Hear the Headlines 2023


Episodes 1-49

Episodes 50-96

Episodes 97-136


| Retail Sales Projections are Ho-Hum for the Holidays: Sales growth adjusted for inflation will be in the single digits, the lowest growth rate since 2018
| India Abandons Bharat Tea Auction Experiment and Returns to English Auction Rules
| UC Davis Global Tea Institute Launches a Training Program for Tea Professionals

PLUS | More than 30,000 tea workers and supporters, mainly from the indigenous Bataga Community living in Ooty, Kothagiri, and Coonoor in the Nilgiris mountains of South India, participated in a silent hunger protest on behalf of farmers. The demonstrations ended last week, but only after the High Court took cognizance of the petitions that urgently plead the case for fixing a minimum price for green leaf. Aravinda Anantharaman reports.

Tea News for the week ending Sept 29
Hear the Headlines | Seven-minute Tea News Update

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New Report Examines the Causes of Gender-based Abuse in Tea

| A 70-page case study of James Finlay Kenya explains the lapses that led to BBC’s Sex for Work: The True Cost of Our Tea exposé
| Tea Price Protests in South India Continue for the Third Week
| High Temps Lower Yields of  Türkiye’s Black Sea Tea

PLUS | This week, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s World Heritage Committee, meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, inscribed a World Heritage site, the Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests of Jingmai Mountain in China’s Yunnan Province.

Tea News for the week ending Sept 22
Hear the Headlines | Seven-Minute Tea News Recap

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Tea Board Weighs Auditor Concerns: Additional Resources Needed to Market Tea

| Overindulgence and High ABV Tea
| Tea Stalwart: India’s Oldest Captive Elephant Dies

Tea News for the week ending Aug 25
Hear the Headlines | Seven-Minute Tea News Recap

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More than a third of tea smallholders were not registered by March 2021
| China Tea Exports Decline as Travel Restrictions Ease
| Kenya Tea Production is Up, Exports are Down

Tea News for the week ending Aug. 18

Hear the Headlines | Seven-Minute Tea News Recap

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| Unilever Brands Are Not for Sale
| Dunkin’ Will Soon Begin Selling Hard Tea at Select US Locations
| A Study of UK Biobank Data Shows Tea May Lower the Risk of Gout

Tea News for the week ending Aug. 11

Hear the Headlines | Seven-Minute Tea News Recap

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Sustainable Practices are Correlated to Brand Loyalty: Age and Income Influence Consumer Loyalty, Healthy Brand Attributes Help

| JDE Peet’s Will Halt Sales of its Best-Known Tea Brands in Russia
| UN Global Peace Council Honors WomenServe Founder Nioma Narissa Sadler

Tea News for the week ending Aug. 4

Hear the Headlines | Seven-Minute Tea News Recap

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Kenya’s KTDA Chair Resigns Following Tea Reforms Conference

| David Ichoho Later Filed and then Withdrew a Lawsuit Alleging His Resignation was Forced
| Nestle Announces Cost-Effective Sugar Reduction Technology
| AriZona Unveils a 5% ABV Hard Iced Tea – Monster is next

Tea News for the week ending July 28

Hear the Headlines | Seven-Minute Tea News Recap

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Unrelenting Heat is Lowering Tea Yields


| Global average air temperatures reach a new high
| Herbal Tea Market Growth is Accelerating
| Dilmah Tea Founder Merrill J Fernando Passes at 93

Tea News for the week ending July 21

Hear the Headlines | Seven Minute Tea News Recap

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Scotland Court Will Hear Kenyan Tea Workers’ Lawsuit


| The landmark class action was filed against James Finlay Kenya
| Market Leading Twisted Hard Tea Doubles Down on ABV
| EGCG is a Promising Treatment for Uterine Fibroids

Tea News for the week ending July 14

Hear the Headlines | Seven-Minute Tea News Recap

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Kenya Convenes National Tea Summit to Address Unrest


| Kenya Deputy President Promises Action on Lagging Tea Act Reforms
| The World Awaits the Hottest Days On Record
| Author Horacio Bustos Announces an English Edition of El Té Gourmet Argentino

Tea News for the week ending July 7

Hear the Headlines | Seven-Minute Tea News Recap

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Sri Lanka Restarts $250 Million Tea Barter to Settle Iranian Oil Debt


| India Exporters Expect Iran to Resume Tea Orders Halted Last November
| Israel Declares Wissotzky Tea a Monopoly
| Rohit Jawa Takes Charge at Hindustan Unilever

Tea News for the week ending June 30

Hear the Headlines | Seven-minute Tea News Recap

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India’s Tea Board Orders a Review of its Raw Leaf Price-Sharing Formula


| Consultancy BDO India has six months to complete an extensive report on cultivation and processing costs
| Fast-food Outlets Have Yet to Rollout Boba Nationally
| The European Speciality Tea Association Offers Tea Foundation Certificates to Coffee Shop Staff

Tea News for the week ending June 23

Hear the Headlines | Seven-minute Tea News Recap

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Scrutiny of Tea Supply Chain Intensifies


| An online Tea Traceability Tracker permits consumers to compare the sustainability policies of tea supply chains
| Tea Auction Prices Remain Firm as Inflation Ebbs
| DAVIDsTEA is Adding Tea Bars to its Retail Locations

Tea News for the week ending June 16

| NEWSMAKER – TeaFit founder Jyoti Bharadwaj on the Sweet Success of unsweetened tea

Tea News for the week ending June 9

Thirst-Quenching Cold Brewed Teas are Steaming Along


| Consumers favor boldly flavored, non-sweetened blends
| Kenya’s Costly Tea Crisis
| India Tea Association Lists Tea Industry’s Most Pressing Concerns

| GUEST – Romesh Walpola, Chief Executive Officer of Tea Smallholder Factories, a Division of John Keells Group, Sri Lanka, discusses how bought leaf factories Earn Smallholder Loyalty to Achieve Competitive Quality Tea

Tea News for the week ending March 31

Tea is Experiencing a Melancholy Midyear


| Yields are down across the tea lands
| China Exports Continue to Expand
| Demand for Darjeeling is Down

Tea Biz traveled to Badulla, Sri Lanka, in early May to participate in a spring harvest ceremony with hundreds of local tea growers. Each carried a ceremonial plate with intricately arranged tea leaves or a small sack of processed tea as an offering. Then, accompanied by drummers and dancers, they paraded to the courtyard of an ancient temple, where a Buddhist monk blessed their first fruits of the season.

Tea News for the week ending March 31

The world’s top economists predict a global economic weakness in 2023, according to the World Economic Forum, meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week.

Tea News for the week ending March 31

The world’s top economists predict a global economic weakness in 2023, according to the World Economic Forum, meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week.

Tea News for the week ending March 31

The world’s top economists predict a global economic weakness in 2023, according to the World Economic Forum, meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week.

Tea News for the week ending March 31

The world’s top economists predict a global economic weakness in 2023, according to the World Economic Forum, meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week.

Tea News for the week ending March 31

The world’s top economists predict a global economic weakness in 2023, according to the World Economic Forum, meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week.

Tea News for the week ending March 31

The world’s top economists predict a global economic weakness in 2023, according to the World Economic Forum, meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week.

Tea News for the week ending March 31

The world’s top economists predict a global economic weakness in 2023, according to the World Economic Forum, meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week.

Tea News for the week ending March 31

The world’s top economists predict a global economic weakness in 2023, according to the World Economic Forum, meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week.

Tea News for the week ending March 31

The world’s top economists predict a global economic weakness in 2023, according to the World Economic Forum, meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week.

Tea News for the week ending March 31

The world’s top economists predict a global economic weakness in 2023, according to the World Economic Forum, meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week.

Tea News for the week ending March 31

The world’s top economists predict a global economic weakness in 2023, according to the World Economic Forum, meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week.

Tea News for the week ending March 31

The world’s top economists predict a global economic weakness in 2023, according to the World Economic Forum, meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week.

Tea News for the week ending March 31

The world’s top economists predict a global economic weakness in 2023, according to the World Economic Forum, meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week.

Tea News for the week ending March 31

The world’s top economists predict a global economic weakness in 2023, according to the World Economic Forum, meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week.

Tea News for the week ending March 31

The world’s top economists predict a global economic weakness in 2023, according to the World Economic Forum, meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week.

Tea News for the week ending March 31

The world’s top economists predict a global economic weakness in 2023, according to the World Economic Forum, meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week.

Tea News for the week ending March 31

The world’s top economists predict a global economic weakness in 2023, according to the World Economic Forum, meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week.

Tea News for the week ending March 31

The world’s top economists predict a global economic weakness in 2023, according to the World Economic Forum, meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week.

Tea News for the week ending March 31

| Argentina Celebrates its Tea Centennial
| Toronto Tea Festival Returns as In-Person Event

Tea News for the week ending March 31

| PLUS This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Tea Biz Blog and the 100th episode of the Tea Biz Podcast. Review headlines from the top 10 posts of 2022.

Seven-Minute Tea News Recap

News for the week ending January 13

Podcast Episode 99

This week, Nathalie Roos, CEO of ekaterra tea, announced, “with pride and enthusiasm, a corporate name change to LIPTON Teas and Infusions.”

| The First of Seven Ag-Focused Satellites is Safely in Orbit

| The Specialty Tea Institute Ceases Operations
| Fresh Thinking for a New Era in Tea

Seven-Minute Tea News Recap

Tea News for the week ending January 6

The end of China’s dynamic zero-COVID policy is returning vitality to the travel, outbound tourism, restaurant and catering, and entertainment sectors, all of which benefit tea sales. But easing track-and-trace rules also enabled consumers to circulate, leading to a steep incline in viral infections.

| The World’s Top Black Tea Producers Report Export Declines in 2022

Export volume in Kenya and Sri Lanka, two of the world’s top three black tea-exporting countries, declined in 2022. Data is preliminary, and the reasons vary as weather, geopolitics, and pandemic-induced economic setbacks resulted in another lackluster year for trading tea.

| What do We Value about tea, and How Do We Value It? Speakers at the 8th Annual Global Tea Initiative Colloquium on Jan. 19 at the University of California, Davis, discuss Tea and its Value. Register free at globaltea.ucdavis.edu

| PLUS Grace Farms is introducing a line of ethically and sustainably sourced teas that co-founder and CEO Adam Thatcher say will give back 100% of profits to help end forced labor worldwide – forever. According to Thatcher, “even though slavery was abolished globally nearly a century ago, more than 28 million people are trapped in forced labor worldwide. Poverty and lack of access to education create opportunities for those who stand to benefit from the exploitation of vulnerable men, women, and children. In modern times forced labor takes the form of work with little to no pay, fear, coercion, and restricted freedom of movement.

Listen to the interview.

Hear the Headlines

Seven-Minute Tea News Recap

Episodes 1-49

Episodes 50-96

Episodes 97-130


END 2023