“It was at this point that Mr. Toshiro gestured me to push my hand into the soil, which I did until I was past his elbow; the light, aerated soil offered little resistance. On removing my arm I was instructed to taste the soil, which I did without hesitation. How could something that was growing such healthy plants be anything but good for me? It tasted sweet, soft and gritty. If it hadn’t been gritty, I would probably have gone back for another handful.” (Page 23)
Tales of the Tea Trade Book ReviewTales of the Tea Trade
Intensely Human and Heartfelt
“It was at this point that Mr. Toshiro gestured me to push my hand into the soil, which I did until I was past his elbow; the light, aerated soil offered little resistance. On removing my arm I was instructed to taste the soil, which I did without hesitation. How could something that was growing such healthy plants be anything but good for me? It tasted sweet, soft and gritty. If it hadn’t been gritty, I would probably have gone back for another handful.” (Page 23)
That’s a quote from Tales of the Tea Trade by Michelle and Rob Comins. Voted our favourite book of the year in October 2020 by Tea Book Club members. I’m Kyle Whittington from the UK and founder of Tea Book Club, we are an international group of tea lovers and readers who meet up online each month to discuss tea books.
Tales of the tea trade was also shortlisted for the Andre Simmons Book Awards in 2020.
Here are my thoughts:
After a general but thoughtfully written introduction to tea and its types (pages 6-55), Michelle and Rob take us on a journey to the different countries they source their tea from (pages 56-183). Taking turns to voice the stories, we hear from both Michelle and Rob, as well as the fascinating people they’ve met on their travels. This book is intensely human and heartfelt. You really feel a connection with Michelle and Rob, their love of tea, the places they go and the people they meet.
The book is thoughtfully laid out so you know right away who is speaking and can easily pick out the stories from tea people alongside interesting asides such as baking their own oolong (page 38) and people’s relationships with tea. Countries are arranged in chronological order based on when they started growing and producing tea, a different and thoughtful approach. The book is easy to hop in and out of, reading sections that interest you, if you’re not a cover-to-cover reader. Overall a pleasure to read and a must add to any tea bookshelf.
Thoughts and comments from Tea Book Club members:
“I truly enjoyed the whole book” (Nadine, UK)
“I absolutely love the way they outlined the book, the flow and I love the bits at the end, such as the meditation (pages 187-189). A lovely way to finish it.” (Jin, USA)
“I think it’s wonderful, it’s almost like meeting those people. I want to drink all of these teas. They really showcase the people and the teas. It’s not about them telling, it’s about the people and the teas.” (Nadine, UK)
“Definitely the storytelling, the personal connection.They put a face to the tea, they put people to the tea.” (Alison, UK)
“Peoples attitudes and passions about where they came to tea from, why they were doing it.” (Laura, UK)
“I really enjoyed the chapter on Korean tea (pages 100-113). I’ve never had Korean tea before, so it was really nice to immerse myself in that world.” (Jin, USA)
“I like the table where you can see and compare the different harvest times depending on where they are and the different names of the picking seasons depending on where they are (page 30).” (Kristine, Sweden)
“It was really nice for me reading about my friend in Nepal (pages 156-165). I didn’t read it from end to end, just hopped on and off reading different sections.” (Elke, Germany)
“I love in the Chinese chapter about the clay and the pot making (page 80) and how they’re using different types of clay for different types of tea. For me it’s new and I haven’t really tasted the differences between using different teas and different clay.” (Kristine, Sweden)
Some things that came out of the book:
It made people more appreciative of the farmers, the work they put in, and their care for the tea.
Made them feel more mindful about the teas they buy.
Another reader commented: “Something that really got my attention was on tea preparation.They wrote that to taste teareally wellrequires people to have a quiet and compassionate heart. A good reminder that tea requires one to be peaceful.” (Greta, Sweden)
You can purchase the Tales of the Tea Trade directly from cominstea.com or, of course, on Amazon
Michelle and Rob Comins, as well as authoring this wonderful book, own and run Comins Tea, a direct-trade fine tea merchant, with teahouses in the city of Bath and the picturesque town of Sturminster Newton in Dorset, UK. Definitely well worth a visit if you’re in the area or visiting the UK. I had the most wonderful afternoon at their Bath teahouse with friends a couple of years ago tasting a range of delicious teas (I couldn’t resist leaving with several teas and some wonderful teaware of course). With lockdowns in the UK this last year they have been doing loads of great stuff online, so check out their tea school and programs on offer on their website [www.cominstea.com]. — Kyle Whittington
The staff at Granville Island Tea Co. prides itself in finding the right tea for every individual through conversation and education. The tea merchant’s once-bustling shop is much quieter due to restrictions necessitated by the pandemic but online sales continue to expand. Photo courtesy Granville Island Tea.
Many who consider themselves tea lovers are entirely in the dark about tea. They don’t know what they don’t know. When the time is right, or when chance interjects, tea companies can open someone’s mind to the world of loose leaf — a discovery that does not occur without thoughtful preparation.
In this post three tea merchants in British Columbia share their tips on persuading people to take the first step in their tea journey and switch to premium loose leaf.
Education and exposure
Few tea drinkers have held in their hand a fresh leaf from the Camellia sinensis plant. Up close, the living plant material reveals much about how the finished tea is processed in a particular way, resulting in green, white, black, or oolong teas.
At Aromatica Fine Teas, a flowering potted tea plant plays a crucial role in customer education. Sharing knowledge about tea is integral to converting people to try loose leaf, according to owners Karen Cayen and husband, Kim Self. Their shop is located in an 18-acre gardening center in Chilliwack, B.C. Brian Minter, a well-known master gardener, speaker, and syndicated columnist, gifted Cayen and Self with the Camellia sinensis five years ago.
People who visit Aromatica possess different levels of knowledge about tea, Cayen explains. Some are long-time loose-leaf drinkers who know their favorite grade and blend; others only know the finely ground machine-made CTC (cut, tear, curl) grades of tea found in Lipton teabags.
Frequently, people unfamiliar with tea wander into the shop while walking through the garden center. That’s where the “pet mascot” tea plant, affectionately named “Camellia,” comes in.
“We go over to the plant, and I say, this leaf will make green tea when processed in this fashion; this one can be made into a black tea; this would be used in making an oolong,” Cayen says.
Soon, the conversation shifts to the plucking method.
“I love to explain that in areas where tea’s not machine harvested—like Sri Lanka—it’s such a big part of the economy that it’s mandated that it must be hand-plucked,” Cayen says. “Would you rather have a tea leaf that was machine harvested or one that somebody plucked?”
Another way she reaches new audiences is through custom blends. She gives an example of a custom blend made for an American customer, used at a series of tea parties held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage. The blend was an Earl Grey, flavored with raspberry, rose, sunflower, and an ingredient from the state.
“’Equali-tea’ was such a hit, (the client) bought what she thought she needed for two months after her event. And she’s had to reorder three times,” Cayen explains.
“How many of the women (who attended the tea parties) will wonder what other loose leaf teas there are?” Cayen wonders.
Exposure to premium loose-leaf, followed with an educational conversation, will frequently lead to a sale. Then, once someone’s tried the tea, the quality does the rest, Cayen says: “People start to understand what the difference is (between commercially ground tea and premium loose-leaf).”
Cayen has one more trick in converting customers to premium loose-leaf tea: caring about what you do.
“I just try to be there with passion,” she says. “It’s infectious.”
Your tea, your way
The right tea for the right person: That’s the guiding sales principle of Mark Mercier, co-owner with his wife, Deborah, of Granville Island Tea Company in Vancouver, B.C.
“We want you to find your tea and discover how to make it, how to prepare it, in the way that you like it,” says Mercier.
Sampling pre-pandemic. Photo courtesy Granville Island Tea Company.
The idea of matching people with their perfect tea means that Mercier and the teashop staff spend a lot of time with customers, solving this puzzle: Which of their 220 teas is best suited to each person’s palate?
During more than 21 years in business, Mercier says they’ve learned to ask questions to put the consumer’s preferences at the forefront and help them feel at ease in the sometimes overwhelming world of premium loose-leaf teas.
“We aren’t allowed to ask, ‘do you like milk in your tea?’ Because people will think we’re judging them. We say, ‘do you have a preference? We have some teas that are better with milk, some that are better without milk,’” he explains.
With this approach, people are less likely to buy the most expensive tea just because they think it’s the best and should like it. He uses his favorite analogy to make his point: “If you’re not a fan of caviar, it doesn’t matter how good the caviar is, you’re not going to like it.”
Instead, customers are left with “their own taste and palate to dictate what they’re going to buy,” says Mercier, noting he’ll also develop custom blends for individual customers if that’s what it takes to find someone’s perfect tea.
Like Karen Cayen at Aromatica, Granville Island Tea staff educate people on loose-leaf tea and how it is made while they’re getting to know their customers’ preferences.
“We want to demystify tea,” says Mercier.
He notes that a customer who is seeing, for the first time, a display with 200 tins of tea will feel overwhelmed. “A lot of people don’t want to say (loose-leaf tea) is new to them,” he says, adding that Granville Island Tea strives not to present itself as being exclusive, fancy, or unattainable.
Mercier and his staff will frequently give customers free samples to try at home. The practice encourages customers to experiment in finding the tea that’s right for them.
“We’re trying to guide them along their journey of discovery,” says Mercier. It’s all part of “awakening people to tea.”
Building green habits
Isabelle Ranger of Ranger Teacrafters aligns her company’s ethos with the green movement. And that ethos is what attracts new customers to her loose-leaf teas.
Ranger, an herbalist, gathers botanicals around the unceded Coast Salish territories of Whistler, Pemberton, and Squamish, using them to craft tisanes and blends with imported teas. Her products are sold to wholesale clients, including some green groceries and zero-waste shops, and through an online store to people across North America.
Isabelle Ranger forages for ingredients to blend in tisanes and teas. Photo courtesy Ranger Tea.
“There’s nothing greener than a loose-leaf tea with a beautiful stainless steel strainer or some type of teapot that filters,” she says. Teabags, she adds, create single-use waste; plus, some release synthetic particles into the tea.
Most people want to go green for their health and the environment, Ranger explains. “In their hearts, they want to do it, but there’s a feeling of being overwhelmed.”
To help ease people into greener tea-drinking, Ranger makes switching to loose-leaf as straightforward as possible. She emphasizes to her customers that loose leaf doesn’t need to be complicated; the gear can be simple: a simple tea strainer and teapot or a mug with a built-in filter.
“Once you get around to (making loose-leaf tea) regularly, it becomes a new habit,” she says.
Though COVID-19 has put a dent in Canada’s green movement, Ranger says her loose-leaf tea sales have been growing, likely because more shops are selling Ranger Tea in bulk.
“We’re building a culture around zero waste and the quality of loose-leaf,” she says. “We can build good habits around loose-leaf tea that are greener.”
Tumoi Tea Estate team members from left to right: Peter Jumba, Emmanuel Kipkogei, Bernard Maiyo, Christine Chepkemei, Robert Kibiwot, and Hyline Jepkosgei
Ten thousand kilometers separate Kenya’s Tumoi Tea Estate and South Korean students attending Handong University. How are they connected? Cassidy Bailey at Texas State University in San Marcos, Tex. is the unlikely link. Bailey launched a Kickstarter campaign this month to establish “a new global value chain” directly linking consumers to tea growers no matter how distant.
“The $20,000 ChakanCha Kickstarter campaign is currently 31% funded. The project will only be funded if it reaches its goal by midnight Nov. 30.” Click here to donate.
Bailey writes that tea growers in Kenya earn as little as $75 per month, toiling in gardens where compensation for their labor amounts to less than 1% of the retail price paid by consumers. Growers and tea processors at origin are not much better off. It takes six months for their tea to reach market and they receive only 3% of the retail value.
“That’s where we come in,” she explains. “Tea farmers have no control over the large scale variables at play in the global value chain, which are decisive in determining their wage levels,” says Bailey.
Using IT technologies and smart logistics for tea, a modern supply chain can deliver fresher tea from farm to cup “without any exploitation,” says Bailey.
Capturing more of tea’s value at origin, the goal of the Chakancha (good tea) project, was initiated by the Global Problem Solving lab at Handong Global University in Korea. The program came to the attention of the Entrepreneurial Innovators Group (EIG) at Texas State who view Chakancha “not only as an ethical business venture to learn from, but a chance to make a tangible impact through international collaboration,” writes Bailey.
On November 10 CKC (Chakancha) supporters in Handong conducted a tasting of black and milk tea. “We are so grateful that everyone enjoyed their tea time,” they wrote on Instagram.
There are three million tea growers in Kenya, observes Boaz Katah, who owns the Tumoi Tea Estate and factory, located in the Nandi Hills. The factory has processed tea for generations, working with small-scale farmers west of the Rift Valley, who grow their crop at heights up to 6,700 feet above sea-level but their output of commercial CTC (cut, tear, curl) grades is largely invisible as the teas are sold for blending at auction.
Now the factory is a leader in the development and branding of single-estate teas. Katah reverted to the early Kenyan production of orthodox tea and now produces black, green, oolong, and purple teas. He grows his tea at 5,600 feet in a lush, hilly region on the equator where the tea is plucked continuously thanks to 12 hours of sunshine and 12 hours of night. “It is a well-balanced climate for growing the right crop for that perfect cup of tea,” says Katah, whose hand-picked, pesticide-free teas are marketed as Chakancha Black.
Tumoi Estate Chankancha artisan tea
Donors who contribute $40 will have their name engraved on a tea mural in the Tumoi Village and receive two packages of Chakancha black tea with a holiday card handwritten by a Tumoi tea picker. Donors who contribute $400 receive a video letter, inscription and 10 holiday gift boxes that can be delivered to 10 different loved ones, writes Katah.
Chai Easy
Design features of the ChaiEasy brewing machine.
ChaiEasy is an automated chai maker that eliminates the hassle of pots and strainers, scalded milk, and spills common to stove top methods.
“Chai time is a tradition and it should be all about enjoying the moment,” explains Samir Sahoo, an Austin, Tex., chai lover determined to come up with a machine that “delivers on the same authentic homemade chai taste, without compromising on quality or taste and be really easy to use.”
Donors have contributed $8,000 of the $10,000 goal. The project will only be funded if it reaches its goal by December 23. Click here to donate.
“Chai preparation is a very involved and messy process, requiring a lot of clean up afterwards. Makes you wonder: What if it was just easy to make the same traditional cup of Chai?” he writes. All ingredients brew together at the same time just like traditional chai is made, writes Sahoo.
Refillable pods contain the chai ingredients including popular and healthful spices used to make chai. ChaiEasy offers pods in four flavors, original, cardamom, ginger, and masala.
Donors receive a brewer and an assortment of pods with a brew-to-go cup for $170. Additional rewards at $200, $240, and $280. The brewer ships in April 2021.
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Tea Industry News for the week of September 28, 2020
Tea Sales Accelerate in Canada
Tea Retailers Cope with COVID
Delivery and Takeaway Boost Market Share
Tea Sales Accelerate in Canada
Retailers of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) are still playing catch-up after six months of record sales while foodservice operators struggle following a 27% decline in visits during the past six months. Canada’s economic recovery has begun, but it will be slow, advises Vince Sgabellone, Foodservice Industry Analyst at The NPD Group.
One of the best performers in FMCG is tea, according to Carman Allison, Vice President of Consumer Insights for Nielsen Canada. “Tea has reported an even higher bump in sales in 2020, than FMCG as a category,” he told 60 online attendees.
Year-to-date (Aug. 15) sales are up 19.6% compared to 2019, a full seven points greater than FMCG overall. Tea sales peaked earlier than total FMCG and have been consistently growing faster, he explained. This pace is an unprecedented 5.4 times greater than fiscal 2019, reaching $28.8 million. COVID contributed 80% of the year-to-date increase adding $25.5 million for an 89% increase in growth above expected, according to Allison.
Both Sgabellone and Allison shared valuable insights with tea industry leaders this week during the “The Present: Reimagined”, a two-day virtual gathering hosted by the Tea & Herbal Association of Canada (THAC).
Sgabellone observed that the Canadian restaurant industry was “growing slowly” in late 2019, with restaurant traffic up 1% for the year and restaurant dollars up 3%, citing NPD Group/CREST statistics through August. Within weeks restaurant traffic decline by 27% and revenue dropped 31%. The restaurant industry has been devastated by the COVID-19 crisis,” he said.
Coffee is flat, carbonated drinks are down as well as beverage alcohol but “hot tea is the category-leading growth on the year” with a 9% growth in spend through August compared to the previous year. Coffee and soft drinks account for a greater share of beverage servings but tea now accounts for a 7% share, according to Sgabellone.
Tea in the Time of COVID
By Jessica Natale Woollard
The Tea Haus, London Ontario, Canada
The reason tea sales should not decline during COVID is that tea is a food product found in virtually every Canadian home, and “food companies should be okay,” says Sameer Pruthee, CEO of wholesale distributor Tea Affair based in Alberta, Canada.
And yet, his business, which distributes around 60 metric tons of tea and blends every year to more than 600 wholesale clients in Canada, the United States, and Asia, has declined approximately 30% every month since the March shutdown. The decline, he noted, is most significant among his retail clients in Canada, where the lockdown was widespread and uniformly enforced from mid-March until the end of May.
Pruthee’s theory for why tea sales are down is that tea is not an “online thing. Tea is social,” he explains.
Customers buy tea after the experience of visiting a tea shop, talking to staff, smelling the varieties, and learning about the leaves and their origins. “If nobody can smell the tea, nobody will buy tea,” he says.
Beginning in March tea retailers supplying local restaurants and cafes watched helplessly as re-orders vanished. Local tea shops with online stores initially reported strong sales, largely to existing customers during lockdowns, but without face-to-face opportunities to introduce new teas, tea retailers must innovate to attract new customers.
DAVIDsTEA provides a vivid example. The Montreal-based firm, the largest tea retail chain in North America, was forced to restructure, closing all but 18 of its 226 stores in the US and Canada due to COVID-19. To survive, the company adopted a “digital first” strategy, investing in its online customer experience by bringing its tea guides online to provide human and personalized interaction. The company also upgraded the capabilities of DAVI, a virtual assistant that helps customers shop, discover new collections, stay in the loop with the latest tea accessories, and more.
“The simplicity and clarity of our brand is resonating online as we successfully bring our tea expertise online, by providing a clear and interactive experience for our customers to continue to explore, discover and taste teas they love,” said Sarah Segal, Chief Brand Officer at DAVIDsTEA. The physical stores that remain open are concentrated in the Ontario and Quebec markets. Following a disastrous first quarter, DAVIDsTEA reported a 190% second-quarter increase in e-commerce and wholesale sales to $23 million with a profit of $8.3 million largely due to a $24.2 million decrease in operating costs. Still, sales overall are down by 41% for the three months ending Aug. 1. Still, when compared to the previous year, profits decreased by 62% with gross profit as a percentage of sales declining to 36% from 56% in 2019. Delivery and distribution costs increased by $3 million, according to the company.
“We expect that the increased cost to deliver online purchases will be less than the selling expenses incurred in a retail environment that have been historically included as part of selling, general and administration expenses,” according to the company.
COVID has changed consumer habits, Pruthee says. COVID first cut off in-person shopping, and then transform the shopping experience due to social distancing. For the tea industry to bounce back, tea companies need to find ways to be part of new customer habits.
Below, Tea Biz looks at how three Canadian tea businesses have adjusted to the new normal of COVID-19.
Enhanced customer service
Free home delivery was Suzanne Tsai’s first response to COVID.
Co-owner of the Tea Centre in Courtenay, B.C., along with her husband, Marny, Tsai sensed at the start of the lockdown in March that it would be important to keep connected with their loyal and local customers. The shop started offering free delivery around the region, even driving to nearby towns to bring people their “creature comforts.”
Delivery was worth the investment in gas and wear and tear on their vehicle, Tsai says. “We were able to maintain our business and our customer base.”
Since March, business has been down approximately 10% to 15%, Tsai says, noting, that their expenses have also been less — the shop had to layoff staff after closing the physical store in March. Since then Tsai and her husband have been working extra hours to fill orders.
Tsai attributes the decreased sales with customers’ inability to visit the store, chat with staff, and smell the teas. “Those days are over,” she says.
The shop reopened with reduced hours on June 1, but the size of their store and social distancing requirements has meant customers can’t go inside the shop; instead, service is offered outside the front door.
People are lined up every day, Tsai says, but they can’t experience the loveliness of the shop and that affects sales, particularly of teawares. “People want to see them, touch them, hold them,” she explains. “And they don’t like the pressure of trying to buy a teapot when there is someone behind them waiting in line to pick up an order.”
But delivery orders and online sales have kept the business afloat. “We did get some new customers because many other tea stores were closed down,” she says, adding that the company nearly reached Christmas-level orders between mid- March and May, when Canada was shut down.
“For a small tea business, we feel like we’ve really held our own.”
Tea Centre retail shop in Courtenay, B.C., Canada
Wellness tea promotions
The tourist town of Banff, Alberta, in the Canadian Rocky Mountains faced 85% unemployment during the lockdown. Banff National Park, Canada’s oldest national park, attracted 4 million visitors last year and has received more than three million visitors annually since 2010/11. The Banff Tea Company, typically attracts tens of thousands of visitors from around the world, shop owner Siona Gatshore says, and those visitors frequently turn into online customers.
When the shop shut its doors in March, Gartshore laid off staff and moved the business fully online. But, online sales soared, so she rehired two employees within a few days. Though the Banff Tea Company doesn’t ship many tea wares — shipping costs are prohibitive when mailing breakables, Gartshore explains — tea sales, like at the Tea Centre in Courtenay, reached Christmas levels.
“It didn’t make up for not having the store open, but it was enough to pull us through and pay the bills and keep us moving,” Gartshore says.
Banff Tea Company also increased its customer engagement activity on social media, posting more regularly, sharing information, and doing prize draws for products, something Gartshore had not done before.
She invited people to vote to name a new tea blend, choosing between Uncertain Tea and San-i-tea, a new herbal wellness tea with anti-viral and immune boosting ingredients.
“We highlighted our wellness teas (in our online marketing) straight off the bat,” Gartshore explains, noting sales of wellness teas increased when COVID hit. For the first time, Banff Tea Company also sold dried elderberries, a natural antiviral, which sold well.
“Everyone’s feeling uncertain and stressed. Our Knock Yourself Out! sleepy tea has been our best-selling tea for nine years, and our second is Anx-i-e-Tea. People were buying them to comfort them through lockdown,” she explains.
Ironically, the vote between Uncertain Tea and San-i-tea came out even. “We ended up going with Uncertain Tea since no one could decide,” Gartshore laughs.
With fall concerts, festivals, events and conferences cancelled, Banff Tea Company is anticipating a quiet fall. Gartshore will be focused on planning holiday promotions to boost online sales.
“Our customers will get us through,” she says. “I’m so grateful for our customers. We wouldn’t be here without people thinking, buy local.”
Banff Tea Company, Banff, Alberta, Canada
Opportunity for innovation
COVID provided the right timing for Tea Haus owners Stefanie Stolzel and her husband to implement new business development strategies.
The London, Ontario, tea shop, has been located in the downtown Covent Garden Market since 2000. Normally the market is busy with office workers, tourists and shoppers, and Stolzel has an established online shop that has been operating since 2003.
Like the Banff Tea Company, Stolzel laid off staff at the start of the lockdown, only to call them back two days later to help with a surge in online sales.
“Without any additional advertising, our customers seemed to go online and order,” says Stolzel, noting that staff include a handwritten thank you note with each order.
In early 2020, Tea Haus won a $2,500 grant from Digital Main Street, a program of the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada that helps small businesses boost their digital presence.
“The timing was perfect,” Stolzel says. “The funding had to be spent by May 31, so we invested that funding and our own capital (during COVID) to expand our (digital marketing) efforts.”
Primarily, Tea Haus invested funds into social media ads.
In addition, Stolzel participated in a program in early 2020 through Riipen, a company that matches post-secondary students with companies to help them solve problems. Three marketing classes tackled business challenges for Tea Haus, offering solutions and providing ideas to implement, for example, a social media strategy.
“COVID allowed me to focus on these ideas and read them properly,” Stolzel explains, adding she hopes to implement more of the students’ recommendations this fall.
Like Tea Centre in Courtenay, Tea Centre is operating a booth in front of their store, setting up displays so people can see products up close rather than just online.
Says Stolzel, “People still have money to spend, and they want something nice to treat themselves.”
A time to learn
Despite differences in approaches to selling tea during COVID, the company owners interviewed agree that the COVID experience is a time of learning and trying new things.
“There’s no clear direction right now,” Tea Affair’s Sameer Pruthee says. “We try to see what’s happening and what direction we have to take our companies in. Nobody has an answer right now.”
As Canada adjusts to the new normal, now is a good time to sit back, relax, and have a cuppa. Perhaps the answer will be revealed in the tea leaves.
Tea in Foodservice
Research and Markets projects a 4% increase in tea sales in foodservice during the next four years, a revision accounting for the impact of COVID-19 on sales.
“The growth of food delivery and the takeaway market is one of the prime reasons driving the foodservice tea market in US growth during the next few years,” according to the report Foodservice Tea Market in the US 2020-24. “The market is driven by rising demand for mobile foodservice and the functional benefits of tea as well,” according to the newly released report.
Research and Markets estimates the market will increase by $2.66 billion during the forecast period.
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Tea Industry News for the week of September 9, 2020
COVID Study Implicates Restaurants
Retail Stirrings Billy Corgan Resurrects Madame ZuZu’s Tea Emporium
Unilever Divestiture Worries Plantation Workers
Patients with COVID-19 symptoms in 10 states were twice as likely to have visited restaurants during the 14 days prior to testing positive, according to a new CDC study.
COVID Study Implicates Restaurants
CDC: Dining-in Poses Risk
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that adults with COVID-19 are about “twice as likely” to say they have dined at a restaurant during the 14 days before testing positive for the disease.
The study, which was limited to those experiencing symptoms, examined 314 adults at 11 different health care facilities in 10 states. Half (154) tested positive, and 160 tested negative for COVID-19.
Those who tested positive “were approximately twice as likely to have reported dining at a restaurant than were those with negative SARS-CoV-2 test results,” according to the study. As a result, researchers recommend that “efforts to reduce possible exposures where mask use and social distancing are difficult to maintain, such as when eating and drinking, should be considered to protect customers, employees, and communities.”
“Adults with confirmed COVID-19 (case-patients) were approximately twice as likely as were control-participants to have reported dining at a restaurant in the 14 days before becoming ill,” according to the CDC. “In addition to dining at a restaurant, case-patients were more likely to report going to a bar/coffee shop,” according to the report released Sept. 11.
“Reports of exposures in restaurants have been linked to air circulation. Direction, ventilation, and intensity of airflow might affect virus transmission, even if social distancing measures and mask use are implemented according to current guidance. Masks cannot be effectively worn while eating and drinking, whereas shopping and numerous other indoor activities do not preclude mask use,” according to the study.
Researchers report that 71% of the COVID-19 positive patients said they work masks in public; 74% of those who tested negative said they always wore face coverings in public.
“In this investigation, participants with and without COVID-19 reported generally similar community exposures, with the exception of going to locations with on-site eating and drinking options,” writes CDC.
Forty-two percent of those who tested positive reported having close contact with at least one person known to have COVID-19, most often family members.
The study mentions five limitations, including small sample size and the fact that participants were aware of their test results. “Of note, the question assessing dining at a restaurant did not distinguish between indoor and outdoor options,” according to researchers, who say additional research is warranted but caution that “eating and drinking on-site at locations might be important risk factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection.”
Billy Corgan Resurrects Madame ZuZu’s Tea Emporium
Madame ZuZu’s Tea Emporium
Two years after closing, and in the middle of serious viral spread in Chicago, Billy Corgan is bringing back Madame ZuZu’s Tea Emporium on First Street in Highland Park.
Singer and song writer Corgan, who founded the Grammy-Award winning Smashing Pumpkins, promises “to carry on ZuZu’s tradition of a whimsical atmosphere but in a larger, Art Deco space reminiscent of a 1930’s tea salon.”
Partner Chloe Mendel told Eater Chicago that she and Corgan are sourcing from the Rare Tea Cellar, a local gourmet tea supplier with a global reputation. In addition to superior teas, the cellar offers $195 olive oil and bottled mixes like Umami Shrubbery and Forbidden Forest Lapsang Souchong Syrup.
The avante-garde vegan menu expands on the original, featuring $10.25 salads such as kale power salad, Chinoise crunch and Salad Niçoise. Chloe’s tomato soup is $4.95 a cup and sandwiches sell for $8 to $12. Specialties include grilled vegan cheese and vegan Gado Gado tofu bowl and a miso bowl with pickled veggies and coconut rice.
“I quickly learned that the delicious world of plants is so overlooked,”says Mendel, who crafted several plant-based dishes.s here
Iced tea sells for $3 a glass and a Korean Blue Elektra Matcha is priced at $4.50. There is a Reishi cappuccino and a Lionsmane Mushroom Coffee ($5) on the drink menu. The rare teas are about double these prices.
“Our business model is simple: healthy living combined with an open source venue for the arts, where everyone in our community can gather and share,” writes Corgan, who opened the first location in 2012.
At the time he told Crave Magazine, “I’m a tea guy and living in Highland Park since 2003. I’ve always wanted to open a salon like this for everyone to enjoy,” Corgan told Crave Online. “This is a place with no age boundaries. We hope to attract everyone from young students to seniors. With a blend of music, photo galleries, art displays and speakers, I think Madame ZuZu’s offers something for everyone.”
There will be no impromptu concerts for now. The shop operates under COVID-19 restraints limiting dining-in, so take-out is a good option. Staff are tested for COVID-19 daily, writes Corgan.
Amid hundreds of store closings, a steady trickle of new tea shops and cafes are re-opening. Eater Chicago lists Sawada Coffee, the Living Water Tea House and El (evated) Ideas, a Michelin-starred restaurant. Keep in mind that while tea shops sell a tiny fraction of the total volume on offer, places like Madame ZuZus influence conventional tea drinkers to give specialty teas a try.
Kenyan tea workers concerned about Unilever’s decision to divest its African holdings.
Unilever Divestiture Worries Plantation Workers
The announced divestiture of tea holdings by the world’s largest tea supplier makes uncertain the fate of the company’s wholly owned tea gardens and hundreds of smaller gardens under contract.
In July, following a strategic review begun in January, London-based Unilever said it will break up its tea business, retaining only bottling partnerships while continuing operations in India and Indonesia. The rest of the company’s tea assets, including several tea estates, will be sold at auction.
Unilever purchases 10% of the world’s tea, employing more than one million workers in 21 countries. Brands currently marketed by the company include Lipton, PG Tips, Brooke Bond, Pure Leaf, TAZO, Bushells, T2 (retail shops), and 21 smaller brands sold in more than 150 countries. Lipton Yellow Label, the world’s best-selling tea brand, accounts for 7% of black tea sales globally. Sales of green tea are insignificant when compared to Asia brands. The tea division is valued at $4-$5 billion, according to financial analysts at Barclays.
Unilever will retain the core brand in high-growth markets and divest in slow-growth regions such as Australia and Europe where the popularity of black tea is in decline, according to Allied Market Research.
In Kenya, 60,000 workers employed by Unilever Tea Kenya Ltd. anticipate a gradual scaling back of operations at the 8,700-hectare Kericho Tea Estate. Staff are uneasy, according to TheNation which reports Unilever “has not yet revealed its plans with its Kenya operations to shareholders, who have endured five years without receiving dividends owing to losses.”
In August Sylvia-ten Den, managing director at Unilever Kenya Tea Ltd. advised the Kenya Agricultural and Plantation Workers Union (KPAWU) “that the company is changing its operation model.”
“She writes that Unilever will form a new company to manage its global tea business, and that the form and shape of the new entity will be decided at the end of next year. She assures that until then operations will proceed as normal,” according to The Nation.
Unilever contracts with 30 Kenya tea estates and the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) which represents another 69 estates producing black and green tea.
In addition to Kenya, Unilever contracts with tea gardens in Malawi (21), Uganda (13), Tanzania (12), and Zimbabwe (6). It is likely that Unilever will continue to purchase tea grown in Africa but marketed under its India brands. Brooke Bond, which was acquired by Unilever, has a century-old tradition of growing tea in Africa.
The coronavirus pandemic is forcing companies to reassess their core divisions and shift focus to higher-growth areas, say bankers and mergers and acquisitions lawyers, according to MarketWatch.
“So far this year, companies globally have sold 8,895 non-core assets worth a total of $391 billion, according to financial data provider Refinitiv. That compares to 11,294 asset sales worth almost $415 billion for the same period in 2019,” writes MarketWatch.
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