Capital Teas poised to grow with a $5 million investment…Pure Leaf Iced Tea partners with Food & Wine…TetraPak encourages tea companies to think differently…University of Leicester students seek the perfect tea formula
$5 Million Investment Prepares Capital Teas for Growth
Capital Teas owners Manelle and Peter Martino
Capital Teas of Annapolis, Md. has just raised $5 million in its latest round of funding with Pear Tree Partners. The company intends to expand their reach, opening new stores across a wider region, expanding their wholesale efforts with hotels and restaurants, and strengthening their online shopping program.
The company, founded in 2007 by Peter and Manelle Martino, will continue to operate under their leadership. Manelle’s family has been in the tea business for five generations with her great-great-grandfather growing tea in Sri Lanka. They currently have six stores plus warehouse operations and a seventh store will open this spring.
Pure Leaf and Food & Wine Magazine Partner to Support Sustainable Food
Pure Leaf Iced Tea has announced their efforts to support Food & Wine Magazine’s Grow for Good program. Grow for Good was created by the magazine to provide charitable support for local and sustainable food programs. This year the partnership will focus on Wholesome Wave, a non-profit that improves access to healthy, locally grown food to underserved populations.
“Pure Leaf has always been committed to providing premium taste through tea made from real tea leaves, and in 2014, we want to reinforce our passion for realness and help to provide others with access to wholesome and sustainable foods,” Eric Whitehouse, Marketing Director, The Pepsi Lipton Tea Partnership said in a press release.
Wholesome Wave currently serves 28 states and the District of Columbia. The organization instituted the Double Value Coupon Program which doubles the value of food stamps that are used at farmers’ markets. They work with health clinics and other medical facilities to help ensure fresh foods are getting to the people who need them most. They also help small regional farms get their produce into institutions like hospitals and schools.
TetraPak Encourages Tea Companies to Rethink their Formulas
Suley Muratoglu, Vice President of marketing and product management at TetraPak US and Canada, had some strong words of caution in a recent issue of Beverage Daily. In the article, Muratoglu highlights one of the big challenges faced by tea packagers. Because tea is low acid, it can raise concerns for regulators about its safety when packaged. Ascorbic acid is added to ensure that it meets safety requirements, but then sugar must be added to counteract the acidic quality. In the end, flavor is compromised. He believes that these factors are some of the reasons that these mass-market grocery teas may be seeing stagnant growth while specialty tea is on the rise.
In the story, Muratoglu encourages a reconsideration of aseptic packaging which can safely contain a purer tea product.
TetraPak was founded in 1951 and is currently one of the world’s largest packagers. They produce aseptic packaging for a wide variety of products including tea.
On a lighter note, students at the University of Leicester decided it was time to find the perfect way to brew tea…using math.
Representatives from building company Jelson Homes asked the team of future mathematicians to try to develop a formula for making the perfect cup of builders tea. The final formula?
Perfect cuppa: 2B + 30R + E(m + q + t) + 10W
B represents the minutes steeped. R is the number of seconds it should rest. W is ml of milk. As for the “E(m+q+t)”? Big mug, quality tea, and a treat.
Sounds like a good idea to me.
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Tea Biz serves a core audience of beverage professionals in the belief that insightful journalism informs business decision making. Tea Biz reports what matters along the entire supply chain, emphasizing trustworthy sources and sound market research while discarding fluff and ignoring puffery.
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New York Coffee & Tea Wraps Up…Tough week at the tea auctions… Third Street Chai breaks into Whole Foods in a big way…New book on Homegrown Tea
New York Coffee & Tea Another Sold Out Success
This past weekend New York Coffee & Tea Festival filled the floors of the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Ave. in Manhattan. Once again this year the show was sold out well in advance of the weekend, including tickets for a VIP hour Saturday morning that allowed early admittance to those ticket holders. 7,000 attendees were expected.
Sixty exhibitors set up shop across the 25,000 square foot space. A number of presenters, well-known to tea aficionados, were on the festival schedule. Jeni Dodd of Jeni’s Teas and Thomas Shu of ABC Tea presented on Taiwanese teas. Emeric Harney, the creator and manager of Harney & Sons’ Harney SoHo tea cafe, was on the schedule to talk about the people and plants of tea. Judith Krall-Russo prepared a talk on the history of women and tea.
The pairings are always quick to fill up and this year was no exception. L’Espalier’s tea sommelier and author of Culinary Tea, Cynthia Gold, introduced attendees to the art of pairing tea and cheeses. A Gift of Tea’s Jo Johnson talked tea and chocolate and Capital Teas’ Peter Martino explored tea infusions for cocktails. Shu and Dodd teamed up again to talk about finding “harmony” in tea, solving the mystery of the perfect combinations of tea, water, timing, and temperature.
Given the speed of ticket sales and the fact that next year will be the 10th anniversary, you may want to start planning your trip for 2015 now.
It was a tough week at the tea auctions this past week as prices were lower than anticipated. African Tea Brokers reported that Kenya tea prices were low this week with top grade teas, broken pekoes and pekoe fannings all selling for less than the week prior. Nearly 14% of the tea was unsold and more than 17% was unsold the previous week. Pakistan was the big buyer.
Bangladesh saw lower prices also for the sixth week in a row. A glut of poorer quality leaf that remained from the end of the season was blamed. 54% of the tea was left at the end of the sale, topping the 50% that was left at the previous auction. An auction official blamed the quality of tea on offer, citing big demand for high quality tea which seemed to be at short supply.
Things at Coonoor were no better where the Coonoor Tea Trade Association reported that 34% of their tea remained unsold at the end of the auction even at a lower price point than usual.
Third Street Chai Releases Ready-to-Drink Tea Line
Boulder, Colo. based Third Street Chai has been selling this spicy tea since 1995, a time when most people had never heard of the stuff. Nearly twenty years later, they’re still in the thick of things. They’ve established themselves as a source of hand-blended chai (blending and milling whole spices for each batch) and claiming the title of the first Fair Trade certified chai. Now they are preparing to release a new ready-to-drink teas at Whole Foods stores nationwide.
Third Street will be selling unsweetened and lightly sweetened black and green teas, incorporating flavors like raspberry, honey and mint. These Fair Trade certified, non-GMO drinks will be sold in 14 ounce containers.
Whole Foods helped make this product a reality by selecting Third Street for one of its Small Producer loans. Their in-house microbrewing and focus on traceability of ingredients made the company stand out.
Tea Biz serves a core audience of beverage professionals in the belief that insightful journalism informs business decision making. Tea Biz reports what matters along the entire supply chain, emphasizing trustworthy sources and sound market research while discarding fluff and ignoring puffery.
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CBC reports pesticide residues greater than legal threshold… China tightens food safety rules leading tea gardens to reduce reliance on pesticides… “Be More Tea” generates plenty of social buzz… Harney & Sons introduce tea in K-Cup compatible capsules… Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf introduces tea granitas.
Popular Tea Brands Exceed Threshold for Pesticide Residue
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) aired an exclusive report backed by laboratory findings showing several popular tea brands contain pesticide residue exceeding the government mandated threshold.
Test results from the CBC’s Marketplace Consumer Watchdog Blog can be viewed here.
Responses from tea companies tested in the report can be viewed here.
Authorities stressed that minute traces of residue found in samples of Lipton, Tetley, Twinings and other popular brands were not a health risk.
“Health Canada reviewed the information provided by Marketplace and for the pesticides bifenthrin, imidacloprid, acetamiprid, chlorfenapyr, pyridaben, acephate, dicofol and monocrotophos determined that consumption of tea containing the residues listed does not pose a health risk based on the level of residues reported, expected frequency of exposure and contribution to overall diet. Moreover, a person would have to consume approximately 75 cups of tea per day over their entire lifetime to elicit an adverse health effect,” a spokesperson wrote to the CBC in a statement.
Canada’s Food Inspection Authority (CFIA) previously disclosed concerns about pesticide residue in 2009 and again in 2011 following tests of tea. Marketplace commissioned testing through an accredited lab to see if the teas exceeding Canada’s allowable limits were still in violation. In several instances that was the case.
Eight of the 10 brands sampled from grocery shelves in Toronto contained multiple chemicals and one brand contained residues from 22 different pesticides. Traces point to the use of endosulfan and monocrotophos, both banned by the United States and Canada as well as China and the European Union.
Brands purchased at grocers including Loblaws included Uncle Lee’s Legends of China, King Cole and Signal tea. Only Red Rose came back free of pesticide residues.
Environmental lawyer David Boyd told Marketplace “the presence of so many pesticides on a single product and so many products that exceed the maximum residue limits for pesticides, suggests that we’re seeing very poor agricultural practices in countries, which poses risk to the environment where these products are being grown; which pose risk to the farm workers who are growing these crops, and ultimately pose risk to the Canadians who are consuming these products.”
“The whole point of pesticides is that they’re chemically and biologically active in parts per million or parts per billion,” Boyd told the CBC. “Pesticides can have adverse effects at what are seemingly very small concentrations,” he said.
According to Boyd, these results “should raise a red flag for the regulators whose job is to protect the health and safety of Canadians in our environment.”
Here is a statement from the Tea Association of Canada:
“In Canada, the Tea Association continues to work with the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) as well as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Group (IGG) on Tea, which is spearheading an agreement to harmonize pesticide standards, making tea production safer for consumers and protecting the livelihoods of millions of smallholder producers worldwide.
Consumers should continue to consume and enjoy the many varieties of tea for its health promoting and protective effects as well as its delicious taste. “There is now an overwhelming body of research from around the world indicating that drinking tea benefits human health,” says Dr. Carol Greenwood, Professor of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto and a Senior Scientist at the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest.”
Last November the Chinese Food and Drug Administration proposed a major revision to its food safety laws that will likely be approved by China’s congress late this year.
Pesticide residue has steadily declined in China’s tea leaves
This is a high-priority initiative motivated by recent food safety scandals, according to the U.S.-China Health Products Association. It will clarify government oversight, increase regulatory obligations for food manufacturers and distributors; enhance controls over food products and increase penalties for non-compliance. Individuals sentenced for imprisonment will not be allowed to engage in food manufacturing or distribution in his/her lifetime. During the past three years more than 2,000 people have been prosecuted for food safety-related crimes in China.
The amendments continue a sweeping reform of the country’s food safety standards following a national scandal in 2008 involving melamine-tainted infant formula. That breech led to the execution of violators to make the point China was serious. Enactment will further efforts to curb pesticide use in tea gardens
By 2005 93.1% of tea products already had attained or exceed the Green Food standard, according to a presentation by Mao Limin, then chairman of the Zhejiang Tea Industry Chamber of Commerce. Limin told delegates at the 2011 North American Tea Conference that random inspection of tea had reached 100% at government owned gardens. In addition 267,000 acres (108,000 ha) of organic tea plantations had been certified organic and pesticide free.
The Green Food standard permits chemical pesticides and fertilizers but mandates residue levels meet export standards. The European Union and Japan set the highest thresholds but all trading partners have Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs). Organic certification in China is under the IFOAM rules with annual re-certification. Organic teas for export must comply with rules established by certifying bodies such as Swiss-based IMO, the British Soil Association, the USDA’s National Organic Program and JAS Japan.
Every pesticide approved for use has a required safe harvest interval, which is the time lapse between application of pesticides and harvest. In China preference is given to pesticides that are not easily dissolved in water. This reduces the portion that actually gets into the liquor. Most chemicals biodegrade leaving residue trapped in the spent leaf.
Use of dangerous pesticides has fallen over phase out.
“It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that there are pesticides used in commercial tea production, and that third-world countries are using some illegal ones, which are probably cheaper,” writes Austin Hodge, founder of Seven Cups Fine Chinese Tea in Tucson, Ariz.
“The boney finger always gets pointed at China, the great polluter, with pollution in Beijing as bad as when I was a kid in Los Angeles. It can all be explained in three words: cheap prices, commodity, and quantity. For the most part, bugs come in the summer. In the tropics, however, bugs are omnipresent. It’s always summer. It provides for a long growing season and an abundant yield. It is a broader truth that if you want cheap tea and cheap food, pesticides come along with the price,” he wrote in in a T Ching post last May.
In April 2012 Greenpeace issued a report: Pesticides: Hidden Ingredients in Chinese Tea following an investigation that showed chemical residue from pesticide. The organization sent samples purchased from well-known tea companies to an accredited third-party laboratory that found residues of various types on all 18 of the samples submitted. A total of 29 different pesticides were detected, several known to cause harm. Six samples contained more than 10 different pesticides. Twelve samples showed traces of banned pesticides including methomyul, endosulfan and fenvalerate which are known to impair fertility, harm unborn children and cause heritable genetic damage.
Inspections show greater compliance over time.
What the report did not state is that most of the residue was within established standards.
“If you take the considerable trouble of comparing the Greenpeace data with EU pesticide limits for the 28 chemicals mentioned then 5 of the 18 teas accused actually fall below the MRL limits for all 28 and two teas exceed by a trace level of 1 mg/kg on two chemicals,” writes Nigel Melican, founder of TeaCraft, a widely acclaimed British tea consultancy. He goes on to say: “This leaves 11 teas non-compliant for one or more pesticides, were they to be sold in the EU.”
The sampled teas were from local Chinese vendors and not subject to more stringent export rules.
“Nowhere in the report does Greenpeace China suggest that the non-compliant teas are representative of China teas presented for export – but commentators in the USA and UK have erroneously and immediately jumped to this conclusion,” he writes.
More troubling is the CBC investigation of tea for sale in Canada.
Lipton’s $40 million global campaign promoting a relaxed lifestyle message is riding high on social buzz following the debut of Kermit the Frog as the brand’s new icon of calm.
The TV audience of 43 million watching the Academy Awards and a well prepared social team capitalizing on the Oscar presentations generated 3.85 million views of the ad on YouTube in the past week. The commercial depicts a horde of “Animal” puppets driving cabs, shouting and racing about New York City set the scene for the thoughtful frog who is captured placidly walking amid the mayhem doing good turns and going with the flow as he is bumped and jostled about.
“Be More Tea” is Unilever’s first global campaign to elevate its Yellow Label brand and Kermit is the epitome of mindfulness as he sips his way through the antics of Miss Piggy and pals. The promotion is tied to a Disney movie starring the Muppets.
Kermit will be the face of Lipton in North America and Europe where the puppets are well known but “Be More Tea” is a slogan that will be translated into many languages in advertisements designed to create single global positioning for the world’s leading brand of tea.
“We live in a busy world. It’s easy to slip into a routine with our heads down, moving from one place or obligation to the next. Lipton wants to inspire consumers to ‘look up’, take in all that life has to offer and enjoy what you may have otherwise missed,” said Alfie Vivian, vice president of refreshments for Unilever. “This is what ‘Be More Tea’ means to Lipton and the philosophy we will bring to life in our new national ad campaign starring the Muppets.”
Alessandra Bellini, VP-brand development for Unilever Refreshments, told Ad Age that Unilever is doubling Lipton marketing spending to more than $40 million this year compared to last. The campaign will run four weeks.
“The campaign backs both Lipton hot tea and iced tea. While Lipton has had global campaigns in the past for ready-to-drink tea, this is the first global effort behind the entire brand lineup,” Ms. Bellini told Ad Age. “Lipton — in both cold and hot forms — trails only Coke in sales among global beverage brands,” she added.
“Making movies and dating Miss Piggy can be stressful – especially the dating part. But I always try to stay cool and look on the bright side,” said Kermit the Frog. “That’s what this Lipton campaign is all about. In a world filled with high-stress wild-in-the-street types like Animal, you have to take time to enjoy life and ‘Be More Tea.’”
Click here to see a 90-second behind the scenes video with Kermit back stage preparing for his role in the new Disney Movie “Muppets Most Wanted” scheduled for release March 21.
Harney & Sons Tea Capsules
Harney & Sons Fine Teas introduced a line of Keurig-compatible single-serve teas this week.
Tea drinkers can now enjoy Harney & Son’s teas with the convenience of the individual tea capsules that are 98% recyclable. Four blends from the company’s classics collection are available in 24-count boxes: Paris, Egyptian, Chamomile, Hot Cinnamon Spice and Tropical Green, as well as four blends from their HT Collection in 16-count boxes: Green Tea with Coconut, Earl Grey, Peppermint Herbal and Hot Cinnamon Sunset.
The Keurig® compatible capsules deliver the same great flavor and aroma customers have come to expect, according to the company which is now celebrating its 30th Anniversary. The Cool, Peel and Recycle technology allows tea drinkers to easily peel off the capsule after cooling, and recycle the capsule filter and spent tea. Harney & Sons continues to provide new and innovative ways to enjoy their classic tea, said founder John Harney.
Three generations of the Harney family oversee a venture that still sources, blends and packages their own products from start to finish. Harney’s small home-run business in Salisbury, Conn., has grown into a global operation with more than 170 employees at its headquarters in Millerton, New York. The company fills 90,000 square feet of warehouse space and has a new bottling plant under construction.
Cold tea beverages, fruit and tea fusion drinks and chilled herbals are doing well in the marketplace.
Last week The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® introduced Tea Granitas to the lineup, a new concept in the beverage category.
“Borrowing inspiration from the Italian granita dessert – made of fruit and ice – the Tea Granitas are a light, refreshing balance of premium iced teas and trending fruit flavors, and are blended with ice,” according to the company.
The Passion Fruit Tea Granita blends Assam Black Tea and the bright, bold flavors of passion fruit, yielding a slightly tart finish. The Pear Berry Tea Granita combines the company’s popular Swedish Berries fruit infusion with notes of pear, creating a delicious caffeine-free beverage.
“The Tea Granita is a truly unique beverage that’s perfect to launch in the spring,” says CBTL President and CEO, John Dawson. “It brings a delicious twist to iced tea refreshment and is the latest in a long line of tea beverage innovations from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf®. Our customers know us for our signature tea beverages, such as the Chai Tea Latte and Matcha Green Tea Ice Blended® drink, and we believe the Tea Granita is another delicious beverage our customers will love sip after sip.”
Tea Biz serves a core audience of beverage professionals in the belief that insightful journalism informs business decision making. Tea Biz reports 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 commission original content. Click here for details.
European restrictions on the import of Japanese tea ease April 1… Meet 700-year-old Chigusa … Credit markets are expected to be more active in 2014… NumiOrganic Tea secures $4.75 million working capital… Jamba is juiced over Drink Green offerings… Zest high octane tea triples the caffeine of regular black tea… Tea Magazine evolves.
European Restrictions on Japanese Tea Eased
The European Union has eased stringent tests of Japanese foods including tea after examining 85,000 products harvested in the third growing season following the nuclear accident at Fukushima.
The decision by the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health follows a recommendation to lift emergency restrictions on goods from two prefectures and eased restrictions for seven other prefectures. Restrictions on mushrooms from the four prefectures nearest the breached reactors remain. Three additional prefectures, Nagano and two newly added prefectures Akita and Yamagata, face restrictions on mushrooms and a few edible wild plants.
Shortly after the March 2011 disaster importers of Japanese tea, fruits and vegetables, meats and some seafood were advised their goods would be quarantined and subject to additional tests for radioactive cesium and iodine. The cost of sampling and the lengthy delays required to test foods virtually closed the European market to perishables from half the country.
All products had to be tested before leaving Japan. All costs resulting from these checks, including the cost of sampling and analysis and any enforcement measures taken in respect of a failed consignment must be met by the importer, according to the standing committee. Ten percent of arriving goods were examined. Costs at the English Port of Suffolk are typical, adding $400 to the price of landing a container. Items that failed tests faced an additional $185 in fees.
Few of the prefectures grow substantial quantities of tea except Shizuoka which accounts for much of the country’s production and processes tea from the nearby prefectures. It is the home to the great port of Yokohama. Shizuoka, As of April 1 Yamanashi, Niigata and Aomori no longer have to contend with restriction on tea.
The next review is March 31, 2015 at which time most of the remaining restrictions are expected to be lifted.
Tea-leaf storage jar named Chigusa with mouth cover and ornamental cords Photo credit: Courtesy Freer Gallery of Art The mouth cover for Chigusa was made by Tsuchida Yuko in 2013; the cords for tying ornamental knots are from the Japanese Meiji era (late 19th–early 20th c.)
Meet Chigusa, a 700-Year-Old Tea Jar
By Stephenie Overman
Introductions are in order.
Please meet Chigusa. At first glance an ordinary Chinese tea storage jar, over the course of centuries Chigusa has become one of the most revered objects of Japan’s chanoyu, or “art of tea.”
“Tea men looked at Chigusa and found beauty even in its flaws, elevating it from a simple tea jar to how we know it today,” says Louis Allison Cort, curator for ceramics at the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery.
“This ability to value imperfections in objects made by the human hand is one of the great contributions of Japanese tea culture to the world,” she said.
Only a few hundred similar tea storage jars survive and fewer still are accompanied by such a wealth of artifacts and documentation.
Japanese tea enthusiasts awarded each jar its own name, often tied to poetry or literature, as a sign of respect and reverence. The name Chigusa means “abundance of varieties” or “abundance of plants.” Since Chigusa has its own distinctive name, “we can trace its story precisely to the present day,” Cort says.
These Japanese tea enthusiasts often kept extensive diaries, which recorded detailed descriptions of Chigusa’s physical attributes and accessories, allowing contemporary scholars to see the jar through their eyes, notes Andrew M. Watsky, professor of Japanese art at Princeton University.
“Looking at, appreciating objects’ shape, size and so on was part of the pleasure of tea,” Watsky says. “They took this very seriously.”
Ciphers of past owners on the base of the tea-leaf storage jar named Chigusa Courtesy Freer Gallery of Art
From these extensive records, scholars know how Chigusa originated as one of countless utilitarian ceramics made in southern China during the 13th or 14th century and was shipped to Japan as a container for a commercial product.
In Japan however, Chigusa, like other Chinese storage jars, was endowed with special status, and over the years it became a highly desirable antique. One eyewitness, who saw the jar at a gathering in 1586, admired its large size and the reddish color of the clay and noted that it was a “meibutsu,” meaning “celebrated tea object.”
Chigusa is visiting the Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C, through July 27. Chigusa then travels to the Princeton University Art Museum in the fall. The exhibition is accompanied by a book of essays by a number of authors narrating Chigusa’s 700-year-history.
In the exhibition, “Chigusa and the Art of Tea,” Chigusa holds court over other cherished objects, including Chinese and Korean tea bowls and Japanese stoneware water jars and wooden vessels that were used and enjoyed during this formative time of Japanese tea culture.
The goal of the exhibit, Cort says, is “to show the total package used in a 16th century ceremony,” based on the tea diaries.
In the 15th century participants in Japanese tea ceremonies were impressed “by the quantity of objects,” she says. But in the 16th Century – the high point of chanoyu – the emphasis was on the harmony of the objects within the group.
“There was a combination of precious and easily available objects and the contract of highly different materials. It was a powerful aesthetic experience for guests” at tea gatherings, Cort says.
For display in the tea room, Chigusa has been outfitted with accessories bestowed upon it by its successive owners: a mouth covering of antique Chinese gold-brocaded silk, a netted bag of sky-blue silk and a set of blue silk cords used to tie ornamental knots attached to the four lugs on the jar’s shoulder. A video in the exhibition follows a tea master in the elaborate process of dressing Chigusa in its adornments.
In order to create the intimate feel of a 16th-century tea gathering, and to give the sense of how the objects would fit into the space, part of the exhibition recreates a Japanese tea room.
Set of three nesting storage boxes for the tea-leaf storage jar named Chigusa Courtesy The outer storage box is the most recent, from the Meiji era (late 19th– early 20th c.). The middle box, formerly the outer box, is from the Edo period (1615–1868), and is made of cedar stained with persimmon tannin. The inner storage box, from the same time period, is made of lacquered paulownia wood. All three are Japanese, designed to nest within one another. Photo Credit: Freer Gallery of Art
“Tea is a living activity,” Watsky says, and visitors to the exhibit will have an opportunity to experience a traditional Omotesenke tea presentation, including the preparation of matcha, the whisked green tea made from leaves of the kind that Chigusa would have contained.
The museum acquired the 16.5-inch tall jar at auction in 2009. Believed to have been made during the Yuan dynasty, it is colored with a mottled amber glaze with four lugs on its shoulder and a cylindrical neck with a rolled lip sealed by a silk cover and secured with cord.
The jar bears four ciphers written in lacquer on its base. The oldest is attributed to Noami (1397-1471), a painter and professional connoisseur for the Ashikaga shogun. According to researchers, this suggests the possibility, otherwise unrecorded, that the jar circulated among owners close to the Ashikaga government. The next oldest cipher is that of Torii Insetsu (1448-1517) an important tea connoisseur and collector in the international trading city of Sakai, known for innovative tea activity. The next owner to inscribe his cipher was another Sakai tea enthusiast, Ju Soho, who hosted a tea in the new year of 1573 for guests, including the esteemed tea master Sen no Rikyu (1522-91). Learn more: Chigusa and the Art of Tea
The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery is located at 1050 Independence Avenue S.W. and the Freer Gallery of Art is located at 12th Street and Independence Avenue S.W. both on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily, except Dec. 25. Admission is free. Source: Smithsonian Institution
Credit Markets Active
A poll of middle-market executives by KPMG predicts an active credit market in 2014.
“Executives anticipate a shift from opportunistic deals to corporate M&A, which will be driving activity in the 2014 credit markets,” according to the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm.
The market has been slow the past few years according to Joe Rodgers, co-head for Capital Advisory for KPMG Corporate Finance.
“With economic indicators improving over the latter part of 2013 and the credit market remaining very supportive, all signs pointed to an uptick in M&A activity for 2014 at the turn of the year,” he said. Thirty-six percent of the executives expect corporate M&A will be the primary driver. Twenty-six percent expect refinancing will drive credit markets and 23% anticipate private equity funded buyouts with 15% of the financing used for restructuring.
Tea companies routinely secure financing this time of year to insure sufficient goods for the peak sales season. Numi Organic Tea recently obtained $4.75 million to keep pace with its rapid growth in major retail outlets.
Teas from the Oakland, Calif.-based firm can be found in Whole Foods, Stop & Shop, Safeway, Target, Balducci’s and Trader Joe’s. It is also the tea of choice of Marriott and Hyatt foodservice buyers.
Business Capital, which recently provided the $4.75 million credit facility and a $750,000 seasonal over-advance, praised Numi as a company “that cares so much about their suppliers, quality of product, customer experience and our planet. This company’s financing needs were significant and were happy to deliver a solution beyond what most formula based lenders can fund against,” said Chuck Doyle, Managing Director of Business Capital.
“They took the time to understand our complex global business model and deliver a financing structure tailored to ensure the best possible outcome for Numi,” said Ahmed Rahim, CEO of Numi Organic Tea.
Triple caffeine
Zest Tea Company
Caffeine fortified Zest Tea is a new loose-leaf and bagged line developed to wake you up in the morning.
Founder James Fayal couldn’t find a traditional tea with enough caffeine to keep him alert so he blended caffeine rich teas, oils and other natural ingredients to triple the caffeine of regular black tea.
“I wanted to increase the energizing caffeine punch, but not at the expense of quality, that’s why we start all of our blends with premium base teas,” he said.
Pomegranate Mojito
His proprietary blending process maintains tea’s healthy dose of tannins and antioxidants while avoiding the “jolt and crash” impact of coffee, said Fayal. A cup sustains alertness over a six to eight hour period.
Flavors include Apple Cinnamon, Earl Grey and Blue Lady black teas and Pomegranate Mojito green tea.
The project was crowd funded in a competition co-sponsored by American Express and Venture For America.
Jamba Juice is rolling out custom-ordered whole food blends.
The new offerings far exceed the nutritional value of carrot juice and squeezed oranges by introducing beets and kale and ginger to the menu. The Orange Fusion combines fresh-squeezed orange juice blended with whole fresh carrots with bananas, mangos, chia seeds, soy milk and nonfat Greek yogurt. An infographic on the company’s website summarizes a survey on beverage preferences that indicated 1 in 5 prefer to drink beets and dark leafy greens in juice rather than eating them whole.
Many of those who participated in the survey believe green juice to be the most nutritious juice, but are skeptical that it could also be great-tasting.
More than one-quarter (28%) of U.S. adults say they “fear the look” of green juice;
Green represents the juice people drink least often
32% say green juice is the one they like the least, and;
“Just like we should be enjoying a wide range of all the colors of the rainbow in the food we eat, drinking colorful fruits and vegetables is an easy way to satisfy your daily requirements, too. Juices made from ingredients like kale, spinach, beets and chia seeds are powerhouses of good nutrition and they can actually taste good,” said Kathleen Zelman, MPH, RD, LD and member of the Jamba Juice Healthy Living Council.
The results of the YouGov study of 2,200 Americans also highlighted a discrepancy between Baby Boomers’ and Millennials’ views on juice. Not only were Millennials more open to green juice, but also to the broader notion of drinking vegetables.
Millennials are twice as likely as Boomers to think that vegetables taste better in juice (39% vs 18%);
Millennials are twice as likely as Boomers to prefer green juice (13% vs 6%); and,
Millennials are twice as likely as Boomers to most often drink green juice (13% vs 6%).
Combined, two-thirds (66%) of Americans believe fresh-squeezed juice is healthy.
According to a 2013 report published by the USDA based on MyPlate serving suggestions, men, women and children are only eating 1/3 of the fruit (33%) and 2/3 of the vegetables (63%) they need each day. “It gives us the opportunity to democratize this really healthy trend that is largely unattainable for most consumers because of either availability or cost,” CEO James White told CNN Money.
Whole food smoothies are available at 50 locations equipped with new juicers and mixers. Whole food juices will be available at 300 of Jamba’s 800 locations later this year.
Tea Magazine® a 20-year-old consumer publication for tea enthusiasts is replacing its bi-monthly print edition with a combined print +online content package for its readers, including a new book-style softcover guide to tea published annually.
In mid-April ITEM Media will launch The Daily Tea (www.thedailytea.com) a subscription-based tea portal replacing www.teamag.com. Visitors to the site will see a mix of free and paid content, along with new articles each month, and some previously published in Tea Magazine. Subscribers have their choice of several different newsletters — for example, newsletters targeted to those interested in cooking with tea; Yoga and tea; tea travel and terroir.
Subscribers will get at least three new feature articles a month, “…the articles will be accompanied by video, behind-the-scenes interviews and picture galleries, which is a lot more than we could do in print,” said Chief Media Officer Graham Kilshaw.
Since acquiring the magazine in January 2012, “we have built the audience from just a couple of thousand to more than 30,000. Most of this growth has come from our digital platforms, and very little has come from our print media,” said Kilshaw.
“We now see an opportunity to grow our audience significantly beyond its current 30,000 people – digitally. Consequently we are going to make several changes starting in May 2014,” he said.
The 150-page book-style magazine, often referred to as a “bookazine” will have longer in-depth feature articles on science, geography and history and “great photography,” said Kilshaw. There will also be a catalog of tea products, said Kilshaw. The publication will be mailed to all subscribers and sold nationally in bookstores and by grocers including Whole Foods Market.
Chief Media Officer Graham Kilshaw
Annual subscriptions are $24.99 and include the new $9.99 “Tea Magazine 2015 Tea Guide” mailed annually in September. Kilshaw was upbeat about the new direction which he described as “evolving from predominately print with a little bit of digital to becoming predominately digital with a little bit of print.”
“This is all about aligning our goals and strategy with our resources. Producing the print magazine required us to spend 80 percent of our resources on 20 percent of the content. During the past 24 months print subscriptions increased by a couple of thousand while our digital audience has grown by five times,” he said.
“The change in the mix of media is driven by our readers,” said Kilshaw. “Print generally-speaking attracts an older demographic and we want to reach a broad audience. Younger tea drinkers are forming their tea habits now, experimenting widely and trying out lots of different teas. They represent the future customers of our media clients,” he said, adding , “We want to build a very large audience for the tea community.”
The company expects to soon announce a new content manager to replace Kate Sullivan who left in December.
Tea Biz serves a core audience of beverage professionals in the belief that insightful journalism informs business decision making. Tea Biz reports what matters along the entire supply chain, emphasizing trustworthy sources and sound market research while discarding fluff and ignoring puffery.
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Whimsical teapots are the work of 50 artists celebrating the Fif-TEA Anniversary invitational of the Crafts Alliance in St. Louis, Mo….China and the U.S. make a climate change pledge against a backdrop of air pollution and a summer drought that damaged China’s most valuable tea growing region… the World Bank investigates investments in Assam where plantation practices are subject to a Columbia University report critical of Amalgamated Plantations Private Ltd. (APPL)… Teavana founder and CEO Andy Mack retires from Starbucks Coffee Co., which names Executive Vice President Annie Young-Scrivner president of the specialty tea company which has grown since 1997 to 366 stores in the U.S., Canada and Mexico…. Rossanne Williams is the new president of Starbucks Canada.
Drought Damaged China
On Saturday the U.S. and China pledged to work together restrict industrial emissions which are responsible for global climate change, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
In a joint statement U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said “this is a unique, cooperative effort between China and the United States and we have hopes that it will help to set an example for global leadership and global seriousness on the issue of next year’s climate negotiation.”
China is responsible for China’s serious attitude toward environmental protection, according to reports by China’s Xinhua news agency. China’s President Xi Jinping told Kerry “it is not at others’ demand but our own will. We have already taken a lot of measures and will take more in the future,” according to news accounts.
Summer temperatures in parts of China that reached 107.6 degrees last year severely damaged tea gardens that continue to suffer from the effects of a severe drought.
At question is whether the withered plants will produce the first flush bounty so essential to the economic welfare of China small tea growers.
In much of China, the first flush or pre-Qing harvest is the most lucrative of the year. During this time the tender leaves benefit from long dormancy and the fact that insects that feast on the shoots are awakening from the winter’s cold.
Last summer the Provincial Agricultural Department in East China’s Zhejiang province, one of the nation’s major producers of tea, reported severe stress to 27,000 hectares (67,000 acres) of farms in Hangzhous, Huzhou and Lishui.
Rainfall declined 70 percent compared to 2012. The region experienced two months of severe drought.
Shanghai experienced the hottest July since record keeping began 140 years ago.
China Daily reported that in Tonglu county, Hangzhou, some 40 hectares of tea plants withered due to prolonged high temperatures of around 40 degrees Celsius. It was estimated that tea output in the county dropped 70 percent, according to local authorities.
The drought greatly affected white tea production, according to the Anji County Agricultural Bureau. Tea bushes on 3,000 hectares of tea farms in Anji County were harmed with half suffering serious losses, according to agricultural officials.
Crafty Tea Pots
An exhibition at the Craft Alliance gallery in St. Louis, Mo., features the work of more than 50 artists challenged to create clever teapots of clay, metal, glass, wood and fiber.
The FIF-TEA 14th Biennial Teapot Exhibition is the first event of the 50th Anniversary season.
The Alliance annually invites local and nationally known artists to take on the challenge of the iconic teapot as a functional or non-functional artistic form.
According to an Alliance release “for more than half of our 50 year history, Craft Alliance’s biennial teapot exhibitions have been a hallmark of our exhibition series, drawing overflow crowds of enthusiastic viewers, capturing the interest of collectors from across the nation and providing a platform for the teapot as an art form that is recognized in art schools, and galleries throughout the U.S.”
“This year we have challenged participating artists to create a teacup as a companion to their teapot,” according to a release. Visit www.craftalliance.org to see photos of the exhibit which is sponsored by Sheila Greembaum and Gary Wasserman and the Republic of Tea.
The Craft Alliance gallery is located at: 6640 Delmar Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63130. Phone: 314-725-1177. The gallery is open Sun. 11am – 5pm, Tue.-Thur. 10am-5pm, Fri-Sat. 10am-6pm., and closed Monday. The exhibit closes March 23. Admission is free.
Plantation Practices Under Investigation by World Bank
NEW DEHLI, India — The World Bank has launched an investigation into labor practices on several Assam tea estates managed by Amalgamated Plantations Private Ltd. (APPL).
Tata Global Beverages, which finances APPL operations, has denied any violation of worker rights at its 24 tea estates. Tata is best known for its Tetley Tea brand.
A spokesperson for APPL said the company would cooperate fully with investigators looking into a joint-venture funded in part by the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
The IFC, a private lending arm of the World Bank, in April 2009 invested $7.8 million in a program to help find permanent employment for almost 31,000 tea workers. The program is designed to assist hard-working, but largely uneducated, tea workers in profiting from their labor. Tata has a 41% stake in of the project’s $87 million budget; IFC contributed 19% and the remainder is financed by workers who received interest-free loans of $128 to buy shares. Currently there are 21,000 workers enrolled in the program.
The investment is a significant sum for workers making less than $2 per day and will require seven years to repay through payroll deductions. The investment’s returns however, motivate workers to contribute their best effort and to share in the profits of the venture, according to those who developed the program.
About a year ago World Bank received several complaints from non-profit organizations associated with workers’ welfare.
Groups such as Nazdeek and PAJHRA (Promotion and Advancement of Justice, Harmony and Rights of Adivasis) and the People’s Action for Development voiced concern over long working hours, inadequate compensation, unsanitary latrines, inadequate housing and unsafe use of pesticides. Productivity targets are so difficult that tea pickers must engage other family members, according to the charities. The charities cited worker unrest in some instances has led to violence.
About 4.5 million of Assam’s garden workers are Adivasis, a cultural minority forcibly relocated as laborers during the colonial period. They make up about 20% of the state’s population.
The project was harshly criticized last week in a Columbia University report that brought to light “dire living and working conditions, in violation of Indian law and the World Bank’s standards for environmental and social sustainability.”
On Wednesday Thomson Reuters Foundation received an email from Kaushik Biswas, APPL’s company secretary, asserting “We at APPL look after our workers and are compliant with the law. Wages are paid as per industry agreements. Cash wage plus benefits total up to 189 rupees per man day. Working hours as specified in the Plantations Labour Act, 1951,” he said.
The act permits garden owners to pay workers a wage below the national minimums. This is because plantations are required to provide food, shelter, education and medical care at no cost for workers. Compensation varies by contract but Assam workers typically earn INRs 89 ($1.44). APPL estimates plantations contribute another INRs 100 ($1.62) per day in-kind for a total wage of $3.06 per day for tea pickers meeting their established quota, typically measured as 42 kilos of plucked leaf.
Research co-director Ashwini Sukthankar toldSupply Management: “Worker ownership and diversification – the most highly vaunted elements of the transition – are obviously appealing, but the implementation was so outrageous that it casts doubt on the sincerity of the project.”
Research director Peter Rosenblum said: “The IFC acted with an excess of enthusiasm and an absence of attention to the known problems in the plantation sector.”
After reviewing several complaints the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) initiated the independent review. The CAO in an independent body charged with oversight of IFC investments.
A report in the Financial Times states the CAO questioned whether the IFC had “sufficient evidence to support the strong positive findings on labor relations and occupational health and safety issues” before investing. It also expressed concern about the IFC’s supervision, and assessments, after the two incidents of labor unrest.
“In a preliminary assessment last year, the CAO found that the IFC invested in APPL primarily on the strength of Tata’s reputation of “being at the forefront of Indian corporate practices” in regard to labor standards. But the ombudsman said there was no evidence of any IFC discussions with workers or unions to verify the Tata’s claims about conditions at the plantations,” according the Financial Times report.
The IFC responded that it is reviewing the report and working with APPL to “upgrade estate facilities and improve living and working conditions.”
Investigators will present a report for action by the World Bank’s Board of Directors in May. An action plan mandating IFC to address human rights violations may follow.
ATLANTA, Ga. — In 1997 entrepreneur Andy Mack and his wife Nancy, a former Walt Disney World Resort customer service manager, opened their first Teavana storefront at Phipps Plaza (Lenox Square Mall).
During the 10 years that followed he changed the name from Elephant Tea Co., perfected the format, acquired prime retail locations in some of the most desirable malls in the country and introduced a remarkable variety of specialty tea blends.
It was always his intent to introduce conventional tea drinkers to specialty tea and the myriad gadgets on display in his stores, he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution after opening his shop.
Fortune smiled as his business model gained traction. Investors added momentum, doubling the number of stores to more than 50 between 2005 and 2008. By July 2011 he was ringing the bell at the New York Stock Exchange and celebrating a $121 million IPO with a jubilant team. Teavana’s mall locations were earning an enviable $1,000 sq. ft. in retail sales at the time. The following spring Teavana acquired Teaopia, a Canadian-based retailer with an uncannily similar business plan. The company paid a half million each for the 46 Teaopia stores.
Mack received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2012 Award in the Retail and Consumer Products category and by fall the company was earning $43 million a quarter and projecting revenue of $250 million per year.
Retiring Teavana Founder and CEO Andy Mack
Store count had risen to 284. Mack announced plans to build 500 stores. Shortly after the most successful specialty tea retailer in America discovered his pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
In November 2012 Starbucks bought the company for $620 million paying $15.50 per share. The Macks had retained 21.5 million of the company’s shares to earn a payout of approximately $335 million. Starbucks valued the company’s blends at $13 million and the goodwill associated with Teavana, its “Heaven of Tea” slogan and business plan at an astounding $467.3 million. It was the most expensive acquisition in Starbucks Coffee Co. history.
During the past year Mack has assisted with the integration of Teavana which has continued to grow. It now numbers 366 locations including showcase concept stores in New York City and Seattle, Wash.
Last week Annie Young-Scrivner was promoted to executive vice president of Starbucks Coffee Co. and named president of Teavana today replacing Mack who announced his retirement.
“We are grateful for Andy’s leadership establishing Teavana as a world-class leader responsible for bringing premium tea to millions of customers over the past 17 years,” said Cliff Burrows, group president, U.S. Americas and Teavana.
“Under Annie’s leadership, we plan to do for tea what we did for coffee by significantly expanding the availability of new and innovative Teavana products in Starbucks and Teavana retail stores and through other channels,” he said.
Teavana is positively positioned to capture market share within the rapidly-growing $90 billion global hot and iced tea market. Young-Scrivner most recently led Starbucks Canada’s record Fiscal 2013 performance. Prior to her role leading Canada, Young-Scrivner served for three years as Starbucks global chief marketing officer and president of Tazo Tea. Before joining Starbucks in 2009, she had a successful twenty year career at PepsiCo and held positions such as chief marketing officer Quaker Foods and president of greater China for PepsiCo Food & Snacks. Young-Scrivner will continue to report to Burrows in her new role.
Starbucks Coffee Co. last week announced the promotion of Rossanne Williams as senior vice president and president Starbucks, Canada.
Since opening its first store in Vancouver, B.C. in 1987, Canada has grown to nearly 1,400 stores and is Starbucks largest market outside the U.S. During the last nine years, Williams has held numerous leadership roles both internationally and within Starbucks U.S. business. Prior to her current Partner Resources role leading the company’s Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, Diversity, and Community Investments functions, she served as division senior vice president of Starbucks Sunbelt region in the U.S. Williams also lived and worked in Amsterdam, The Netherlands for three years as a key executive on Starbucks Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regional leadership team. Prior to that, she held a number of executive roles in Starbucks retail operations. She will report to Cliff Burrows.
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Tea Biz serves a core audience of beverage professionals in the belief that insightful journalism informs business decision making. Tea Biz reports 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 commission original content. Click here for details.
Pure Leaf Iced Tea has announced their efforts to support Food & Wine Magazine’s Grow for Good program. Grow for Good was created by the magazine to provide charitable support for local and sustainable food programs. This year the partnership will focus on Wholesome Wave, a non-profit that improves access to healthy, locally grown food to underserved populations.
On a lighter note, students at the University of Leicester decided it was time to find the perfect way to brew tea…using math.
