Vahdam Tea and garden owner Goodricke Group announced they are teaming up to distribute single-estate teas from the well-known Castleton, Margaret’s Hope and Thurbo estates in Darjeeling and Assam estates Harmutty, Borpatra and Dejoo. Vahdam founder Bala Sarda said the relationship goes beyond procurement. Goodricke CEO Atul Asthana said he is delighted to partner with a dynamic and fast-growth new-age startup that has successfully created an Indian home-grown brand in more than 100 international markets.

    Biz Insight – Vahdam, founded in 2015, reports annual turnover of $21.5 million to achieve profitability with growth of 110% in the past year. The company has expanded its distribution network to include many tea related products. Value-addition is done at origin and direct delivery eliminates much of the cost and delay of multiple supply chain handoffs. Sarda has been adept at securing outside financing to grow the company he started at 23 years of age. Vahdam earns 99% of its sales of 200 SKUs outside India. The company formally launched in India last year and has witnessed strong early growth, according to a company spokesperson.

    Starbucks Borrow a Cup
    Starbucks offers reusable cup rental option in five Seattle area stores.

    Starbucks Introduces Rent-a-Cup

    Take-away tea drinkers experiencing remorse after beverage retailers refused to fill reusable cups last year will be pleased to learn that Starbucks is launching a “borrow-a-cup” option. The trial at five Seattle area stores allows customers to order their drinks in a reusable cup with a $1 deposit.

    When they return the cups at a contactless kiosk at the store or from home using the Ridwell closed-loop service they get their dollar back and 10 rewards points through the chain’s loyalty program.

    Ridwell professionally cleans and sterilizes the cups, replenishing stores. Studies show that circulating a single reusable cup replaces up to 30 disposable cups. The reusable is then recycled.

    Biz Insight – Americans discard 120 billion disposable cups a year, according to the Clean Water Action Fund. Plastic coatings that line hot cups often prevent them from being recycled. Starbucks has publicly committed to a circular economy that recovers and repurposes waste, pledging to reduce by 50% the billions of pounds of waste generated annually.

    Learn more…

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    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.

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  • Timely Tea Delivery

    Early harvests in China, India, and Kenya sent new teas to market early this year – a fortunate head-start. Unlike last year, labor availability is good despite COVID-19 restraints, tea regions report fine weather, and orderly processing is raising expectations of a bountiful crop. In this segment Jason Walker, spokesperson for Firsd Tea, the US division of the largest green tea supplier in the world, discusses two remaining challenges impeding timely tea delivery.

    Jason Walker on obstacles to timely tea delivery.
    Map shows ships idled for days waiting a berth at ports in Long Beach and Los Angeles, Calif.

    Finally Under Way

    Early harvests in China, India, and Kenya sent new teas to market early this year – a fortunate head-start. Unlike last year, labor availability is good despite COVID-19 restraints, tea regions report fine weather, and orderly processing is raising expectations of a bountiful crop. Two hurdles remain. Transport is stretched to the breaking point as reinvigorated economies stir from pandemic weariness. The second hurdle is cost. Wholesalers, retailers, and importers that last year bore the weight of spiking prices must now make up for lost earnings. Expect significant price increases for both specialty and commodity teas for the foreseeable future.

    Tea Biz: COVID-19 and the chaos of lockdowns this time last year presented unique delivery challenges. Describe how the logistical hurdles differ for the 2021 harvest.

    Jason Walker: We did see locations and origins that either could not get any tea out at all, or we saw that they could not get anything out on their regular schedule. There were multiple variations of disruption that were happening last year.

    For example: Some growing areas in China saw a shortage of workers to harvest the spring crop. Then you may have packing or processing facilities that were locked down or running a skeleton crew. On top of that- even if your workforce could pluck, process, and pack on schedule, shipments could still be hindered

    This year we are seeing a more steady flow. We are seeing harvests started earlier. Compared to last year things look like they’re much more on track. Especially in terms of harvest and processing/packing

    In October the dollar costs of shipping really started to ratchet up.

    Things were behind schedule.Then we started to see there was an inadequate supply of either ships or containers.  Things were piled up because of ports that had been closed. Port closures caused shipping routes to get rearranged, and it took time to re-position and resume normal flow.

    Then you had increased demand for online retail. Lots of new equipment and personal items were getting shipped. People who used to spend their money on a on a dinner out now buying exercise equipment and things like that. You just have more stuff trying to get on the water at the same time. 

    It takes months for all that to shift back into what it was. Containers were not even available for weeks sit at ports waiting for days or weeks just to get loaded onto a ship. 

    I tracked one of our ship’s on Vessel Finder just to see where it was day by day.

    I had heard the stories of logjams at LA and Long Beach ports, the online vessel tracking service let me see just how our shipments might be impacted. By taking a screenshot daily, I saw how our shipment waited in a line of ships offshore for about 7-8 days before being cleared to dock and unload.

    Every single day we saw it just sitting there waiting its turn to get unloaded.

    Then we began hearing stories that some of those ships were returning empty because the rates for East Asia into Western US were four times the going rate.

    We are seeing still seeing some of that.

    We had to share some of that burden of costs with our customers. 

    Tea Biz: In 2020 importers, wholesalers, and retailers eased the price shock for consumers by absorbing some of the sharp increase in transportation costs. This year prices are expected to rise with retailers promoting pre-orders and fewer free shipping offers. What advice can you offer to reduce the cost of transporting tea.

    Jason Walker: We have been trying to encourage our customers and everyone out there to make their best projections that we can know roughly when you need it. That helps everybody along the line prioritizing the order. It also average out. You may pay higher rates now, but may be able to offset that later as the cost of things goes down and we all can adjust our prices.

    Projections essentially help ease the strain on the logistics chain. Container shipments, warehouses, and truckers are better equipped to send and receive the right amounts of product while compensating for delays caused by a strained system. The alternatives are to either overprepare (potentially overwhelming the system), or under-prepare and risk being left without. We recognize it can be tough to make projections in these unparalleled circumstances but the benefits outweigh the costs. Depending on the size of the customer and their orders, clients are providing 6-month or quarterly projections. As a result we have seen fewer interruptions due to better planning. Observers in ocean freight, major ports, and domestic trucking all indicate the overall instability may continue until late spring or early summer.

    Firsd Tea has been tracking and sharing updates we receive from logistics partners and sharing that via our newsletter and blog:

    Shipageddon: Plan Ahead
    Shipageddon: Continues Through Chinese New Year
    Shipageddon: November Update

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