• Deadline for AVPA Herbal and Infusion Producers Extended to Sept. 21, 2023


    AVPA 2022 Winners
    AVPA Teas of the World Contest Winners 2022

    Special Effort to Attract Tea From Lesser Known Tea Lands

    By Dan Bolton

    AVPA is a non-governmental, non-profit organization mainly composed of producers and taste enthusiasts. AVPA’s annual Teas of the World contest offers more value than a medal. Services include tasting workshops, technical support, and distributor staff training.

    During the past six years, the organization has elevated the status of tea and herbal producers, large and small, not only on the global stage but in their local markets. Teas must be traceable from origin and cannot be chemically flavored. A technical jury of professionals evaluates the teas, followed by a gastronomic jury of enthusiasts that mirror consumer preferences. The deadline to enter is Aug. 31, 2023.

    Register at AVPA.FR (Agence pour la Valorisation des Produits Agricoles)

    Over the last five years, there’s been a steady increase in how many producers entered the competition, says Ksenia Hleap, Development and Communications Director at AVPA. “Last year, we had more than 300 participants, 33% more than the previous year,” she said.

    This year is very rich in possibilities for us. We are in contact with all producing countries for monovarietal, infusion blends, and herbal teas. Unfortunately, not all tea boards respond. The difficulties sometimes are just the way of communication because we contact the tea boards in every country. We are also contacting the associations and tea cooperatives. So, it depends on the countries and their desire to promote tea producers,” she said.

    Related: AVPA Has More than a Medal to Offer

    Hleap said the product recognition in Paris, the capital of gastronomy, gives contest winners a big possibility to communicate about this, to showcase the logo of the medal on their packaging, and to promote their tea or their products all over the world but first of all in their local market because this is an international recognition. Even those who do not earn a medal benefit, she explains.

    “All our participants are winners because they dare to register for the contest and sell their products. Unfortunately, not all of them are winners this year, but they will probably be next or another because they are doing a very great job. They are putting their hearts and time into what they are doing,” she said.

    Listen to the Interview
    Ksenia Hleap manages development and communications at AVPA (Agence pour la Valorisation des Produits Agricoles)

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  • Unrelenting Heat is Lowering Tea Yields

    Merrill J. Fernando with sons Dilhan (left) and Malik
    Merrill J. Fernando with sons Dilhan (left) and Malik
    Tea News for the week ending July 21

    | Global Average Air Temperatures Reach a New High
    | Herbal Tea Market Growth is Accelerating
    | Dilmah Tea Founder Merrill J Fernando Passes at 93

    Hear the Headlines
    Hear the Headlines | Seven Minute Tea News Recap

    Pradeep Kumar Sacitharan is an expert in business development with a passion for assisting online entrepreneurs in dealing with disruptions like the tea industry is facing. He is CEO of London-based Donsfield, a trade development firm that buys and builds successful global brands. Pradeep writes that “growth in life is to be able to take bigger risks at a faster pace at every stage.”

    Listen to the Interview
    Pradeep Kumar Sacitharan on building a successful online tea brand.

    Unrelenting Heat Lowers Tea Yields

    By Dan Bolton

    China, Africa, and India are experiencing such intense heat that summer tea yields have dropped.

    Oppressive temperatures greatly restrict the time pluckers can spend in the heat, and in several global hot spots, tea bushes are dropping their leaves.

    Le Monde reports that ten months after the exceptional heatwave that hit China in the summer of 2022, the region’s tea growers are still suffering the consequences.

    “We’ve had at least 40% less production,” said Wu Wen, a Longjing grower in Hangzhou. “But we’re not the worst affected: look,” she said, pointing to three dead plants dumped on the edge of the neighboring field.

    Click to Read More Tea Biz News
  • Iran and Sri Lanka Revive $250 Million Tea-for-Oil Barter

    Sri Lanaka Barters Tea for Oil
    Sri Lanka and Iran resume 2021 tea barter agreement to settle 2012 oil debt
    Tea News for the week ending June 30

    | Decade Old Oil Debt to be Settled in $5 Million Monthly Installments of Tea
    | India Exporters Expect Iran to Resume Buying Tea Halted Since November
    | Israel Declares Wissotzky Tea a Monopoly
    | Rohit Jawa Takes Charge at Hindustan Unilever

    Hear the Headlines
    Hear the Headlines | Seven-minute Tea News Recap

    Organizers of the annual Teas of the World contest hosted by AVPA, the Paris-based Agency for the Valorization of Agricultural Products, announced Aug. 31 is the deadline for submitting monovarietal teas, tea blends, and infusions. Ksenia Hleap, responsible for development and communications at AVPA, updates us on the 6th annual competition.

    Listen to the Interview
    Ksenia Hleap, development and communications at AVPA (Agency for the Valorization of Agricultural Products)

    Barter Eases Constraints Imposed by Sanctions on Iran

    By Dan Bolton

    Iran and Sri Lanka in July will resume bartering tea.

    In a related development, Indian exporters say a resumption of tea shipments from India to Iran is expected soon.

    The barter agreement with Iran is to settle an outstanding debt incurred in 2012, effectively bypassing Western sanctions and easing financial hardships in both countries caused by politics, economics, and war.

    Terms of the agreement with state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corp. call for Sri Lanka’s treasury to transfer the equivalent of USD 5 million monthly in rupees to the Tea Board of Sri Lanka. The funds will then be paid to exporters. According to Tea Board Chairman Niraj de Mel, Iranian tea importers will pay the National Iranian Oil Company in riyals.

    Sri Lanka’s plantation ministry issued a statement assuring all parties that the agreement “will not violate UN or US sanctions since tea has been categorized as a food item on humanitarian grounds. None of the blacklisted Iranian banks will be involved in the equation.”

    Click to Read More Tea Biz News