• Ekaterra Rebrands as LIPTON Teas and Infusions

    Tea News for the week ending January 13

    Podcast Episode 99

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

    “This change comes together with our commitment to drive the whole tea industry upwards and grow value for all and our planet,” said Roos.

    Lipton writes that the rebranding will strengthen the company’s position as the world’s number one tea business and affirm its approach as a consumer-centric organization. Ekaterra currently generates €2 billion in annual turnover from sales in 150 countries. The name change is more inclusive of non-traditional brands in the ekaterra portfolio, such as Pukka and TAZO. The company owns 34 brands including PG Tips, the T2 retail chain, and regional brands such as Brooke Bond Red Label and Bushell’s in Australia.

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

    The SpaceX Transporter safely delivered the first Agri-Focused Earth Observation Satellite (EOS) into orbit Jan. 3. The constellation of seven satellites will each monitor one million square kilometers daily, covering 100% of the largest areas of farm and forestlands, about 98% of the globe’s land surface. The satellites, designed by Dragonfly Aerospace, scan 13 bands to generate panchromatic and multispectral imagery to monitor daily crop growth, water stress, weed spread, the presence of pests, and temperature variations at ground level. Tea growers can use the data to precisely control CO2 emissions, cut energy consumption, decrease water usage and reduce losses to pests.

    | The Specialty Tea Institute Ceases Operations
    According to Peter Goggi, president of the Tea Association of the U.S.A, the decision was driven by economics and a decline in interest. STI will not accept membership applications in 2023 and will not conduct classes anytime in the near future, he said. Goggi writes that STI could not offer many courses over the last three years due to COVID and had experienced a dramatic drop in both membership and interested students. STI is the association’s educational arm, offering basic through advanced training. The institute’s Certified Tea Specialist and Certified STI Instructor credentials and STI Tea Mentors program were well respected with participation by tea professionals around the world.

    | PLUS Mou Dasgupta, founder of Brook37 The Atelier in Princeton, New Jersey, is pursuing her passion for tea after 25 years of trendsetting corporate leadership in the financial services industry. She developed a love for fine-quality tea while living in West Bengal, India, where she attended university in Calcutta. She says Brook37 “is proud to bring fresh thinking and an ethical and sustainable mindset to all we do,” she says. “Our unparalleled tea selection of flavors, aromas, and colors from around the world, along with exquisite packaging, help you choose a positive and aspirational lifestyle.”

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  • Easing COVID Restrictions Leads to Uncertainty in China’s Tea Industry

    Tea pluckers in China practice COVID distancing during the 2020 harvest

    Tea News for the week ending January 6

    Podcast Episode 98

    Millions of urban Chinese will return to their ancestral homes in rural China to celebrate the Lunar New Year, raising concerns about outbreaks and possible labor shortages in tea-growing regions as the spring harvest begins.

    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 day-long, in-person Global Tea Initiative Colloquium on Jan. 19 at the University of California, Davis, will discuss Tea and 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 says 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 and coercion, and restricted freedom of movement.

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  • World Bank Report: India’s Cold Chain

    World Bank Cooling Opportunities India
    World Bank Report: Climate Investment Opportunities in India’s Cooling Sector

    Tea News for the week ending December 9

    Podcast Episode 96

    Iran Slows Tea and Rice Imports from India

    Without explanation, Iran’s Ministry of Agriculture has stopped registering contracts with Indian suppliers to export tea, rice, and other commodities. Registration is required before Indian goods can be offloaded in Iran.

    Beginning in late November, Indian tea traders and traders exporting basmati rice noticed unusual delays in the routine registration of shipping contracts. Iranian officials did not announce or explain the delays, which led to speculation that the disruption was tied to ongoing street protests, a widening trade imbalance, or possibly ongoing discussions to resume oil exports from Iran to India.

    Masih Keshavarz, speaking for Iran’s Rice Suppliers Commission, told IRIB News, “the ban will be lifted as soon as bilateral trade is balanced out or registers growth.”

    The Business Standard reported that a fifth of India’s tea exports are shipped to Iran. Indian exporters told the newspaper, “the disruption in trade has been triggered by anti-hijab protests in Iran. Asa result, Iranian buyers, have been defaulting on payment obligations.”

    Negotiations between the two countries to resume oil shipments are ongoing. India halted in 2019 due to EU and US economic sanctions designed to convince Iran to cease work on developing a nuclear arsenal.

    Anshuman Kanoria, chairman of the Indian Tea Traders Association, said India’s Commerce Ministry, the Tea Board of India, India’s Foreign Trade office, and the Indian Embassy in Tehran are seeking an explanation. He writes that it is “futile to speculate on unconfirmed guesses.”

    Previously registered shipments continue to arrive at Iranian ports.

    | China Eases COVID Restrictions

    China has eased travel restrictions and will permit people to enter public buildings without showing negative test results (except schools, hospitals, and nursing homes). Residents can travel freely within the country, but international travelers must still endure an eight-day quarantine on arrival. The country remains closed to tourists. The immediate impact of lifting restrictions will be a surge in infections due to a low vaccination rate.

    | World Bank Report Reveals Investment Opportunities for Expanding India’s Cold Chain

    Cold storage capacity in India has grown steadily. Still, a gap of 3.27 million metric tons for long-term storage of fresh produce remains, according to a World Bank report on investment opportunities presented at a government-hosted conference on developing India’s cooling sector.

    The integrated development of the cold supply chain across India is severely lacking. The National Centre for Cold Chain Development (NCCD) estimates that close to $11.75 billion is required to develop the physical infrastructure and transport-related elements, presenting an investment opportunity to modernize the retail end of the cold chain requiring $1.3 to $1.9 billion.

    Building out that infrastructure will spur the consumption of chilled ready-to-drink tea and make it practical to sell refrigerated concentrates and store perishable green teas.

    Download: Climate Investment Opportunities in India’s Cooling Sector

    | PLUS THIRST has completed its initial assessment of human rights in the global tea sector and is now seeking to understand the root causes. THIRST founder and CEO Sabita Banerji says the non-profit will conduct confidential surveys of tea producers during the New Year. In this episode, she discusses the process with South Asia Correspondent Aravinda Anantharaman.

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  • UNESCO Honors and Safeguards Tea Cultures in China, Türkiye, and Azerbaijan

    Tea pluckers harvesting raw leaf in Türkiye carry traditional baskets

    Tea News for the week ending December 2

    Podcast Episode 95

    UNESCO Inscribes Tea Traditions China, Türkiye, and Azerbaijan on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

    The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) annually recognizes cultural practices and traditional crafts worthy of safeguarding. On Dec. 1, UNESCO named two tea traditions to the list, citing traditional Chinese tea processing techniques that “entail knowledge, skills, and practices around tea plantation management, tea-leaf picking, and manual processing. These are passed on through families and apprenticeships, including by tea producers, farmers, and artists, as well as those who make the pastries that are typically served with tea.”

    UNESCO also inscribed the Culture of Çay (tea), “a symbol of identity, hospitality, and social interaction.” In a joint application submitted in March 2021, Azerbaijan and Türkiye described their tea culture as “an essential part of social and cultural life and an important social practice aiming to show hospitality, celebrate important moments in the lives of communities and help them to build and maintain social relationships and enjoy moments by drinking tea for social exchange and interaction.

    | Black Friday Lives Up to its Name as US shoppers set in-store and online sales records

    | Australian Study Shows Elderly Women Benefit from Tea Flavonoids

    | PLUS Tea Biz travels to Tucson, Arizona, for the grand opening of a 2200 sq. ft. combination tea shop, tearoom, warehouse, and online fulfillment center. Andrew McNeill, Business Development Director at Seven Cups Fine Chinese Tea, says that stay-at-home tea drinkers experimenting with specialty teas are eager to share the experience of tea discovery face-to-face.

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  • Pricing Tea in a Slogging Economy

    Tea News for the week ending November 4

    Podcast Episode 91

    Indicators Suggest a Recession is Imminent

    Carman Allison, vice president of thought leadership at Nielsen IQ in Toronto, describes the unusual combination of slow growth and job gains set against rising interest rates and sharply higher inflation as a “consumer recession.”

    “We are all trained to understand that you need two consecutive quarters of GDP contraction for a country to be officially in a recession. But we also know that by the time that actually happens, a lot of the economy is already in a recession,” he explains.

    | The International Tea Academy Awards its First “Leafies”
    | Sales of Herbal Infusions are Expected to Double this Decade

    | PLUS Canadian Economist Sylvain Charlebois, senior director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, sees a lot of positives for the tea industry but cautioned that inflation is an economic disease that will linger. Supply chain challenges remain. He said the macro-dynamics around commodities are getting more complicated, adding, “The fall is not going to be an easy one.”

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