• Tea Biz Podcast | Episode 30

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    Hear the Headlines

    | Top India Tea Producer McLeod Russel Faces Bankruptcy
    | Tea Authentication Protocol to Chemically Verify Origins
    | Soggy Soil Keeps Kulhads in Short Supply

    Seven-minute Tea News Recap

    Tea Price Report
    India Tea Price Watch | Sale 31

    This week’s highlight is the news from Darjeeling, of the sale of the estates Jungpana and Goomtee. The new owner is the Santosh Kumar Kanoria Group led by Anshuman Kanoria that also owns the estate, Tindharia, also in Darjeeling. Jungpana was last on the market in 2017.  Read more…

    Features

    Tea Biz this week travels to Brooklyn where Rona Tison executive vice president of ITO EN North America explains the appeal of functional tea and introduces a new matcha LOVE ENERGY + line of ready-to-drink teas.

    … and then to New York City, headquarters of the World Tea Academy, where online education director Lisa Boalt Richardson describes the newest of six certification programs.

    Rona Tison executive vice president ITO EN North America

    Natural Tea Energy

    By Dan Bolton

    In the ready-to-drink category, tea-focused brands like ITO EN are innovating. Instead of concentrates and solubles, line extensions are brewed from whole leaves from sustainably grown tea and offered in recyclable packaging. Rona Tison, Executive Vice President of ITO EN North America, joins Tea Biz to discuss what makes tea the ideal base for function-enhancing blends that appeal to health-conscious consumers. Learn more…

    Listen to the Interview

    ITO EN’s Rona Tison on function-enhancing tea blends
    Aromas of Tea is the World Tea Academy’s newest advanced certification

    An Aromatic Education Online

    By Jessica Natale Woollard

    Tea industry certifications are becoming sought after in the industry. There are certifications for tea specialists, sommeliers, blenders, health experts, and now tea aroma specialists, a new offering from the World Tea Academy. Joining me on the podcast today are Lisa Boalt Richardson, online education director of the World Tea Academy, and Kathleen Hippeli – Lisa’s assistant and a former tearoom owner.

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    Lisa Boalt Richardson and Kathleen Hippeli discuss online education opportunities
    McLeod Russel harvests 73 million kilos of tea annually across 180,.000 acres (73,000 hectares)

    Tea Giant McLeod Russel Faces Bankruptcy

    By Dan Bolton

    McLeod Russel India, once the largest producer of tea in the world and currently India’s largest tea producer — is facing bankruptcy. McLeod, a Kolkata-based division of the Brij Mohan Khaitan Group that employs 73,000 workers, operates 31 estates in Assam and two in West Bengal as well as tea gardens in Africa and Vietnam.

    The corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) was triggered by default on a $14 million (INRs 100 crore) loan dating to 2018 but McLeod carries $270 million in debts and faces a combination of debtors. The application was revealed in a stock exchange filing Aug. 6. An interim resolution professional was named to the National Company Law Tribunal case.

    Azam Monem will continue to guide the operations of the company and key managerial staff remain in place with the intent to restructure.

    The storied company dates to 1869 when J.H. Williamson and Richard B. Magor operated in Assam. The Khaitan family purchased the company in 1987 and in 1994 purchased 51% of battery maker Union Carbide’s Eveready Industries operating the company in two divisions, electrical and tea. The company went public in 2000 and in 2004 demerged into two separate companies McLeod producing and marketing tea and Eveready manufacturing batteries and flashlights.

    In August 2017 McLeod sold Bhatpara TE for $2 million, according to Global Ag Investing. It was the first garden sold in the firm’s modern history as production rose to a peak that exceeded 118 million kilos that year (2017-18). Acquisitions from 2005 to 2010 had increased the number of estates to 48 including Williamson Tea, Doom Dooma Tea Company (2007), Moran Tea (2008), and Borelli Tea (17 tea gardens) bringing McLeod’s total acreage under tea to 98,000 acres (39,770 hectares). Revenue exceeded $265 million with $9.7 million in profits in fiscal 2016.

    Biz Insight – A combination of massive flooding in Assam, rising labor costs and conflicts amid declining exports significantly reduced earnings, eroding profits. Quarterly losses rose to $3 million in recent years. A misjudgement in lending more than $390 million to the closely held battery company led to the default in February 2020 on the loan from Techno Electric & Engineering and two other creditors. To lower its debts the McLeod sold an addition 17 tea estates between March 2019 and May 2020 generating $102 million (INRs 764 crore) but it wasn’t enough. Divestiture of 21 tea gardens in India and Rwanda since 2017 reduced annual production from 118 million kilos to 73 million kilos of tea. Rival Camellia Plc., the holding company of Goodricke Group, is now the largest tea producer in the world. Amalgamated Plantations, owned in part by Tata Global Beverages, is the second largest Indian tea producer, according to Rediff.

    Institute for Global Food Security houses the Assured, Safe and Traceable (ASSET) Technology Center

    Tea Authentication Protocol to Chemically Verify Origins

    By Dan Bolton

    The Institute for Global Food Security is analyzing the leaf chemistry of tea from a broad range of geographical locations to create a map identifying the “chemical fingerprints” of tea samples. The protocols can be used to verify the tea was grown at the stated origin as marketed. The rigorous examination uses state-of-the art spectrometry and artificial intelligence modeling to also identify the presence of bulking agents, dyes, and adulterants, soapstone, plumbago, and gypsum. In their review of vulnerable food supply chains, Professor Chris Elliott and researcher Dr. Di Wu found tea to be at high-risk due to the complicated nature of tea production, making authenticity testing a tricky undertaking, according to New Food Magazine.

    Elliott, a professor of food safety with the (Assured, Safe and Traceable) ASSET Technology Centre at Queen’s University Belfast, said that “once these statistical models are built, they will be validated with further samples of known origins to calculate the predictive capability of the methods. The most robust (accurate) technique will be selected, and the method will be fully validated to international standards. This method will then be transferred to laboratories across the world, said Elliott. Learn more…

    Biz Insight – Professor Elliott is seeking partnerships with tea companies and research organization as well as major retailers to join in the effort to improve the integrity of the world’s tea supply chains. Here are his contact details: Professor Chris Elliott, Institute for Global Food Security, Biological Sciences Building, 19 Chlorine Gardens, Belfast, BT9 5DL Northern Ireland | [email protected] | +44 (0) 28 9097 6514.

    Clay Kulhads in Short Supply

    Soggy soil and sunless days have curtailed the manufacture of India’s iconic Kulhad leading to widespread shortages of these simple unglazed terracotta clay cups. As a result, chaiwala are forced to switch to paper or plastic. Neither is acceptable to chai drinkers accustomed to crushing the Kulhad underfoot. Near constant downpours in Dakshindari turned clay quarries into soup and persistent overcast skies prevent air drying before firing. The cups still available are selling for INRs 1 (rupee) each in lots of 100, more than three times the typical wholesale cost.

    Biz Insight – Last November the Indian government ordered the nation’s train stations to sell tea exclusively in locally made Kulhads, boosting demand to help employ two million potters. India’s Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the eco-friendly cups are currently available at 400 train stations. Learn more…

    Aravinda Anantharaman reports on the decision to switch from plastic to clay cups

    – Dan Bolton

    Upcoming Events

    August 2021
    POSTPONED: Beijing International Tea Expo, Beijing China
    August 27-30, 2021 | Beijing Exposition Center (recent coronavirus outbreak led Beijing authorities to halt all events that attract large crowds. Watch this space for new date when it becomes available.)

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  • Natural Tea Energy

    In the ready-to-drink category, tea-focused brands like ITO EN are innovating. Instead of concentrates and solubles, line extensions are brewed from whole leaves from sustainably grown tea and offered in recyclable packaging. Rona Tison, Executive Vice President of ITO EN North America, joins Tea Biz to discuss what makes tea the ideal base for function-enhancing blends that appeal to health-conscious consumers.

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    Rona Tison, executive vice president ITO EN North America
    New matcha and green functional tea blends from ITO EN

    RTD Teas Formulated for Function

    By Dan Bolton

    Ready-to-drink tea, both refrigerated and shelf-stable, generated $4.2 billion in sales in the US multi-outlet channel last year. RTD is the fastest growth segment in tea. Volume increased 40% globally between 2011 and 2016 rising to 37 billion liters. Sales are predicted to generate $25 billion a year globally by 2024, according to Market Research Future. In the US, the RTD segment is a battle of titans dominated by Lipton, PepsiCo, whose Pure Leaf brand is the top seller and Coca Cola (marketing Peace Tea, Honest Tea, Gold Peak); along with Snapple and AriZona.

    Cross category tea blends known as hybrids bridge traditional retail categories such as energy and refreshment; and have successfully carved out space on the shelf next to functional beverages as low-sugar organic, clean label alternatives to fortified waters and juice. Delivering a plant-powered matcha energy drink formulated with functional ingredients such as superfood acerola and yuzu for immunity, ginseng for focus, and ginger and honey to soothe ITO EN’s newly launched matcha LOVE ENERGY + (plus), provides a clean and natural energy boost with 50 milligrams of caffeine and L-theanine in an 8.28 fluent ounce can that is priced at $2.49

    Dan Bolton: Rona, when many tea brands are introducing herbals and herbal infusions, ITO EN has shown a solid commitment to traditional tea and tea blends. Will you share with listeners how the new matcha LOVE ENERGY + line maximizes tea’s inherent health benefits before adding plant-based enhancements to the shot?

    Rona Tison: Ito En’s expertise and legacy are really in green tea. Not a botanical but the Camellia sinensis plant that has not been oxidized, unlike black tea that is fully oxidized. As a vertically integrated company, we work very closely with the tea farmers tending to the soil, cultivating the tea leaf. And unique to Japan, the Japanese green tea leaves are steamed right after harvesting. This stops the oxidation and it helps preserve all the great health benefits as well as the properties of the tea leaf particularly important to taste and aroma.

    We were the innovators of the first unsweetened ready-to-drink green tea, a feat that was said to be impossible because, of course, green tea would oxidize. So, after years of research, we were able to introduce a bottled green tea that captured the optimal moment of enjoyment as if you were having a freshly brewed cup of green tea. And this revolutionized tea drinking. Even in Japan, the younger generations weren’t taking the time to steep leaf tea as their parents were. They were much more mobile on the go and so this convenient, on-the-go, ready-to-drink green tea changed how tea was enjoyed even in Japan. Our bottled Oi Ocha just celebrated its 32nd year. It’s been exciting to see the impact this has had on the modern lifestyle.

    Dan: Will you describe these plant-based enhancements?

    Rona: Our matcha brand has been doing incredibly well but we wanted to take it one step further and have a beverage that had more functionality, particularly given these times of the global pandemic. So, we decided to create a clean energy drink, that is plant-based powered with green tea and matcha, which has the goodness in the vitality of the green tea leaf. Each functional ingredient enhances this goodness by boosting immunity, or focus or it soothes. As you are aware, many energy drinks today do not have such healthy ingredients. So we’re excited to be able to introduce a clean energy drink that gives you the benefits as well as tastes delicious. And that, of course, is first and foremost, people are very conscious about boosting their health and wellness, particularly in these times.

    So, with that in mind, we created the three flavors: immunity, which helps maintain your defenses, with the superfruit as the acerola, and yuzu, which is a Japanese citrus, that is very high in vitamin C. Focus is matcha, combined with the ginseng and blueberry that empowers mental clarity and focus. Soothe helps kind of soothe body and mind. It’s made with the honey and ginger.

    Japanese Yuzu

    All share a base of green tea and matcha, which provides the natural caffeine balanced with the amino acid, L-theanine, which is very high in green tea. Together you experience a sense of calm with alertness. Combined with the caffeine and L-theanine, this is a very clean and healthy energy drink with none of the unhealthy ingredients that you can’t pronounce that are artificial and synthetic. Matcha LOVE ENERGY + has healthy clean ingredients, and only 50 milligrams of natural caffeine balanced with the L-theanine. This amino acid gives you a sense of calm and alertness, so you get your nice gentle boost, but it keeps you grounded throughout the day.

    Matcha Love Energy

    Dan: Consumer research confirms that drinks that deliver an energy boost are a top priority. In Europe, a survey of 5,000 consumers [conducted for Germany-based Beneo] revealed that half are looking for food and drink products to help them make it through the day. Eight-of-10 of those aged 18-34 said they seek energy-boosting products, but with safe concentrations of caffeine and without synthetic flavors, sweeteners, colors, and preservatives.

    Rona: There’s been a huge increase in the plant-based lifestyle, as more and more consumers are embracing a life of health and wellness. And, of course, tea is the original plant-based beverage. I don’t know if your are aware that it was actually in Japan that functional foods first were introduced. In the 1980s, a grant was given to research functional foods, which in Japan are regulated under The Japanese Ministry of Health established regulatory oversight for functional foods known as ‘Foods for Specified Health Use’ (FOSHU)* in 1991. So, we thank Japan for the fact that they’re functional beverages or functional foods.

    It’s always been a priority for ITO EN to bring healthy beverages to the forefront. Our five guiding principles have always been natural, healthy, safe, well designed, and delicious. So, whenever we conceptualize and develop products, it has to be within these five principles. And so, we’re excited about our Matcha LOVE ENERGY + line joining our portfolio of green tea beverages and award-winning teas tea organic line, which is known for its clarity and clean finish.

    Our traditional Oi Ocha line, which is very much an authentic green tea taste, refreshing. All green teas have antioxidants, the catechins EGCG and a multitude of vitamins to include the daily vitamin C. So given these times of the global pandemic, where people are thinking and prioritizing their health and immunity, it’s pretty exciting that we’ve been able to introduce this hybrid beverage that not only tastes good but has functional properties.

    *The Japanese scientific academic community defined ‘functional food’ early in the 1980s. That is, functional foods are those that have three functions. The primary function is nutrition. The secondary function is a sensory function or sensory satisfaction. The third is the tertiary function, which is physiological.

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  • Is Tea Divisible?

    Is tea divisible into commodity and specialty categories? Or is tea quality best viewed as a continuum? Should mainstays of the industry rest easy meeting consumer preferences for inexpensive tea while small-volume specialty producers and boutique brands supply the market for premium tea?

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    Shabnam Weber, president of the Tea & Herbal Association of Canada
    White tea drying in the sun in China’s Fujian Province

    Is Tea Divisible?

    In 2009, determined to increase production and grow earnings from tea exports, China’s Ministry of Agriculture observed that “seventy-thousand Chinese tea companies are equal to one Lipton in terms of turnover.” Twelve years later Lipton anchors a $3 billion tea portfolio and parent Unilever annually buys 10% of the world’s tea output, but collectively China’s 80 million tea growers have long since surpassed turnover of even the largest multi-nationals. China has excelled by adding value to its entire range of teas, differentiating premium from everyday tea without defining specialty.

    Joining us today is Shabnam Weber, president of the Tea & Herbal Association of Canada. In 2000 she co-founded the Tea Emporium, a chain of Canadian specialty tea shops. She served as a member of the THAC board for many years before selling her company to lead the association. In this conversation, she represents not only the Canadian tea industry, and is also a spokesperson for the Tea Association of the USA and the Tea and Herbal Infusions Europe, an apex group that in turn represents tea associations in Ireland, the UK, Germany, Spain, France, Austria, The Netherlands, and several other European countries.

    Dan Bolton – Can specialty tea be defined or is tea quality best described as a continuum?

    Shabnam Weber – Trying to find a definition for tea is like “trying to nail Jello to a wall.” That’s not my quote, I’m quoting Bill Clinton.  If we all accept that to be an absolute truth, which we seem to agree on, then why are we putting our energy and trying to differentiate, in what appears to be dividing up the industry into good and bad?

    Our objective as an industry should be working together, in order to capture share of throat, from coffee, from water, and from soft drinks. That should be our objective.  So let’s pretend that in some magical world, we actually managed to find a  definition that everybody agrees on. My question is, so then what? What’s going to happen?

    Have we actually converted a single coffee drinker over to tea? Have we converted a water drinker or a soft drink consumer over? We haven’t.

    Have you bettered the life of a single tea producer on this planet? No. And are they going to appoint themselves the tea police, and say, well, you’re specialty, and you’re not specialty?

    Dan: Two weeks ago the European Speciality Tea Association (ESTA) described specialty tea as “attaining tea excellence from bush to cup.” The association cited tea characteristics and supply chain attributes such as transparency and sustainable best practices.

    “Speciality tea can be defined by the quality of the criteria – not the use of the criteria,” wrote ESTA executive director David Veal. ESTA “believes that the degree of excellence that a tea reaches in each of these criteria determines specialty versus commodity,” writes Veal, and that “the very point of defining speciality, is to differentiate it, and so to further distinguish speciality tea from commodity tea.”

    Shabnam: These are the same criteria used by every tea taster in the industry, regardless of the “specialty” or “traditional” label. Traceability is not unique to specialty teas, “Traceability requirements are at the core of food safety laws in place around the world and must be demonstrated as part of regular audits for large retailers as well as certification programs.”

    Although all the above may be part of what defines specialty tea “suggesting they are not a part of “traditional” tea is factually incorrect,” reads a joint press release of the three associations (Canada, US, and Tea and Herbal Infusions Europe).

    Associations are here to represent the industry as a whole. We’re here for the betterment of an entire industry. These conversations make me really uncomfortable. I just don’t see what we as an industry gain from it.

    We don’t.

    Dan: What value additions favorably influence consumer perceptions? What are the characteristics or aspects that make tea more valuable, and therefore more worthy of consumers spending a little more of their pocket change?

    That’s an interesting question because, you know, we can look at it on an analytical level and any tea taster regardless of what part of the industry they’re in, will tell you that value is placed on pluck, on size of the leaf, on seasonality, perhaps depending on where the teas come from, on aroma compounds, on clarity of the liquor on, you know, just overall flavor We can look at it on a very analytical level that way and every person within the industry, regardless of if they’re working in traditional or specialty will agree that there are higher quality products within the industry, you will not find a single person that will object to that.

    On the flip side, when you’re asking, Where does the consumer place value? The consumer places value in all different aspects. We can take a look at the packaging, we can take a look at marketing, we can take a look at how we communicate tea. You will not find an objection from me, when you make the statement that tea is undervalued, it is undervalued. Absolutely.

    As an industry, we need to do better as a whole to improve that message. That comes in communicating to consumers not only why it is good for you, but why it should be part of your lifestyle, your everyday, the way that we’ve seen it in the past year with COVID-19.

    People have been attracted to tea because it makes them feel good.  I practically screamed that from the rooftops when I heard that. Hallelujah. This is a long-term lifestyle change, that people are actually communicating to us beyond, you know, vitamins and antioxidants and all the rest of those good things that are also part of it.

    There are some teas that do set themselves apart, people drink them and it’s a revelation, it’s beautiful.  Where I’m uncomfortable and where we as associations take issue is when we are celebrating that at the expense of something else. When in order for that to be good or great, something else has to be bad.

    Tell me why specialty is good. Tell me your product is a premium pluck, and it’s rare, that it’s only available for this window of time. Tell me about how it was crafted. Tell me about the flavor profiles. Tell me about those things. Because we’re celebrating why this is good.

    There’s a problem when we go down the road of splitting and splintering the industry, it’s dangerous for everyone.

    Dan: Is tea undervalued?

    I think that as an industry, we should together be working on elevating the value of tea for the betterment of every part of the supply chain.

    It is an absolute problem when any retailer is putting a two-cent certified product onto the market. As an industry, we have allowed retail to undervalue our product. It’s happened over years. And the assumption then is that the product is of no value. And that is fundamentally wrong.

    Tea has been undervalued. But that doesn’t mean it has no value. We have to do better. I have to honestly say, and you can quote me on it, shame on us as consumers. Shame on us as retailers in consuming countries that allow that to happen. Because the truth is that tea is of great value.  And to understand the entire supply chain, the work, and dedication it takes to produce ALL tea is to understand that absolute truth.

    * State-supported production dominates, generating almost $80 billion in domestic sales and $2 billion from exports. In 2020 China held a 28.7% share of tea export value globally. In May average export prices rose 15% to $6.41 per kilo year-on-year. China has excelled at adding value along its entire range of teas.

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  • Tea Biz Podcast | Episode 28

    Tea Biz Podcast Logo

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    Hear the Headlines

    | Research Reveals That Children Benefit from Drinking Tea
    | A New Definition for Specialty Tea Gets Refined
    | Unilever’s Tea Brand Divestiture is on Pace

    Seven-minute Tea News Recap
    Tea Price Report
    India Tea Price Watch | Sale 29

    In a significant development this week, the Tea Board of India issued a circular making it mandatory for producers to send at least 50% of their produce to the public auction. Producers that fail to comply face action. Expectedly, producers are not happy.  Read more…

    Features

    Tea Biz this week visits the tea lands from on high where rising temperatures in the atmosphere are causing shifts in the jet stream that alter ocean temperatures, causing an unusual period of extreme weather globally. The results from changes in the climate are visible this summer as heat domes, and drought, slow-moving monsoons and violent typhoons and fast-melting glaciers in the Himalayas….

    … then to England to marvel at the work of British author and photographer Michael Freeman and co-author Timothy d’Offay whose large-format book The Life of Tea: A Journey to the World’s Finest Teas gets a glowing review from Tea Book Club founder Kyle Whittington.

    Children Benefit from Drinking Tea
    Researchers conclude children as young as four years of age benefit from drinking tea

    Children Benefit from Drinking Tea

    By Dan Bolton

    An extensive review of medical research suggests children as early as age 4 benefit from drinking tea.

    In a peer-reviewed paper published in the Nutrition and Food Technology journal, Dr. Pamela Mason identified 60 scientific studies on the health benefits of drinking tea from childhood onward, as reported in The Telegraph of London. Drinking three cups of black tea daily improves cardiovascular health and boosts the body’s immune system, she said.

    Tea also helps combat obesity, stress, aids relaxation, influences brain functions such as alertness and concentration, and is an ideal replacement for sugary drinks.

    Drinking tea daily “could help preserve physical and mental health in childhood, through the teens and adulthood, pregnancy and into old age,” she said.

    Biz Insight – The research, commissioned by the UK’s Tea Advisory Panel, showed that clinical and laboratory studies demonstrate how phenolic compounds in green tea boost nitric oxide levels which lowers blood pressure, and act as antioxidants to reduce inflammation. Tea polyphenols also limit cholesterol absorption in the gut and target receptors which regulate blood cholesterol levels.

    Citation: Mason P, Bond T (2021) Tea and Wellness throughout Life. Nutr Food Technol Open Access 7(1): dx.doi.org/10.16966/2470- 6086.172

    Learn more…

    Photo from The Life of Tea by Michael Freeman and Timothy d’Offay. Photo courtesy Michael Freeman Photography.

    Visual Splendor

    By Kyle Whittington | Tea Book Club

    One of the lovely things about this book is that you don’t feel that you’re rereading information on tea that you’ve read 1,000 times before. Rather, you go on a journey to each tea type, each country, region, artisan or tea house, and along the way, dotted throughout the text like so many villages amongst the tea mountains are these wonderful gems and nuggets of information. There’s so much to learn and absorb both from the pictures and the text in this book. It sits such at an unusual sweet spot where a visually enticing book meets a well-researched and written reference book. Read more…

    Kyle Whittington reviews The Life of Tea, A Journey to the World’s Finest Teas.
    Flooding Nepal Sep 2017
    Flooding in Nepal Tea Growing Region September 2017. Photo by Deepak Kafle.

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    Tea Threatened by Intemperate Torture

    By Dan Bolton

    The howl of Typhoon In-Fa assailing China, and the monsoons deluging India brought havoc, not relief to parched tea lands this month.

    Record rainfalls in central China’s Henan Province forced the evacuation of 1 million people and swamped or swept away cultivars used to make Xin Yang Mao Jian, a prized green tea. Tea retailers Heytea and Nayuki pledged a combined $1.5 million to a local charity in Zhengzhou for flood control and disaster relief.

    In India, super-heated air from a heat wave that killed thousands — now heavily laden with moisture — traveled north causing flooding. Chiplun in Maharashtra, received 450mm (17.7 inches) of rainfall in a single day on July 22. For comparison, the highest single-day rainfall recorded in the capital, New Delhi, in the last 15 years was 144mm (5.7 inches) in 2016, writes Al Jazeera.

    The Himalayas have been warming for years. Melting ice trapped in 15,000 glaciers is receding at 100 to 200 feet per year, saturating the soil, contributing to landslides and the destruction of two dams in February that killed 200. In Nepal entire villages have been forced to migrate to lower lands to avoid once frozen, now flowing glacial lakes.

    Consider for a moment the leaves that sustain the tea industry.

    Currently the soil under their feet is either soggy and unstable or dry and unyielding. Tea is heat-tolerant up to a point, but growth of new leaves stops at 95o Fahrenheit | 35o centigrade. Insect infestations such as the red mite are now more common. Fungal and bacteria borne diseases are harder for the plants to combat. Leaves of clonal tea bushes cascade to the ground at temperatures above 40o centigrade. Without rain, cells at the core of the trunk contract, no longer able to transport water from the soil. Branches turn brittle, death quickly follows.

    Now, consider China, the world’s largest tea producer.

    In the immediate future leaves basking in the sun benefit, especially in the northern regions where long winters and frost limit yields.

    In a March 2021 article in the journal Environmental Research Letters, researchers conclude that both heat and cold extremes were associated with significantly reduced tea yields.

    “In the present climate, dominating cold extremes influence more than half of China’s tea production, with a maximum of 56% reduced annual production… Climate warming may diminish the negative impacts of cold extremes, they write. However, reduced yields in regions subject to intensified heat extremes will emerge. In the colder regions dry roots withstand frost better than wet — but sustained heat is fatal. In a country that produces billions of kilos of tea, losses are estimated from 14%–26% at the Yangtze River and in southern China regions.

    The authors write that “Increasing heat extremes pose the most challenging changes for tea production in China. We expect up to 11%–24% heat-induced yield loss in Chongqing, Hunan, Anhui, and Zhejiang.

    China accounts for 41% of global production, India contributes 21% and Kenya 8%. All three are impacted. A decline in yield of this magnitude would make quality tea scarce and while quantities will be sufficient to meet domestic needs little will be left for export. A quality declines, consumer tastes will shift to competing beverages.

    Tea is one of the most important cash crops in developing countries, and as a result — tea cultivation is of considerable socio-economic importance for the alleviation of rural poverty. In China, about 80 million people are employed in the production of tea. Smallholders who contribute more than half the volume of tea grown in India and Kenya will be unable to irrigate or relocate to higher, cooler elevations. The World Bank has warned that climate change could sharply diminish living conditions for up to 800 million of those living in South Asia.

    Effects of Extreme Temperature on China’s Tea Production
    Citation: Yulin Yan1, Sujong Jeong7,2, Chang-Eui Park2, Nathaniel D Mueller 3,4, Shilong Piao5, Hoonyoung Park2, Jaewon Joo2, Xing Chen2, Xuhui Wang5, Junguo Liu6Show full author list Published 30 March 2021 • © 2021 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd Environmental Research Letters, Volume 16, Number 4 Citation Yulin Yan et al 2021 Environ. Res. Lett. 16 044040

    Speciality Tea Definition Refined

    By Dan Bolton

    Tea Associations in the US, Europe, and Canada responded this week with concerns about the European Speciality Tea Association’s definition of specialty tea. The Tea & Herbal Association of Canada, the Tea Association of the USA, and Tea & Herbal Infusions Europe issued a joint statement expressing “concern” with the language ESTA used to differentiate specialty tea from traditional tea.

    Criteria cited in the ESTA definition includes tea’s physical and sensory characteristics and a requirement that it be traceable through details such as location, pluck date, processing facility.

    These are the same criteria used by every tea taster in the industry, regardless of “specialty” or “traditional” label, reads the joint press release.

    The release points out that traceability is not unique to specialty teas, “Traceability requirements are at the core of food safety laws in place around the world and must be demonstrated as part of regular audits for large retailers as well as certification programs.”

    Although all the above may be part of what defines specialty tea “suggesting they are not a part of “traditional” tea is factually incorrect,” reads the release.

    In reply, David Veal, executive director of the European Speciality Tea Association writes that “We note the concerns about the language of differentiation between speciality and other teas, but that is the very point of defining speciality, to differentiate it, and so to further distinguish speciality tea from commodity tea we place emphasis on attaining tea excellence from bush to cup. Speciality tea can be defined by the quality of the criteria – not the use of the criteria. ESTA believes that the degree of excellence that a tea reaches in each of these criteria determines specialty versus commodity,” writes Veal.

    The joint release states that the signatories “take great pride in our collective approach of inclusion… our members include all parts of the supply chain operating in what is commonly referred to as the “traditional” tea industry as well as the “speciality” tea industry.

    Since the release of our definition, we have received very positive responses from small farmers and consumers… and we believe that we are moving in the right direction for the benefit of the speciality tea market, writes Veal.

    “We welcome all feedback and hope to be able to continue discourse directly with all parties who are interested in promoting speciality tea,” he added.

    Biz Insight – In an updated post on the Tea Biz blog, ESTA continues to refine its  definition with an explanation by ESTA president Nigel Melican of the term hand-crafted and the role of machinery in making specialty tea.

    Learn more…

    Unilever Tea Brand Divestiture on Pace

    During a July 22 earnings call Unilever CEO Alan W. Jope told investors that “the operational separation of our tea business is now substantially complete” but he did not offer a timeline for the divestiture.

    He said the company has created “an attractive standalone business with dedicated leadership. We’re very pleased with the progress we’ve made on the complex separation… we’ve filled 3,500 vacancies around the world, we’ve established the sales organizations in our largest markets. We will start to engage externally very shortly to execute on outcome, and this could be through an IPO, through a sale, or partnership,”? said Jope. 

    The company intends to divest a sizeable portion of its tea business including the Tazo, Pukka Herbs and T2 brands.

    – Dan Bolton

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  • The Life of Tea

    Later, pouring some of last year’s temple tea, he says, “Tea has so much information to give. If you pay attention, you know not only the place, but how the tree grew, even the mood of the person who processed it.” – The Life of Tea by Michael Freeman and Timothy d’Offay (page 101)

    Kyle Whittington reviews The Life of Tea, Journey to the World’s Finest Teas
    The Life of Tea by Michael Freeman and Timothy d’Offay

    Visual Splendor

    By Kyle Whittington | Tea Book Club

    This book, in a word, is stunning, just stunning. By far the most beautiful tea book visually to land on my tea shelf. The coffee table book format and fabulous photography by Michael Freeman make this a treasured addition to any collection of tea books. Add to that the knowledge that pours forth in the words written by Timothy d’Offay and we have a truly special book in our hands.

    One of the lovely things about this book is that you don’t feel that you’re rereading information on tea that you’ve read 1,000 times before. Rather, you go on a journey to each tea type, each country, region, artisan or tea house, and along the way, dotted throughout the text like so many villages amongst the tea mountains are these wonderful gems and nuggets of information. There’s so much to learn and absorb both from the pictures and the text in this book. It sits such at an unusual sweet spot where a visually enticing book meets a well-researched and written reference book.

    This is not a book that requires cover to cover reading. Rather, you can pick an area and go on a journey, then move on to another. In any order. An approach that Tea Book Club members really enjoyed. The text is so well written, with great flow, great knowledge and great humanity. From historical and cultural context to processing details of a specific tea and the atmospheric approach up a tea mountain road. You really feel that Tim has been there, knows the farmers, the people, and the tea.

    The large format and visual splendour of this book is, however, perhaps its biggest sticking point, as well as what sets it so beautifully apart. It’s simply not easy to read and requires effort to open and get on with. One solution is to grab the Kindle copy for easy train or bed reading, allowing you to fly through the content laden and beautifully written text without the heft and size the physical book requires.

    That being said, I simply love this book… but I’d also love to see a paperback size version falling into the hands of every tea lover out there. Because really, we all ought to read this book at least once.

    The Life of Tea. Photo by Michael Freeman Photography.

    And here is what some of the Tea Book Club members had to say:

    “A great coffee table book, the text wrapped around photography bringing it to life.”  – Alison, UK

    “I adore it. It’s definitely going to be a long term treasure for me.” – B, USA

    “The artistic quality of the depiction is so beautiful and has such integrity. It’s connected things in my head.” – Terri, USA

    “One of the strengths of this book is to show different views of what we see in every tea book” – Aimée, Canada

    “This book gives you all the information like other tea books but in a very elegant way… plenty of little details, but very important ones.” – Pilar, UK

    “The writing was really insightful and the photography was really beautiful.” – Karri, USA

    “I really liked his focus on the people in all the different places he traveled to. His perspectives of the farmers was really really nice.” – Nicole, USA

    “I’ve been drooling over the pictures. My husband is not a big tea drinker but he even picked it up and learned a lot just from the pictures.” – Terri, USA

    “I love the text and I also love the pictures but I found ti difficult to read at night. But I found there was a lot of pieces of information that added a piece to the puzzle in my mind about tea… ‘Oh, that’s the link between those two ideas!’” – Aimée, Canada

    “I loved the section on tea ware, his knowledge and love for the tea ware really shines through.” – Nadine, UK

    “I really really like that it didn’t have the ad nauseam facts that are repeated in every other book on tea. There’s so much in there but it’s not done in a stereotypical way.” – Nicole, USA

    “I really appreciated seeing pictures of some of the behind the scenes stuff that you don’t usually see in such good quality.” – Sean, USA

    “The tea ware section is amazing, you feel like you are reading about art!” – Pilar UK

    Although based in the UK, The Tea Book Club is an international group of tea lovers and readers who meet up virtually each month to discuss tea books. If you’d like to join us for next read, visit teabookclub.org or @joinTeaBookClub on Instagram. 

    Freeman’s photography depicts every aspect of tea.

    The Life of Tea:
    A Journey to the World’s Finest Teas

    Goodreads: Documentary photographer Michael Freeman and tea expert Timothy d’Offay explore the terroir, taste, and culture of the world’s favorite drink.

    Amazon | Hardcover, 256 pages

    Published Sept. 4, 2018
    Octopus Publishing Group
    Imprint: Mitchell Beazley

    Michael Freeman Gallery

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