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Hear the Headlines for the Week of May 7

Features

May is tea month. The United Nations-designated International Tea Day is celebrated on May 21 this year and you can once again participate from the comfort of your home. The second virtual Sofa Summit is hosted by Shabnam Weber, president of the Tea & Herbals Association of Canada.

… and then we visit London where Kyle Whittington, founder of the Tea Book Club reviews The Story of Japanese Tea, a fascinating book by Tyas S?sen covering cultivation, manufacturing, history and culture.

SofaSummit Returns for Second Year

By Jessica Natale Woollard

The all-day SofaSummit begins at 8 am Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Friday, May 21. It is a lively virtual chat that introduces tea enthusiasts to dozens of tea experts, scholars, growers and tea professionals from around the globe. Initiated of necessity during the pandemic, the popular event is again hosted by the Tea & Herbal Association of Canada. Read more…

Climatic Swings, Now Too Dry, Now Too Wet, Threaten Assam

By Aravinda Anantharaman | Bengaluru, India

A drought was declared in Assam in April, a month that saw only four days of rain in north India’s tea-growing regions.  Fewer rain days since January and a rainfall deficit of 205 millimeters compared to the long-term average, meant that tea bushes were badly hit. Raj Barooah discusses the erratic weather and what it has meant for tea production. Barooah’s Aideobarie Tea Estate, located near Jorhat, consists of two farms with a combined 645 acres under tea. The estate produces 700 metric tons of CTC tea and artisanal whole leaf tea marketed under the Rujani Tea brand. Read more…

The Story of Japanese Tea

By Kyle Whittington | London

Whether you already love (and think you know) Japanese tea or are just getting into it, The Story of Japanese Tea is definitely a must read! Tyas S?sen takes us on a fully immersive look at Japanese tea through history, cultivation and production, customs and the different types of Japanese tea. As well as advice on preparing and drinking Japanese tea. From the traditional and historical right through to the bang up to date. This is a fully rounded and thorough book.

Read more…

Tea News you Need to Know

Drought Eases in Assam

The Tocklai Tea Research Institute last week issued a special bulletin describing adverse growing conditions in western India. Rainfall is down by half and temperatures are “comparatively higher” than normal. There were only four days of rain in April. Rainfall since January is down 205 millimeters, “a substantial deficit compared to the long term normal,” according to the 10-page bulletin. Temperatures averaged 1.6^oC above norms.

Rains late in the week provide some relief to tea estates on the north bank from Tezpur to Gohpur while the Naharkatia Circle got only drizzle. Meteorologists predicted Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Assam, and Tripura will experience isolated very heavy falls.

The entire country recorded 31 mm rainfall during April — 21% less than its Long Period Average (LPA) of 39.3 mm — East and Northeast India collectively registered 64.2 mm precipitation, which is almost half of what these regions receive on average (124.8 mm) in the month of April, according to the Weather Channel.

Tocklai warns that these variations favor pests that prey on weakened bushes. “Severely affected bushes should not be plucked hard and allowed to recover with adequate rest,” advises the report. Shortfalls could be as high as 20 to 25% in April and May compared to previous years. Production through March is down 39% compared to 2019 but ahead of last year, according to Tea Board of India statistics. Assam growers through March have produced 100 million kilos of tea.

The Economist Intelligence Unit writes that “prospects for India’s 2021-22 harvest are relatively weak, with only a partial recovery likely following a 9.6% fall in tea output in 2020.

“We now expect a broad stagnation in output in 2021, ahead of partial recovery in 2022. Production levels are likely to remain below pre-pandemic levels, even in 2022,” according to EIU’s monthly Tea Forecast.

COVID Wave Sweeps Over Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka

By Dan Bolton

COVID related deaths may double in the next month as the virus spreads to rural India, according to the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. Deaths, now at more than 230,000 could increase to 400,000 in June and rise to 1 million by the end of summer. Twenty-one million are currently ill. India has a case-per-million rate of 16,000.

Tests for COVID indicate positivity rates of 20% on average, rising to more than 40% in hard-hit regions. The World Health Organization advises governments to implement strict social distancing until rates fall below 5% for at least two weeks.

Attention has focused on the crisis in India but the spring wave has engulfed tea growing regions in Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.

Here is a brief rundown:

NEPAL

Nepal reported a 1,600% increase to 83,000 COVID infections during the week ending May 7. Army medical teams were mobilized this week to care for the ill as hospitals are overwhelmed. Only 1.2% of the population has received a vaccine, fewer still in rural tea growing regions. Nepal is experiencing 12,500 cases per million. Cases jumped from an average 298 per day in March to 9,000 in April. Deaths total 3,529.

Dry weather cut yields by half during Nepal’s first flush. Buds did not appear until April, three weeks later than normal. Scarcity means raw green, organic-certified leaves, now earn farmers a guaranteed NRs100 per kilo, up from NRs40 rupees per kilo last year.

Export volume increased 65% to 9,700 metric tons in the nine months since July 2020. The price paid for exports set records in 2020 and prices are expected to remain high due to shortfalls in India which purchases 80% of Nepal’s tea.

SRI LANKA

Cases increased by 20,000 last week to reach 120,000. Deaths are relatively low at 734 but the trend is troubling. Cases per one million are now 5,477. During the period April 2020 to October Sri Lanka reported at most two or three deaths per day. The seven-day average has since risen to 10. The country closed its borders to India last week.

The low rate of infection last year minimized disruptions to the harvest but logistics proved difficult for the island nation as virtually all the tea grown there is exported. Prime Minister Rajapaksa said that the government could not shut down the country because of the pandemic. The economic well-being of citizens was as important as fighting the virus, he said.

BANGLADESH

The country witnessed a sharp rise in infections in April when the seven-day average reached 7,000 infections and a record 102 deaths reported April 9. Lockdowns have since driven the seven-day average was 1,700 infections in May. Cases per million average 4,500 with 11,796 deaths.

In tea, COVID restraints forced a 10% drop in year-over-year tea production in 2020 but output was sufficient to meet domestic needs. Consumption declined 10-15% due to strictly enforced lockdowns that included closing restaurants and tea stalls. Dry weather has limited output since January.

Biz Insight – Tea growers in Kangra in Himachal Pradesh are experiencing great weather but unable to harvest. Production there is predicted to decline 70% to less than a million kilos because laborers who fled to their native villages during the winter have not returned. COVID fears are to blame.

In the past year 900 farms ceased harvesting tea as growers turn to more profitable crops. There are now 1,100 tea growers, down three quarters from the more than 5,000 in 2010. Acreage under tea is estimated at 5,600 acres (2,300 ha) down 60% (4,000 ha) from the 9,800 acres planted in the 1980s. The region produced 1.9 million kilos 20 years ago but will struggle to produce 800,000 kilos in 2021.

Emergency Relief Fund Nears Goal

A COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund initiate by Vahdam India is nearing its goal with donations of 6.3 million rupees ($89,000) but needs an additional $20,000 boost to reach a 7.5 million rupees ($107,000) in five days. Donations to #RiseTogetherForIndia assist the non-profit Doctors for You deliver oxygen and relief services across India. Learn more and find a Ketto crowdfunding link to donate on the Tea Biz blog.

Are Tea Auctions Still Relevant?

By Aravinda Anantharaman | Bengaluru

Pranav Bhansali, managing partner at Bhansali and Company, tea traders since 1929, answers in the affirmative. Auctions continue to be very relevant and play an important role, he says. Currently 45% of tea sold in India is auctioned, vs 55% sold in private transactions.

Price discovery at India’s regionally dispersed auctions is an accurate reflection of the dynamics of demand and supply, says Bhansali. Transitioning from out-cry to digital auctions was the right decision “and if it wasn’t for the e-auctions, the tea industry would have come to a halt during the pandemic.”

Read more…

Two Major Grocery Chains to Carry Flash-Frozen Tea Leaves

By Dan Bolton

Major Grocery Chains Safeway and Sobeys with a combined 433 locations will stock Millennia Tea nationwide in Canada. Millennia washes and flash-freezes organic tea leaves for use as a culinary ingredient and in brewing tea. The result is a cup of fresh tea with greater concentration of tea compounds, according to company co-founder Tracy Bell.

Bell writes that the traditional path to market for wellness brands is through health stores, “but as soon as the pandemic hit, the health industry stopped taking on new innovative products, and we needed to quickly re-think our business model.”

A 10-store trial last summer, in Sobeys’ “support local” program, led to placement in 30 locations, said Bell. “We were thrilled when they said yes to national distribution,” she said. Millennia Tea is also available online and a few US locations. A stand-up pouch containing 120 grams of tea sells for $25.

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Hear the Headlines for the Week of April 30

Features

This week Tea Biz visits the fabled Darjeeling tea growing region in the Himalayan foothills of northwestern India

…. and we travel to Seattle for the launch of the Organic Marketing Association a group that conveys the complexities of organic cultivation with memorable memes, clever ditties, and illustrations that radiate the joy of farming in harmony with nature.

Steadfast Darjeeling Continues to Evolve

By Aravinda Anantharaman | Bengaluru, India

Darjeeling is the most famous of India’s tea growing regions. Revenue from its spring flush also makes it the most lucrative, but the plants there are aging, wage inflation is high, and workers are restless. Innovation is overdue. Aravinda Anantharaman spoke with Rishi Saria a third-generation planter, managing the Gopaldhara, and Rohini estates in Darjeeling. He describes where things stand, how Darjeeling began producing oolongs and offers personal insights into rival Himalayan tea produced in Nepal. Read more…

Marketing Organics with Humor

By Dan Bolton | Winnipeg, Canada

Dennis Weaver is the co-founder and president of the Organic Marketing Association, a non-profit that growers CANNOT pay to join. The consumer-facing OMA celebrates the fun side of organics by building awareness with slogans, puns and Instagram-inspired illustrations of vegetables like celery with the headline “Stalking You” or lemons calling you to “Pucker Up Baby.” OMA’s slogan, is the double entendre: “Organic. Eat Me.”

“We won’t try to lecture anyone. Instead, we’ll focus on making positive associations with the word organic and the things that make people happy. It’s a simple formula that works,” says Weaver.

Learn more…

Tea News you Need to Know

Kenya’s Tea Price Slump

Low auction prices for Kenya and other East African teas have persisted for the past three years due to oversupply. During the past nine months the average price of $2.52 per kilo declined by 8.6 percent. Teas auctioned by the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA)   factories generally sell for more than teas from elsewhere but are down 12 percent. Recent auction averages of $1.81 per kilo are well below the cost of production for many factories. The country’s Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) also blames the decline on weak demand due to coronavirus lockdowns in many countries and the devaluation of many foreign currencies. Meanwhile avorable weather and increased acreage under tea with each passing year leading to greater surplus volume, adding to already high stocks.

Two developments this week will likely further roil Mombasa. On April 24 the government announced that auctions would be expanded from two to five days a week later this spring and last Friday detectives with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations seized both KTDA records and equipment and those of the East Africa Tea Traders Association (EATTA). No sales were conducted Monday.

Biz Insight – The Colombo Tea Auction in Sri Lanka is conducted on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Annual sales volume of 300 million kilos is comparable to the 450 million kilos auctioned in Mombasa. In 2020, after 127 years, Colombo’s traditional auction went digital but retains its two-day-a-week schedule. John Snell, owner and CEO of Ela’s Tea Company in Ontario, Canada, has been buying tea in commercial quantities since 1984. A former trading manager for multi-nationals purchasing East African tea, Snell shared his thoughts on the expanded schedule.

6.4 Quake Shakes Assam, Tea Industry Damage Light

By Roopak Goswami | Assam

A strong earthquake followed by several aftershocks rattled rafters and nerves on April 28 but caused only minor damage to tea processing factories throughout the region. Several estates reported damage to outbuildings and dwellings for workers. There were 12 injuries, none life-threatening, reported following the 30-second shake at 7:51 am April 28.

Bhupinder Singh, chairman of the Assam Branch India Tea Association (ITA) Zone 3 said, “We were lucky to have got away with no injuries to employees and their dependents from member gardens.”

A hill collapsed in Bhirabkund in the Udalguri district due to soil liquefaction caused by the quake and area residents were warn to be wary of land slides and damage to local bridges.

“The high-intensity earthquake early Wednesday has caused damage to houses and buildings with people running out of their homes and other places in panic, obliterating social distancing and other COVID guidelines amid a raging pandemic. From the initial reports, the massive quake has caused only light damage to buildings and there have been no fatalities reported so far and only few injuries,” writes Prof. T.G. Sitharam, director of IIT Guwahati and president of the Indian Society for Earthquake Technology.

Spiking Costs Trigger Russian Tea Price Increases

By Eugene Gerden | Moscow

Tea prices in Russia are steadily rising due to a weak ruble and the increased cost of tea imports.

Retail prices increased by 2-10% in Russia last year and prices are expected to continue to climb in 2021 due to shipping and freight costs, packaging expenses and unfavorable currency exchange rates along with the increased cost of raw materials due to the pandemic.

Demand for tea in Russia currently remains stable. The rise in retail prices, so far, are not significant. However the possibility exists for further increases in the second half of the year, which may have a negative effect on local demand, according to Ramaz Chanturia, director of the Russian Association of Tea and Coffee Producers (Roschaykofe).

Tea consumption at home significantly increased since the introduction of quarantine measures and self-isolation in the country. At the same time out-of-home coffee sales fell by almost 30% after a sharp growth in 2019.

Chanturia explained that it could be worse. Price increases were restricted because producers are concerned with the decline of purchasing power by consumers and the declining popularity of tea among the youth, as many switched to coffee in recent years. The association does not expect the Russian tea market to expand this year. Sales volumes are growing at the minimum levels, he said, making 2021 much like 2020.

Learn more…

Vahdam India Mobilizes Emergency COVID Relief Effort

By Dan Bolton

Vahdam India this week donated $50,000 to launch a fundraiser as part of #RiseTogetherForIndia, a COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund. Donations will assist the non-profit Doctors for You deliver relief services across India. The company seeks to mobilize tea drinkers worldwide to set up temporary COVID treatment facilities, acquire oxygen cylinders and concentrators and facilitate rapid vaccination efforts. India reported more than three million new COVID cases in the past 10 days. Nineteen million are currently infected with more than 200,000 deaths.

Learn more and find a Ketto crowdfunding link to donate on the Tea Biz blog.

Learn more…

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Hear the Headlines for the Week of April 23

Features

This week Tea Biz travels to the famed Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew to explore a prized collection of 174-year-old tea recently examined and catalogued for its organoleptic properties

…and we visit Paris to learn how the Agency for the Promotion of Agricultural Product (AVPA) elevates the world’s tea origins.

Rediscovering 174 Year Old Tea

By Dan Bolton

In 2019, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew began analyzing the provenance of more than 300 tea specimens, mainly Chinese and Indian grown teas dating to the 1850s. Ethnobotanist Aurora Prehn began by examining labels. She then proceeded to record non-textual evidence experienced through sight, touch, and smell. She shares her findings and offers some interesting insights into the work of Horticulturalist Robert Fortune whose specimens are included in the collection. Listen as we learn about tea from 1853. Learn more…

How AVPA Elevates Origins

By Dan Bolton

The Paris-based AVPA (Agency for the Promotion of Agricultural Products) is allied with tea producers globally. Recognition, professional education programs, and competitions build self-esteem and economic recognition that directs a larger share of the value chain to the country of origin.

“This is why we cling to local transformation of agricultural products so that producers benefit from the pursuit of excellence,” says AVPA President Philippe Juglar. Juglar explains how AVPA competitions that exclude international judges in favor of local experts, reveal that what the gastronomic world thinks and what the professional tea world thinks are quality tea leads to some “very interesting differences.”

Learn more…

Tea News you Need to Know

Earth Day Takes on New Urgency

Teacraft’s Nigel Melican predicts that before the year 2050 the tea industry will be struggling to maintain volume on less land and with less labor and with far higher input costs for scarce resources. Progress is slow but there are initiatives underway to address climate change worthy of celebration on Earth Day. In Assam, India the Jalinga Tea Estate is building a zero-emission factory capable of processing millions of kilos tons annually – a first in that country. The estate is partnering with Atmosfair, a German non-profit committed to reducing CO? emissions by promoting, developing, and financing renewable energy projects in more than 15 countries. In the US Bigelow Tea, which produces two billion teabags annually, relies on solar and renewable energy sources for 100% of its energy requirements, is certified as a zero waste landfill company and owns electric vehicles. Climate volatility resulting in floods, droughts, hail damage, increased pests and reduced yields is apparent in China, India, and East Africa, according to Melican. “Sustainability is the goal,” he says, “but I fear sustainability may be severely challenged by upcoming events.”

Biz Insight – US President Joe Biden challenged the United States to cut greenhouse gas emissions by half before 2030, reversing controversial policies of the previous administration. America will resume its role as a global leader in halting potentially catastrophic climate change Biden told  member nations at a virtual climate summit this week. “The signs are unmistakable, the science is undeniable, and the cost of inaction keeps mounting,” said Biden, adding that “The countries that take decisive actions now will be the ones that reap the clean energy benefits of the boom that’s coming.”

India’s Earth-Friendly Tea Factory

By Roopak Goswami

Contractors at the Jalinga Tea Estate in South Assam, India’s largest organic tea grower, will complete India’s first zero-emission tea factory in July.  The factory is jointly financed through the Jalinga Climate Tea Research Foundation (JCTRF), a partnership between Jalinga Tea Estate and Atmosfair, a German non-profit committed to reducing CO? emissions by promoting, developing, and financing renewable energy projects in more than 15 countries. Learn more…

Restaurants are Rebounding

The US economy is rebounding with 90% of restaurants open nationally. Revenue at fast-food outlets has returned to pre-pandemic totals. Food delivery and third-party ordering are growing and here to stay but waitstaff may be wearing COVID masks for a very long time, according to Jack Li, principle at Datassential market research.

A year after lockdowns began, the resilience of the restaurant sector is apparent as approximately 90% remain open. Permanent closures as of April 2021 are 10.7% nationally with 2% temporarily closed. Buffets were hardest hit with 24% closures followed 16.5% for soup and salad outlets. Eleven percent of fine dining restaurants were either permanently or temporarily closed as of April 2021. Pizza, salad, chicken, Mexican and sports bar chains added units during the past year, every other format contracted with full-service American restaurant chains down 7.3%.

The closure rate is now evenly distributed across the country as both urban and rural areas contend with the virus. Initially city centers were hardest hit and that remains true with 14.3% of urban locations closed. Metro areas Miami, Portland, Ore., New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. report the most permanent closures. Combined these markets are home to 120,144 restaurants of which about 12.5% are permanently closed. Rural and suburban restaurants fared better with closure rates of 11.2% and 11.6% respectively in ZIP Codes with at least 100 restaurants.

Biz Insight – The greatest disparity in closures is at the local level. Closures rose to and remain at 48% in San Francisco’s embarcadero and 45% in the financial district. Forty-two percent of the restaurants in the Chicago Loop closed along with 40% in Minneapolis and South Boston. New York City closures totaled 35% in Manhattan and Grammercy-Flatiron. In contrast, 95% of the restaurants in cities including Mesquite, Tex. And Williamsport, Penn., Findlay, Ohio, and Virginia Beach remained open all year.

World Tea Expo Co-locates with The Nightclub & Bar Show

The World Tea Expo + Conference will return to Las Vegas June 28-30, co-locating with the Nightclub & Bar Show. Both events are owned by Questex and managed by the company’s Denver-based hospitality division. The division hosted two World Tea virtual events after it was forced to cancel the tradeshow last spring.

Co-locating the events offers “new opportunities for business growth and evolution, in addition to expanding the audience reach, and encouraging innovation and new business partnerships, according to Tim McLucas, vice-president, Bar & Restaurant. In recent years, the World Tea Expo, which was founded in 2003, attracted 3,500 attendees, down from a peak of 5,500. The Nightclub & Bar Convention and Trade Show, now in its 36^th year, features 60 educational sessions and six in-depth workshops. The 2021 event is expected to draw 40,000 attendees.

Early registration fees are $99.

Bubble Tea Boba is Languishing at Sea

A bubble tea catastrophe is brewing at sea. The black tapioca pearls, known as boba, that are essential to the experience are in short supply pitting consumers against foodservice outlets. Due to lockdowns many bubble tea drinkers were forced to make their favorite treat at home, ordering the ingredients in bulk online.

Sweet syrup, milk and tea are readily available but packages of Buddha Bubbles Boba, and Wu Fu Yuan boba to cook at home ship from Asia. The favored port of call is Los Angeles where an average of 30 ships a day are anchored and idling, waiting to unload. As shops reopen, managers ordering direct from Asian suppliers find consumer shipment clogging the supply chain. Along the East Coast arrivals were delayed by the obstruction of the Suez Canal. Further complicating supply is a drought in Taiwan that led to government orders curtailing water use by boba manufacturers, writes Smithsonian Magazine. Taiwan is the hub of boba production globally. Tea Zone, one of the largest US suppliers, and Bubble Tea Canada, report shortages of the most popular boba balls due in part to over-orders and hoarding.

A return to sufficient stock and normal delivery times is not expected before summer.

Biz Insight – The global market for boba tea is predicted to increase by $963 million by 2023, according to market research firm Technavio. The annual growth rate is accelerating at 7% with Asia dominate but Europe and the Middle East experiencing 38% growth. New outlets are expanding availability and that’s fueling demand. Kung Fu Tea, the largest US boba chain, currently operates 250 locations and expects to open 70 more in 2021.

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Hear the Headlines for the Week of April 16

Features

This week Tea Biz offers a glimpse of the many teas of India as Aravinda Anantharaman takes us on a tour revealing there is lot more to savor than chai

…and we travel to the idyllic Summer Lodge Country House Hotel in Evershot, Dorchester for a new take on the old English tradition of afternoon tea.

The Many Teas of India

By Aravinda Anantharaman

The 1.4 billion people who live in India consume about 20% of the tea produced globally, including most of the tea grown there. Consumption averages 840 grams per person annually. Growth slowed to 2.5% in 2020—much weaker than in previous years—largely due to retail closures, but India has not lost its taste for tea, people there just prepared more at home during the pandemic. Aravinda Anantharaman takes us on a tea tour that reveals there is lot more to savor than chai. Read more…

Afternoon Tea Re-Imagined

By Dananjaya Silva

Situated in the rolling hills of Dorset, the Summer Lodge Country House Hotel & Restaurant is the perfect setting to savor Afternoon Tea in the idyllic English countryside near Evershot. But when the pandemic closed the hotel the restaurant staff, at the direction of general manager Jack Mackenzie, were forced to cleverly design an afternoon tea takeaway so memorable that this old English tradition became an Instagram hit for patrons unboxing their dainties at home.

Tea News you Need to Know

India Surpasses Brazil as World’s COVID Hotspot

Tea gardens are taking extra precautions as a second wave exceeding an average of 200,000 daily infections forced lockdowns in Mumbai and New Delhi this week and heightened fears across the country. In March, the daily count was under 15,000 across India — last week it exceeded 261,000. Nine states, including tea growing regions Kerala and Karnataka, reported their highest-ever daily count.

The virus is now killing more than 1,500 daily. This week, West Bengal, which includes Kolkata, recorded its highest single-day spike of 4,817 cases. The state’s death count is 10,434, about 10 times greater than Assam. West Bengal is inoculating more than 100,000 people a day. Assam is faring much better with 1,023 active cases. The state reported 221,000 cases and 1,119 deaths since the onset of the pandemic. India has reported 178,793 COVID-19 deaths and 15 million cases since the onset of the pandemic.

A worrisome new variant (B.1.617) first detected in January in Maharashtra, India has been reported in England and California. Learn more…

Biz Insight – India’s second wave will impact distribution and suppress retail sales in urban Mumbai and New Delhi but dry weather in west India is causing greater havoc for the tea industry than the coronavirus right now, driving down yield and idling workers and factories.

The Global Tea Initiative to Host Second Virtual Event

The Global Tea Initiative (GTI) at the University of California, Davis will host the second in its Talking about Tea series from 3-5 p.m. Friday, April 23. The virtual presentation on Myths, Legends, and Anecdotes includes research papers, presentations on tea poetry, and early writings about tea, with a review of tea gardens of London in the 17^th and 18^th centuries. The GTI website has more than 30 presentations available for viewing. Founding director Katherine Burnett said this will be a more “casual, conversational” event than the first session in January. She said people will be able to chat with each other and comment and network and share ideas, learn from each other and get that kind of personal engagement that you can do onsite.” Admission to the Zoom event is free. Visit globaltea.ucdavis.edu to register.

Tea Imports Spike in Pakistan

The pandemic boosted tea imports by 27% to 171.5 metric tons, for the eight months ending February 2021. The value of tea imports grew 17% compared to the same period ending in February 2020. Pakistan ranks third among tea importing nations, spending more than $500 million on tea annually, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The bureau recorded a 20% increase in the country’s trade deficit last year, lending new urgency to reducing foreign exchange outflow. Pakistan has grown small quantities of tea since 1958 but until recently it was less costly to import tea from India. Due to border hostilities India no longer ships tea direct to Pakistan.

Biz Insight – Last week the Guizhou Tea Association in China (GTAC) offered to assist Pakistan grow more tea locally, utilizing cultivars, expertise, and machinery from China to produce broken leaf black tea. Five years ago in Morocco, Guizhou began working with local blenders and packers to create a profitable local brand in North Africa. “We can make breakthroughs in technology and increase productivity,” said GTAC secretary general Xu Jiamin. In Guizhou small farmers rely on an enterprise-driven model that could find success in Pakistan.

Tea Masters Cup Names Champions in Moscow

The pandemic forced the cancellation of qualifying rounds and limited appearances at exhibitions to a single event during the 2020/21 cycle, but the Tea Masters Cup concluded successfully at the recent Coffee Tea and Cacao Russian Expo in Moscow. Sixty-one tea masters competed in Tasting and Tea Preparation categories modified to prevent sharing cups.

Nikolai Dolgiy, the reigning tea tasting champion, successfully defended his top ranking by identifying every outlier when presented with six sets of three infusions in three minutes. Olga-Alecia Daineko won the Tea Preparation category, besting 16 contenders in preparing two teas. Learn more…

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