What tea professionals need to start the week.

Prince Charles concluded his tour of India and Sri Lanka with a visit to the Labookellie Tea Estate where he walked the plantation and sampled a cup of Prince George Blend, specially created in honor of his grandson…The Experimental Food Society Spectacular in London last week featured a “breathable tea room” created by Camellia’s Tea House with specially designed inhalers that concentrated the tea’s aroma… Teavana opened its second Tea Bar, this in Seattle’s University Village. Expect up to 200 more in 2014. A tea auction in Hong Kong this week is expected to yield $1.3 million from the sale of rare teas, teapots and utensils. The prize lots are a 20-kilo box of narcissus oolong tea bearing the Wu-Yi brand that is expected to bring more than $120,000 and a 1950s Pu-erh from the Menghai Tea Factory in Yunnan valued at $65,000… The East African Tea Trade Association estimates that small holders have brought a 60 million kilo surplus to auction in Mombasa so far this year which has depressed prices to a 2008 low…. A heavily armed British SupaCat LRV 400 special forces vehicle that can reach 100 mph off road debuted last week equipped with a 50-caliber machine gun and heavy-duty boiler to make hot water for tea…

• Synchronized Real-time Tea Blending Bagging Machine
• Mystery of the Kettle’s Whistle Solved
• Japanese use LEDs to Cultivate Tea

Innovation

SEATTLE, Wash. – Synchronizing combinations of precisely weighed ingredients during the bag-making process is a promising development by Epanie, a South Korean manufacturer of an innovative tea bagging machine. Motovotano, a Seattle firm founded by tea industry veteran James J. Mackness, is the first company to use the equipment in North America. The pyramid-style filling and bagging machine blends gourmet tea in real-time.

The pyramid has established itself as the go-to format for high quality blends. But large inclusions such as flower buds that delight the eye are difficult to apportion. Improvements in its design by Epanie over existing pyramid and traditional filter paper sachets allows for larger tea leaves and for those leaves to unfurl and brew properly for superior taste. Bags can be made of nylon, non-woven commercially compostable or certified biodegradable materials.

Learn more: Synchronized Real-time Tea Blending Bagging Machine

Origin

Japanese tea growers are experimenting with seedlings raised indoors under red and green LEDs. Plant leaves are harvested for tea foods such as Tempura. The Tokutaro Noda greenhouse strictly regulates the temperature, prevents germs and pests without the use of pesticide. The humidity is kept constant and automatic spraying equipment delivers organic nutrients. The use of lights eliminates seasonality as harvests are timed to the needs of local cafes with several harvests annually. The lights are on 24 hours a day which increases the catechins and phytochemical components, according to Tomitaro Noda, a fifth-generation tea grower who founded the company.

Source: SB Wire

Health

Promising Early-Stage Cancer Prevention

Joshua D. Lambert, PhD, associate professor of food science at Pennsylvania State University at University Park, reviewed human and experimental studies to find that green tea and green tea catechin inhibit tumorigenesis. Although it has not been as well studied as green tea, black tea has also shown cancer preventive effects, according to a report on Medscape.com. The polyphenolic constituents in tea, along with the caffeine content, appear to be potential cancer-preventive compounds. Lambert cautions that the number of human studies that have directly examined the effects of green tea on cancer progression is limited but promising at an early stage.

“As might be expected, studies that have examined early-stage disease have been promising, whereas those that have dealt with late-stage disease have largely yielded negative results,” writes Dr. Lambert. “These data indicate that tea and tea compounds likely lack sufficient potency to serve as first-line chemotherapeutic compounds but do have a role to play in both primary prevention and prevention of cancer recurrence.”

Source: Am J Clin Nutr. Published online October 30, 2013. Yuan abstract, Lambert abstract

Whimsey

The journal The Physics of Fluid Dynamics revealed a previously unknown scientific explanation for why the kettle whistles and it’s similar to the whistle you make pursing your lips.

It’s a problem that has puzzled scientists for more than 100 years.

Once steam begins passing through the kettle’s spout it creates small vortices – regions of swirling flow. At sufficient speed the air vibrates at frequencies that produce noise. A team of researchers at the University of Cambridge report that a common tea kettle is a near perfect hole tone system, in which two orifice plates are held a short distance apart in a cylindrical duct.

As steam comes up the kettle’s spout, it meets a hole at the start of the whistle, which is much narrower than the spout itself. This contracts the flow of steam as it enters the whistle and creates a jet of steam passing through it. The steam jet is naturally unstable, like the jet of water from a garden hose that starts to break into droplets after it has traveled a certain distance. As a result, by the time it reaches the end of the whistle, the jet of steam is no longer a pure column, but slightly disturbed.

In an article published by the university titled “How the Kettle Got its Whistle” Ross Henrywood, from the University’s Department of Engineering, and the study’s lead author, explained “the effect we have identified can actually happen in all sorts of situations – anything where the structure containing a flow of air is similar to that of a kettle whistle. Pipes inside a building are one classic example and similar effects are seen inside damaged vehicle exhaust systems. Once we know where the whistle is coming from, and what’s making it happen, we can potentially get rid of it.”

Learn more: The Aeroacoustics of a Steam Kettle

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Tea Biz serves a core audience of beverage professionals in the belief that insightful journalism is one of the most effective forms of professional education. We write about what matters along the entire supply chain, emphasizing trustworthy sources and sound market research while discarding fluff and ignoring puffery.

Tea Biz posts are available to use in your company newsletter or website. Purchase reprint and distribution rights for single articles or subscribe. Custom content available. Click here for details.

What tea professionals need to know to start the week.

• Good Health News
• Grocery Tea Packaging Innovations
• Tea for the Troops

Health

NEW YORK, NY — Every tea retailer should acquire a copy of the December issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition as it contains a supplement with a dozen authoritative peer-reviewed articles on the health benefits of tea.

Tea is cited as helping prevent a range of chronic illnesses, including heart disease, certain types of cancer and type 2 diabetes. This new research shows tea has been found to help promote weight loss and maintain a healthy weight, improve bone health and activate areas of the brain that bolster attention, problem solving and mood.

The issue highlights research presented last September at the Fifth International Scientific Symposium on Tea and Human Health which was organized by the Tea Council of the USA a non-profit association that was formed in 1950 as a joint partnership between tea packers, importers and allied industries within the United States, and the major tea producing countries.

Twelve internationally renowned researchers contributed to the AJCN supplement, including experts from USDA, National Institutes of Health, UCLA, University of Glasgow and University of L’Aquila, among others.

“The scientists who contributed their original research and insights are among the best in the world, and together, this body of research has significantly advanced the science of tea and human health,” said compendium editor Jeffrey Blumberg, PhD, Professor, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and Director, Antioxidants Research Laboratory, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston.

“These new peer-reviewed papers add to the previously-published body of evidence that shows that tea can improve human health—both physically and psychologically,” added Blumberg. “Humans have been drinking tea for some 5,000 years, dating back to the Paleolithic period. Modern research is providing the proof that there are real health benefits to gain from enjoying this ancient beverage.”

Share these clinical results with your sales staff.
Click here to download a free set of 4 x 6″ cards.

Tea Leaf Polyphenols May Promote Weight Loss
Tea polyphenols and the caffeine content in tea increase energy expenditure and fat oxidation, providing benefits for achieving and maintaining an ideal body weight. The results of one meta-analysis suggests the increase in caloric expenditure is equal to about 100 calories over a 24-hour period, or 0.13 calories per mg catechins. In a related review, researchers concluded that subjects consuming green tea and caffeine lost an average of 2.9 pounds within 12 weeks while adhering to their regular diet. Population-based studies also show that habitual tea drinkers have lower Body Mass Indexes (BMIs) and waist-to-hip ratios and less body fat than non-tea drinkers. In addition, green tea and caffeine also appear to boost fat oxidation over 24 hours by an average of 16% or 0.02 grams per mg catechins.

Tea May Reduce Risk for Some Cancers
Green tea polyphenols may play a role in arresting the progression of certain cancers. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, supplementation with 600 mg/d green tea catechins reduced the progression of prostate cancer. The researchers reported that after a year, 9% of men in the green tea supplemented group had progressed to prostate cancer whereas 30% of men in the placebo group had progressed.

Hundreds—if not thousands—of laboratory, epidemiological and human intervention studies have found anti-cancer properties in compounds present in tea. The types of cancer that have shown benefit from tea consumption include cancers of the gastrointestinal tract, lung, prostate, breast, and skin. The proposed mechanisms of action for providing protection against cancer include antioxidant effects, inhibition of growth factor signaling, as well as improving the efficacy of chemotherapy agents.

Tea Catechins are Cardioprotective
Numerous studies suggest tea supports heart health and healthy blood pressure, and appears to be associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, including stroke and heart attack. New research, published in the AJCN provides further support. Study results published by Claudio Ferri, MD, University L’Aquila, Italy, found that black tea reduced blood pressure, and among hypertensive subjects, it helped counteract the negative effects of a high-fat meal on blood pressure and arterial blood flow. Hypertensive subjects were instructed to drink a cup of tea after a meal that contained 0.45 grams fat/lb. body weight. The results suggest that tea prevented the reduction in flow-mediated dilation (FMD), the ability to increase arterial blood flow that occurs after a high-fat meal. In a previous study conducted by Ferri, tea improved FMD from 7.8 to 10.3%, and reduced both systolic and diastolic blood pressure by -2.6 and -2.2 mmHg, respectively, in study participants.

“Our studies build on previous work to clearly show that drinking as little as one cup of tea per day supports healthy arterial function and blood pressure. These results suggest that on a population scale, drinking tea could help reduce significantly the incidence of stroke, heart attack and other cardiovascular diseases,” concluded Dr. Ferri.

Tea Flavonoids Improve Bone Strength and Quality
Osteoporosis is a major public health concern but new research suggests that polyphenols in green tea may help improve bone quality and strength through many proposed mechanisms. In fact, one study found that tea drinking was associated with a 30% reduced risk in hip fractures among men and women over 50 years old. In a study of 150 postmenopausal women, researchers reported that 500 mg green tea extract (equivalent to 4-6 cups of green tea daily), alone or in combination with Tai Chi, improved markers for bone formation, reduced markers of inflammation and increased muscle strength in study participants. Numerous other studies have found that green tea flavanols provide a restorative effect to bone remodeling to help maintain bone density and slow bone loss.

Tea Improves Mood, Alertness and Problem Solving
Results from new research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that drinking tea improved attention and allowed individuals to be more focused on the task at hand. In this placebo-controlled study, subjects who drank tea produced more accurate results during an attention task and also felt more alert than subjects drinking a placebo. These effects were found for 2-3 cups of tea consumed within a time period of up to 90 minutes. Several studies have evaluated the role of tea in strengthening attention, mood and performance, and the results have been promising. It is thought that the amino acid theanine and caffeine, both present in tea, contribute to many of tea’s psychological benefits.

Follow these links to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition articles on the relationship between tea and human health:

• Tea consumption and cardiovascular disease risk
• Human studies on the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of tea polyphenols
• Tea, flavonoids, and cardiovascular health: endothelial protection
• Acute effects of tea consumption on attention and mood
• Cancer prevention by green tea: evidence from epidemiologic studies
• Catechin- and caffeine-rich teas for control of body weight in humans
• Tea and flavonoids: where we are, where to go next
• Cellular targets for the beneficial actions of tea polyphenols
• Does tea prevent cancer? Evidence from laboratory and human intervention studies
• Tea and bone health: steps forward in translational nutrition
• Interactions of black tea polyphenols with human gut microbiota: implications for gut and cardiovascular health

Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Retail News

Several popular grocery brand teas including R.C. Bigelow, Lipton and Good Earth have refreshed their packaging to shake off a dated image and extended traditional lines into the wellness and energy category.

This is a critical innovation as grocers expand shelf space offering many more tea selections including specialty teas in tins and pouches. Beautiful, interesting and well-designed packaging is what first leads customers to experience a brand. Branding that expresses the essence of the tea is worth the investment in this long-uninspired consumer packaged goods category.

Bigelow Tea Company revealed their new design this spring with packaging now appearing on store shelves. The design took two years to implement. Boxes are easier to open and close and labels contain fun facts about Bigelow’s heritage. Descriptions engage buyers and the boxes include the name of the packer with a “best by” date attesting to freshness.

It wasn’t just a question of unifying their look and messaging across the different tea lines (herbal, green and black selections), explains Cindi Bigelow, third generation President & CEO.

“After nearly 70 years, our family tea recipes continue to delight consumers so we’d never think of changing them. Our commitment to exceptional quality, flavor and variety is what makes us the No. 1 Specialty Tea company in the U.S. After all these years however, it was time to refresh our look,” said Bigelow, whose firm sells 1.6 billion teabags a year.

“We wanted the boxes to work harder as communication tools,” said Bigelow. “We wanted to tell more of the Bigelow story – who we are as a company, as a family, our dedicated efforts to create the best recipes possible, and why it matters,” she said.

Last week Lipton unveiled a line extension targeted to the energy drink segment, a category that grew 60 percent from 2008-12, earning $12.5 billion in 2012, grossing more than the entire tea industry, according to market research firm Packaged Facts.

Lipton Natural Energy boosts caffeine to 75 mg per cup with 20 mg of L-theanine comparable to a cup of coffee. The tea is packaged in a new gold foil envelope visible through a cut out in the 40 ct. box. It retails for $4.29 or 10 cents per teabag, compared to 100 ct. offerings selling for 5 cents per bag.

“Energy naturally drops throughout the day, but studies have shown that drinking tea on a regular basis helps people feel more alert, energized and attentive,” said Melissa Weingarten, Brand Director, Lipton North America. Lipton is the top-selling tea in North America.

That same week Good Earth re-launched their tea line with an attention-grabbing design and revamped fusions with new product names. Good Earth was founded in 1972 in Santa Cruz, Calif., was acquired by Tetley in 2005 and is now owned by Tata Global Beverages. Unlike Bigelow, Good Earth is advocating a change in how the brand is perceived (without abandoning proven formulations).

“The metamorphosis comes at a time of high competition in the packaged tea market, where the brand recognized an opportunity to differentiate itself from the sea of sameness among herbal tea brands,” according to the company. Good Earth’s Tea Untamed™ slogan embodies “the belief that tea is potent and powerful and, like life, should be explored and experienced.”

The line includes reliable favorites “but they have been made over with new names, new packaging and supercharged taste,” according to press release.

“Good Earth Teas are so unique and flavorful that we wanted the packaging and names of the blends to better reflect what is on the inside,” said Anna Corini, Marketing Executive, Good Earth. “There is a real difference between drinking tea and drinking Good Earth — and we want people to experience the untamed nature of our fusions on all sensory levels, from their first view of our packaging to the aromas and with each and every sip of these unparalleled teas.”

The company anticipates an “exciting future where tea breaks conventional boundaries to become part of a lifestyle full of endless possibilities. Examples include chocolate and chili-flavored Cocoa Tango™ and sweet Sweetly Twisted™ fusions with Citrus Kiss™, Wild Chaild™ and Matcha Maker™ all without any artificial ingredients.

The packaging changes are accompanied by a price hike. Bigelow stressed there are “no hidden reductions; same number of tea bags in each box and same amount of tea in each bag.” On the company’s website  Sweet Dreams is priced at $17.75 or 15 cents per teabag and Pomegranate Pizzazz is listed at $19.75 for 120 teabags or 16.5 cents each.

“While prices are just slightly higher, this is due to increased cost of ingredients and raw materials. It is Bigelow’s first pricing increase in many years,” according to the company.

A comparable pomegranate green tea from Celestial Seasonings sells for $16.94 or 14 cents for 120 teabags.

While specialty shops such as Teavana and DAVIDsTEA easily sell loose leaf at $7.99 to $12.99 for as little as 100g and up (50- to 80-cents at 6g per cup), grocers report little success at these price points.

Grocery consumers, whether visiting value outlets like Wal-Mart or premium outlets like Whole Foods, are extremely price sensitive. Tea priced to sell in quantity needs to retail for around $5 for a box of 40 or $2.99 for 20 tea bags.

Wellness teas with antioxidant and other health claims are the exception, selling for significantly more. Celestial Seasonings’ new Metabo Balance Tea lists for $4.39 online for a box of 20 teabags or 22 cents per teabag while Bigelow markets its Herb Plus line of probiotic, antioxidant and vitamin enhanced teas in 18- count boxes for 16.5 cents a teabag.

Learn more: www.goodearth.com
www.liptontea.com|
www.bigelowtea.com

Accolades

In the past four years Bigelow Tea has sent more than 3.4 million tea bags (roughly 165,000 boxes), of American Classic tea to U.S. troops in appreciation for their dedication to America.

In the past year the company’s “Tea for the Troops” program delivered 15,000 boxes of tea to military overseas and in the states for a taste of home. American Classic Tea is 100% grown and produced on American soil at the company’s Charleston Tea Plantation on Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina.

“Sending our soldiers a little bit of home in the form of our American Classic Tea package is our way of recognizing and thanking them for the sacrifices they make so that we can enjoy the freedoms we all share,” said Cindi Bigelow, third-generation President and CEO.

Working in cooperation with the USO, the tea was delivered to Iraq, Afghanistan and other USO facilities where troops stay on their way to and from their deployment. Bigelow also distributed the tea at Veterans Administration hospitals and through VFW chapters.

To make its recent donation special, Bigelow Tea enlisted the support of the community at its recent Bigelow Tea Community Challenge to hand-write personal messages of gratitude and support.

Tea Biz serves a core audience of beverage professionals in the belief that insightful journalism is one of the most effective forms of professional education. We write about what matters along the entire supply chain, emphasizing trustworthy sources and sound market research while discarding fluff and ignoring puffery. If there is nothing we can add to your understanding of the issue, we leave it alone.

Tea Biz posts are available to use in your company newsletter or website. Purchase reprint and distribution rights for single articles or subscribe. Custom content available. Click here for details.

What you need to start the week.

Retail News

Millennials who denounce McDonald’s stand in long lines for a Smashburger, which is one reason why the burger chain announced it will be the first fast-feeder in the country to freshly brew organic iced teas.

Tea at a buck a pint has been a big draw and the decision to feature Honest Tea’s fresh-brewed will surely add to the appeal of the more than 244 Smashburger locations.

Selections include: Classic Green Tea, Just Iced Tea, Lemon Herbal Tea and Naturally Flavored Raspberry Tea, all made with certified organic ingredients. The tea compliments the craft beer, handcrafted sodas and premium beverages like hand-spun Häagen-Dazs shakes on offer.

“Smashburger and Honest Tea share a passion for providing guests with fresh-tasting, high caliber products, so the partnership was a natural fit for us. We are excited for the opportunity to be the first national restaurant to serve their fresh brewed teas to guests in all of our restaurants across the country,” said Tom Ryan, Founder and Chief Concept Officer of Smashburger. “There are many synergies between our two brands, but first and foremost is our commitment to serving food and beverages that our guests can feel good about, comprised of quality ingredients for a better dining experience.”

“The trend toward non-carbonated beverages in particular is continuing to grow, and has been the strongest area of growth in our beverage business recently. The addition of Honest Tea’s freshly brewed iced tea platform fits in well with this growing consumer demand,” said Ryan.

The new line is certified kosher, gluten-free, does not contain any genetically modified organisms, uses Fair Trade Certified™ tea leaves and drinks contain 50 calories or less per 8 fl. oz. serving.

Honest Tea co-founder Seth Goldman said, “We are thrilled to have Smashburger as our first national partner for our freshly brewed organic iced teas. Both companies view high-quality ingredients as an integral part of the tasting experience, and we look forward to serving our freshly brewed iced teas alongside Smashburger’s great menu offerings.”

Learn more: www.smashburger.com.

Origin

ILAM, Nepal – Much of Nepal’s tea is sold at auction in Kolkata, India because the Himalayan country has no tea auction of its own.

The government recently allocated money to create the nation’s first tea auction house which would facilitate sales of both orthodox and CTC used for blending. Nepal currently produces 3.5 million kilos of orthodox tea and 16 million kilos of CTC of which 80 percent is exported to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The National Tea and Coffee Development Board (NTCDB) allocated 3 million rupees ($30,400) for the venture. Remaining capital will depend on support from tea entrepreneurs who must develop the infrastructure to inspect, warehouse, broker, ship and taste the tea to ensure quality.

The Tea Board has endorsed the auction and offered to coordinate with tea entrepreneurs. It is hoped the auction will open by April 2014.

Nepalese tea exports were up by 16.2 percent in fiscal year 2011/12 according to the Trade and Export Promotion Center (TEPC). Demand for orthodox tea is increasing with Japan, China, Germany and the U.S. and is now supplied by 29 factories processing orthodox tea. The nation’s exports of 10,708 metric tons of tea were valued at $20.6 million.

“The demand for Nepali tea from international market is increasing with each passing year,” Ishwari Prasad Ghimire, executive director of TEPC, told the Republica newspaper. “Tea plantation area and production is increasing accordingly.”

Source: Republica and Kantipur

Accolades

WINNIPEG, Manitoba – The Guardian Angels hosted the “Biggest Tea Party in Manitoba” last week to benefit CancerCare.

Film and television actress, comedian, producer and activist Fran Drescher (The Nanny), a cancer survivor, presented an inspiring talk in front of a crowd of more than 1,400 donors at the Fort Garry Hotel. The 22nd annual event brings together “earthly angels” to raise funds in support of Women’s cancer.

Drescher said she saw eight doctors in two years before she was diagnosed with uterine cancer. Now cancer-free for more than a decade, she is urging people to remove chemicals from their bodies and homes. Early detection is a life saver, she reminded the crowd.

“Catch it on arrival, 95 percent survival,” Drescher said is one of her mantras since being diagnosed with uterine cancer 13 years ago.”As women, the early-warning whispers are when it’s easy to deny, but that’s when it is most curable,” she told the group, according to reports in the Winnipeg Free-Press.

Event chairwoman Ida Albo, co-owner of the hotel, put out a call for china tea cups for the event, expecting to receive a few hundred. Local residents donated more than 4,000 cups.

Accolades to Toronto-based Steeped Tea for sponsoring the event, and to local consultant and team leader Melissa Tannahill for suggesting the donation and coordinating the delivery of tea.

Source: Winnipeg Free-Press

Tea Biz serves a core audience of beverage professionals in the belief that insightful journalism is one of the most effective forms of professional education. We write about what matters along the entire supply chain, emphasizing trustworthy sources and sound market research while discarding fluff and ignoring puffery. If there is nothing we can add to your understanding of the issue, we leave it alone.

Tea Biz posts are available to use in your company newsletter or website. Purchase reprint and distribution rights for single articles or subscribe. Custom content available. Click here for details.

What you need to know to start the week.

• Canada Coffee & Tea Show
• World Tea East

Retail News

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Canadian consumer demand for coffee and tea continues to climb as evidenced by market research and the enthusiasm of attendees at the Canadian Coffee & Tea Show.

The show, managed by Fulcrum Media, attracted a big crowd Sunday to the Vancouver Convention Centre on the city’s spectacular waterfront. The venue shifts from Toronto to the West Coast annually. There were a dozen tea vendors among the 78 exhibitors on the show floor.

Sessions include “The Importance of Tea Training” and popular workshops like Le nez du thé (The Nose of Tea) and an advanced, hands-on tea blending class Sunday. The show continues today with a report on growth in the Canadian tea industry that Tea Biz will cover.

“Raise your Spirits” was a lively workshop and floor demonstration led by Shabnam Weber with Tea Emporium. The demonstration was sponsored by Spirits Canada. Shabnam taught the basics of mixology with samples for all in the crowd.

Specialty beverages in bars and restaurants made with tea are gaining popularity and are simple to make, she said.

Sandy McAlpine, president of the Canadian Coffee Association, said there are 8,500 coffee shops in the country of 34.8 million with 65 percent drinking coffee the previous day. Per capita consumption is among the highest in the world at 5.4 kilos (12 pounds) per year. About 50 percent of Canadians drink their coffee at home with 36.7 visiting retail shops for “mainstream coffee” and 6.3 percent drinking specialty coffee, with another 5 percent drinking their coffee at the office.

The food service mainstream coffee is critical to restaurant success and valued at $3.3 billion with specialty coffee exceeding $900 million in sales. Daily incidence of coffee drinking is 2 percent higher than tap water and well above the 36 percent who reported drinking tea the previous day.

McAlpine marveled at the rapid growth of single-serve coffee which had “virtually no role at home five years ago.” Single cup offerings now account for more than 40 percent of value and nearly 16 percent of volume with no sign of slowing, he said.

Michael Menashy had already signed a dozen subscribers to his Tea Sparrow online tea club by mid-afternoon. The Vancouver-based service currently offers 59 crowd-sourced teas narrowed from more than 780 submitted. The program launched last November and is approaching 500 members. Club members receive in the mail branded tea in several categories: green, black, rooibos and single-estate which is re-packaged. Club selections are from well-known suppliers such as Rishi Tea and TeaSpot. www.teasparrow.com

Key Café presents an interesting option for ancillary revenue. Clayton Brown explained that house owners can safely leave their house keys with local cafes via a secure online verification system useful to AirBnb vacationers and by local property managers. Café owners get a flat fee for making the keys available and benefit from increased traffic as individuals retrieve their keys. “The conversion is about 25 percent,” Brown explained, but the sample size is small (five cafes). Subscribers control access to their keys from a computer or mobile device and can let somebody into their home remotely from work or the beach.www.keycafe.com

Greg Lui with Black Tusk Trading in Vancouver displayed the company’s award-winning Majestic Earl Grey, an authentic Jasmine Pearl and his latest creation, “Cold Comfort” a blend of Echinacea and Japanese sensha, rosehip, lemon grass and hibiscus. www.blacktusk.biz

Coffee vendors predominate with all the major expresso equipment on display. Alfa Cappuccino, a distributor was demonstrating the Reneka R-80 Barissima 2-group multi-boiler espresso machine with with Aroma perfect and Micro Sieve and the latest in programmable features.

Models of the French-made machine sell for $19,000 to $24,000, according to sales representative Vladimir Martinov.

The Metropolitan Tea Company in Toronto is one of the largest tea suppliers in North America servicing 7,000 specialty retailers with a vast selection of teas and tea utensils and tea ware, according to Chris Clark. www.metrotea.com

Tea fans gathered for an evening cocktail party where one topic is always style and flavor favorites. Sameer Pruthee of Tea Affair noted his desire for daily Sensha and Sara Kadowaki of Sara’s Caddies, a supplier of fine Japanese tea, admitted a fondness for Indian chai.

Learn more at www.coffeeteashow.ca

World Tea East

ATLANTA, Ga. – The tea retail community is gathered at the Georgia Convention Center for the third World Tea East. The event, which continues through Tuesday, attracted several hundred attendees from as far as Brazil and South Africa, but most were regional retailers. There were 35 exhibitors.

George Jage, Group Director of F+W Media’s The Beverage Group, said that “World Tea East got off to a strong start despite the challenge of a NFL football game being held next door. With only 25% of the registered buyers braving the traffic and parking complications, exhibitors were pleased with the first day results,” he said.

Leading tea retailer, Teavana, had several people on the floor and engaging with many of the top suppliers, reports Jage.

The event is known for a quality educational program that includes a two-day New Business Boot Camp. Popular activities include tastings of the prize-winning tea from the North American Tea Championship.

Presenter Jane Pettigrew said academic and training sessions were well attended. Her class had 17. She reports vendors commented on “good interest and sales” and said that 30 attended the boot camp “some of whom have a great deal of knowledge and have travelled quite a bit to origins.”

Highlights include:

• A workshop by Jonas Feliciano and Elizabeth Friend, analysts at Euromonitor International, on global tea branding revealed over-saturation in the tea industry has led manufacturers to change the context in which tea is being consumed, rather than driving incremental tea demand. The trend means packaged tea sold in modern retail shops is growing at the expense of unpackaged tea sold in traditional markets. To differentiate premium tea from commodity, manufacturers stress functionality and convenience. They predicted growth of tea-themed shops as the next wave in modern chained cafés, using the third-place benefit to draw tea-drinkers out of their homes. The U.S. is now the world’s fourth in value at $2.1 billion, trailing China $9.5 billion; Japan $4.7 billion and Russia $3.7 billion.
• “Vino Teano & Tea Lagers” a session featuring wine- and beer-enhancing tea sachets led by Capital Teas founder Peter Martino and his colleague Nkaiso Akpabio, vice president of retail operations.
• Japanese matcha supplier AOI announced the company was awarded a Food Safety Certification (FSSC) 22000, a new global food safety standard for food manufacturing from the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), recognized by the Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the European Union (CIAA). Learn more: http://www.aoimatcha.com

This year’s event was co-located with the Atlanta Foodservice Expo, a tradeshow that features kitchen equipment, technology systems, restaurant services and foodservice tools. The impact of the co-location with the Atlanta Foodservice Expo was highly apparent with a lot of chef coats in the aisles at World Tea East and in the NATC Winners Tasting Circle tasting the best teas of 2013,” according to Jage.

Tea Biz incorrectly reported that during the show Devan Shah, founder of International Tea Importers was awarded the Cha Jing Award for Lifetime Achievement. The Award ceremony was postponed until May 2014 where it will be held a World Tea Expo, Long Beach, Calif.

What you need to start the week.

• Future of Tea
• Tea Mechanization

The future is not an inheritance; it is an opportunity and an obligation. – Bill Clinton

SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda – While the setting was idyllic, confronting the obstacles that lie ahead for the tea industry is the hard work undertaken last week by delegates at the 4th Annual North American Tea Conference.

A breakfast session called to focus on these broad issues raised more questions than answered. Additional suggestions and debate will benefit all.

To organize this process Tea Biz is working with John Snell of the Tea Association of Canada and Tea Association of the USA to pose each question on LinkedIn with an invitation for the global tea industry to comment and share their ideas. The questions are posted to Tea Biz for convenience; readers are encouraged to spread the discussion to related LinkedIn Groups including Tea Enthusiasts and Entrepreneurs, Tea Professionals, Tea Sommelier, Tea Importers and Exporters, World Tea News and Global Tea Elites.

The first conference question: “If rising costs in origin countries continues to erode margins, how will producers address this without harming returns to their workers, green leaf smallholders and shareholders?”

The second: Are consuming countries responsible for this quandary and should minimum pricing be established or should market economics be allowed to marginalize certain growers and their communities?

Additional questions will be posted through the week along with background briefings like the following:

Tea Mechanization

ILAM, Nepal – A headline in the Republica: “Tea Estates Reel Under Labor Shortage” succinctly makes the case for mechanization.

The article that followed noted a 58 percent drop in laborers working in tea since 2000. The shortage of laborers has affected production and processing at seven estates that “export tea worth millions of rupees” while paying NRs 158 ($1.57 per day) to a workforce demanding a raise to $2.

Nigel Melican, founder of Tea Craft, presented a rational and detailed argument for mechanization. He predicted 80 percent of the world’s tea will be mechanically harvested by 2040. Currently 35 percent is harvested by machine, a number that will quickly rise to 65 percent by 2020.

Today tea is rarely plucked two leaves and a bud, Melican told tea industry delegates attending the 4th Annual North American Tea Conference. The economics are clear, green leaf harvested by machine, including labor, fuel and depreciation is under 10 cents per kilo. Hand plucking costs three times more, said Melican. However, the deciding factor is “labor scarcity which is becoming a limiting factor which often compromises quality.”

Leaf quality is as good, often better than hand plucked, as demonstrated by prices paid at auction where mechanically plucked teas bring the same price as hand plucked, he said.

What’s driving mechanical harvesting?

Reasons vary from socio-economic concerns including parental aspirations for their children and urban drift to simple economics. Escalating wages are speeding adoption. Mechanical harvesting offers a longer harvesting opportunity for growers and better productivity per man, Melican told delegates.

A worker plucking tea by hand can harvest at most 60 pounds of green leaf per day. A ride-on harvester on tracks can pluck 10,000 pounds a day, he said.

Consumers remain “unsure” of the quality of machine picked tea, a point reinforced by marketers who claim the best teas are hand plucked, “thus ‘hand-picked’ tea becomes a shrewd selling point,” said Melican.

Has tea quality suffered due to mechanization?

“Informed opinion says, No,” he told delegates.

Melican predicted the rapid introduction of mechanized harvesting will accelerate and the “tea industry will polarize into two camps addressing very different markets.”

The first is industrial tea where the need to reduce the cost of production by increasing volume will lead to widespread adoption of mechanization.

“The other camp is specialty tea where hand-plucked is seen as value addition for quality,” said Melican. He warned this “will come at a high price” and suggested growers in many parts of the world may opt for handpicking early in the season when the teas command a premium and machine harvest in the summer and fall when quantity is the priority.

Conference question three: The increase in mechanization within the tea industry is relevant and unavoidable, but have we thought out the socio-economic issues involved?

Workers are migrating away from tea but there are still many who are not able to move and/or don’t want to. When you introduce a machine that does the work of 50 people, what is the structure to ensure that they continue to reap appropriate benefit from this transition?