• Natural Tea Energy


    In the ready-to-drink category, tea-focused brands like ITO EN are innovating. Instead of concentrates and solubles, line extensions are brewed from whole leaves from sustainably grown tea and offered in recyclable packaging. Rona Tison, Executive Vice President of ITO EN North America, joins Tea Biz to discuss what makes tea the ideal base for function-enhancing blends that appeal to health-conscious consumers.

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    Rona Tison, executive vice president ITO EN North America

    New matcha and green functional tea blends from ITO EN

    RTD Teas Formulated for Function

    By Dan Bolton

    Ready-to-drink tea, both refrigerated and shelf-stable, generated $4.2 billion in sales in the US multi-outlet channel last year. RTD is the fastest growth segment in tea. Volume increased 40% globally between 2011 and 2016 rising to 37 billion liters. Sales are predicted to generate $25 billion a year globally by 2024, according to Market Research Future. In the US, the RTD segment is a battle of titans dominated by Lipton, PepsiCo, whose Pure Leaf brand is the top seller and Coca Cola (marketing Peace Tea, Honest Tea, Gold Peak); along with Snapple and AriZona.

    Cross category tea blends known as hybrids bridge traditional retail categories such as energy and refreshment; and have successfully carved out space on the shelf next to functional beverages as low-sugar organic, clean label alternatives to fortified waters and juice. Delivering a plant-powered matcha energy drink formulated with functional ingredients such as superfood acerola and yuzu for immunity, ginseng for focus, and ginger and honey to soothe ITO EN’s newly launched matcha LOVE ENERGY + (plus), provides a clean and natural energy boost with 50 milligrams of caffeine and L-theanine in an 8.28 fluent ounce can that is priced at $2.49

    Dan Bolton: Rona, when many tea brands are introducing herbals and herbal infusions, ITO EN has shown a solid commitment to traditional tea and tea blends. Will you share with listeners how the new matcha LOVE ENERGY + line maximizes tea’s inherent health benefits before adding plant-based enhancements to the shot?

    Rona Tison: Ito En’s expertise and legacy are really in green tea. Not a botanical but the Camellia sinensis plant that has not been oxidized, unlike black tea that is fully oxidized. As a vertically integrated company, we work very closely with the tea farmers tending to the soil, cultivating the tea leaf. And unique to Japan, the Japanese green tea leaves are steamed right after harvesting. This stops the oxidation and it helps preserve all the great health benefits as well as the properties of the tea leaf particularly important to taste and aroma.

    We were the innovators of the first unsweetened ready-to-drink green tea, a feat that was said to be impossible because, of course, green tea would oxidize. So, after years of research, we were able to introduce a bottled green tea that captured the optimal moment of enjoyment as if you were having a freshly brewed cup of green tea. And this revolutionized tea drinking. Even in Japan, the younger generations weren’t taking the time to steep leaf tea as their parents were. They were much more mobile on the go and so this convenient, on-the-go, ready-to-drink green tea changed how tea was enjoyed even in Japan. Our bottled Oi Ocha just celebrated its 32nd year. It’s been exciting to see the impact this has had on the modern lifestyle.

    Dan: Will you describe these plant-based enhancements?

    Rona: Our matcha brand has been doing incredibly well but we wanted to take it one step further and have a beverage that had more functionality, particularly given these times of the global pandemic. So, we decided to create a clean energy drink, that is plant-based powered with green tea and matcha, which has the goodness in the vitality of the green tea leaf. Each functional ingredient enhances this goodness by boosting immunity, or focus or it soothes. As you are aware, many energy drinks today do not have such healthy ingredients. So we’re excited to be able to introduce a clean energy drink that gives you the benefits as well as tastes delicious. And that, of course, is first and foremost, people are very conscious about boosting their health and wellness, particularly in these times.

    So, with that in mind, we created the three flavors: immunity, which helps maintain your defenses, with the superfruit as the acerola, and yuzu, which is a Japanese citrus, that is very high in vitamin C. Focus is matcha, combined with the ginseng and blueberry that empowers mental clarity and focus. Soothe helps kind of soothe body and mind. It’s made with the honey and ginger.

    Japanese Yuzu

    All share a base of green tea and matcha, which provides the natural caffeine balanced with the amino acid, L-theanine, which is very high in green tea. Together you experience a sense of calm with alertness. Combined with the caffeine and L-theanine, this is a very clean and healthy energy drink with none of the unhealthy ingredients that you can’t pronounce that are artificial and synthetic. Matcha LOVE ENERGY + has healthy clean ingredients, and only 50 milligrams of natural caffeine balanced with the L-theanine. This amino acid gives you a sense of calm and alertness, so you get your nice gentle boost, but it keeps you grounded throughout the day.

    Matcha Love Energy

    Dan: Consumer research confirms that drinks that deliver an energy boost are a top priority. In Europe, a survey of 5,000 consumers [conducted for Germany-based Beneo] revealed that half are looking for food and drink products to help them make it through the day. Eight-of-10 of those aged 18-34 said they seek energy-boosting products, but with safe concentrations of caffeine and without synthetic flavors, sweeteners, colors, and preservatives.

    Rona: There’s been a huge increase in the plant-based lifestyle, as more and more consumers are embracing a life of health and wellness. And, of course, tea is the original plant-based beverage. I don’t know if your are aware that it was actually in Japan that functional foods first were introduced. In the 1980s, a grant was given to research functional foods, which in Japan are regulated under The Japanese Ministry of Health established regulatory oversight for functional foods known as ‘Foods for Specified Health Use’ (FOSHU)* in 1991. So, we thank Japan for the fact that they’re functional beverages or functional foods.

    It’s always been a priority for ITO EN to bring healthy beverages to the forefront. Our five guiding principles have always been natural, healthy, safe, well designed, and delicious. So, whenever we conceptualize and develop products, it has to be within these five principles. And so, we’re excited about our Matcha LOVE ENERGY + line joining our portfolio of green tea beverages and award-winning teas tea organic line, which is known for its clarity and clean finish.

    Our traditional Oi Ocha line, which is very much an authentic green tea taste, refreshing. All green teas have antioxidants, the catechins EGCG and a multitude of vitamins to include the daily vitamin C. So given these times of the global pandemic, where people are thinking and prioritizing their health and immunity, it’s pretty exciting that we’ve been able to introduce this hybrid beverage that not only tastes good but has functional properties.

    *The Japanese scientific academic community defined ‘functional food’ early in the 1980s. That is, functional foods are those that have three functions. The primary function is nutrition. The secondary function is a sensory function or sensory satisfaction. The third is the tertiary function, which is physiological.


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  • Is Tea Divisible?


    Is tea divisible into commodity and specialty categories? Or is tea quality best viewed as a continuum? Should mainstays of the industry rest easy meeting consumer preferences for inexpensive tea while small-volume specialty producers and boutique brands supply the market for premium tea?

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    Shabnam Weber, president of the Tea & Herbal Association of Canada

    White tea drying in the sun in China’s Fujian Province

    Is Tea Divisible?

    In 2009, determined to increase production and grow earnings from tea exports, China’s Ministry of Agriculture observed that “seventy-thousand Chinese tea companies are equal to one Lipton in terms of turnover.” Twelve years later Lipton anchors a $3 billion tea portfolio and parent Unilever annually buys 10% of the world’s tea output, but collectively China’s 80 million tea growers have long since surpassed turnover of even the largest multi-nationals. China has excelled by adding value to its entire range of teas, differentiating premium from everyday tea without defining specialty.

    Joining us today is Shabnam Weber, president of the Tea & Herbal Association of Canada. In 2000 she co-founded the Tea Emporium, a chain of Canadian specialty tea shops. She served as a member of the THAC board for many years before selling her company to lead the association. In this conversation, she represents not only the Canadian tea industry, and is also a spokesperson for the Tea Association of the USA and the Tea and Herbal Infusions Europe, an apex group that in turn represents tea associations in Ireland, the UK, Germany, Spain, France, Austria, The Netherlands, and several other European countries.

    Dan BoltonCan specialty tea be defined or is tea quality best described as a continuum?

    Shabnam Weber – Trying to find a definition for tea is like “trying to nail Jello to a wall.” That’s not my quote, I’m quoting Bill Clinton.  If we all accept that to be an absolute truth, which we seem to agree on, then why are we putting our energy and trying to differentiate, in what appears to be dividing up the industry into good and bad?

    Our objective as an industry should be working together, in order to capture share of throat, from coffee, from water, and from soft drinks. That should be our objective.  So let’s pretend that in some magical world, we actually managed to find a  definition that everybody agrees on. My question is, so then what? What’s going to happen?

    Have we actually converted a single coffee drinker over to tea? Have we converted a water drinker or a soft drink consumer over? We haven’t.

    Have you bettered the life of a single tea producer on this planet? No. And are they going to appoint themselves the tea police, and say, well, you’re specialty, and you’re not specialty?

    Dan: Two weeks ago the European Speciality Tea Association (ESTA) described specialty tea as “attaining tea excellence from bush to cup.” The association cited tea characteristics and supply chain attributes such as transparency and sustainable best practices.

    “Speciality tea can be defined by the quality of the criteria – not the use of the criteria,” wrote ESTA executive director David Veal. ESTA “believes that the degree of excellence that a tea reaches in each of these criteria determines specialty versus commodity,” writes Veal, and that “the very point of defining speciality, is to differentiate it, and so to further distinguish speciality tea from commodity tea.”

    Shabnam: These are the same criteria used by every tea taster in the industry, regardless of the “specialty” or “traditional” label. Traceability is not unique to specialty teas, “Traceability requirements are at the core of food safety laws in place around the world and must be demonstrated as part of regular audits for large retailers as well as certification programs.”

    Although all the above may be part of what defines specialty tea “suggesting they are not a part of “traditional” tea is factually incorrect,” reads a joint press release of the three associations (Canada, US, and Tea and Herbal Infusions Europe).

    Associations are here to represent the industry as a whole. We’re here for the betterment of an entire industry. These conversations make me really uncomfortable. I just don’t see what we as an industry gain from it.

    We don’t.

    Dan: What value additions favorably influence consumer perceptions? What are the characteristics or aspects that make tea more valuable, and therefore more worthy of consumers spending a little more of their pocket change?

    That’s an interesting question because, you know, we can look at it on an analytical level and any tea taster regardless of what part of the industry they’re in, will tell you that value is placed on pluck, on size of the leaf, on seasonality, perhaps depending on where the teas come from, on aroma compounds, on clarity of the liquor on, you know, just overall flavor We can look at it on a very analytical level that way and every person within the industry, regardless of if they’re working in traditional or specialty will agree that there are higher quality products within the industry, you will not find a single person that will object to that.

    On the flip side, when you’re asking, Where does the consumer place value? The consumer places value in all different aspects. We can take a look at the packaging, we can take a look at marketing, we can take a look at how we communicate tea. You will not find an objection from me, when you make the statement that tea is undervalued, it is undervalued. Absolutely.

    As an industry, we need to do better as a whole to improve that message. That comes in communicating to consumers not only why it is good for you, but why it should be part of your lifestyle, your everyday, the way that we’ve seen it in the past year with COVID-19.

    People have been attracted to tea because it makes them feel good.  I practically screamed that from the rooftops when I heard that. Hallelujah. This is a long-term lifestyle change, that people are actually communicating to us beyond, you know, vitamins and antioxidants and all the rest of those good things that are also part of it.

    There are some teas that do set themselves apart, people drink them and it’s a revelation, it’s beautiful.  Where I’m uncomfortable and where we as associations take issue is when we are celebrating that at the expense of something else. When in order for that to be good or great, something else has to be bad.

    Tell me why specialty is good. Tell me your product is a premium pluck, and it’s rare, that it’s only available for this window of time. Tell me about how it was crafted. Tell me about the flavor profiles. Tell me about those things. Because we’re celebrating why this is good.

    There’s a problem when we go down the road of splitting and splintering the industry, it’s dangerous for everyone.

    Dan: Is tea undervalued?

    I think that as an industry, we should together be working on elevating the value of tea for the betterment of every part of the supply chain.

    It is an absolute problem when any retailer is putting a two-cent certified product onto the market. As an industry, we have allowed retail to undervalue our product. It’s happened over years. And the assumption then is that the product is of no value. And that is fundamentally wrong.

    Tea has been undervalued. But that doesn’t mean it has no value. We have to do better. I have to honestly say, and you can quote me on it, shame on us as consumers. Shame on us as retailers in consuming countries that allow that to happen. Because the truth is that tea is of great value.  And to understand the entire supply chain, the work, and dedication it takes to produce ALL tea is to understand that absolute truth.

    * State-supported production dominates, generating almost $80 billion in domestic sales and $2 billion from exports. In 2020 China held a 28.7% share of tea export value globally. In May average export prices rose 15% to $6.41 per kilo year-on-year. China has excelled at adding value along its entire range of teas.


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  • Tea Biz Podcast | Episode 28

    Tea Biz Podcast Logo

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    Hear the Headlines

    | Research Reveals That Children Benefit from Drinking Tea
    | A New Definition for Specialty Tea Gets Refined
    | Unilever’s Tea Brand Divestiture is on Pace

    Seven-minute Tea News Recap
    Tea Price Report
    India Tea Price Watch | Sale 29

    In a significant development this week, the Tea Board of India issued a circular making it mandatory for producers to send at least 50% of their produce to the public auction. Producers that fail to comply face action. Expectedly, producers are not happy.  Read more…

    Features

    Tea Biz this week visits the tea lands from on high where rising temperatures in the atmosphere are causing shifts in the jet stream that alter ocean temperatures, causing an unusual period of extreme weather globally. The results from changes in the climate are visible this summer as heat domes, and drought, slow-moving monsoons and violent typhoons and fast-melting glaciers in the Himalayas….

    … then to England to marvel at the work of British author and photographer Michael Freeman and co-author Timothy d’Offay whose large-format book The Life of Tea: A Journey to the World’s Finest Teas gets a glowing review from Tea Book Club founder Kyle Whittington.

    Children Benefit from Drinking Tea
    Researchers conclude children as young as four years of age benefit from drinking tea

    Children Benefit from Drinking Tea

    By Dan Bolton

    An extensive review of medical research suggests children as early as age 4 benefit from drinking tea.

    In a peer-reviewed paper published in the Nutrition and Food Technology journal, Dr. Pamela Mason identified 60 scientific studies on the health benefits of drinking tea from childhood onward, as reported in The Telegraph of London. Drinking three cups of black tea daily improves cardiovascular health and boosts the body’s immune system, she said.

    Tea also helps combat obesity, stress, aids relaxation, influences brain functions such as alertness and concentration, and is an ideal replacement for sugary drinks.

    Drinking tea daily “could help preserve physical and mental health in childhood, through the teens and adulthood, pregnancy and into old age,” she said.

    Biz Insight – The research, commissioned by the UK’s Tea Advisory Panel, showed that clinical and laboratory studies demonstrate how phenolic compounds in green tea boost nitric oxide levels which lowers blood pressure, and act as antioxidants to reduce inflammation. Tea polyphenols also limit cholesterol absorption in the gut and target receptors which regulate blood cholesterol levels.

    Citation: Mason P, Bond T (2021) Tea and Wellness throughout Life. Nutr Food Technol Open Access 7(1): dx.doi.org/10.16966/2470- 6086.172

    Learn more…

    Photo from The Life of Tea by Michael Freeman and Timothy d’Offay. Photo courtesy Michael Freeman Photography.

    Visual Splendor

    By Kyle Whittington | Tea Book Club

    One of the lovely things about this book is that you don’t feel that you’re rereading information on tea that you’ve read 1,000 times before. Rather, you go on a journey to each tea type, each country, region, artisan or tea house, and along the way, dotted throughout the text like so many villages amongst the tea mountains are these wonderful gems and nuggets of information. There’s so much to learn and absorb both from the pictures and the text in this book. It sits such at an unusual sweet spot where a visually enticing book meets a well-researched and written reference book. Read more…

    Kyle Whittington reviews The Life of Tea, A Journey to the World’s Finest Teas.
    Flooding Nepal Sep 2017
    Flooding in Nepal Tea Growing Region September 2017. Photo by Deepak Kafle.

    Listen to this report

    Tea Threatened by Intemperate Torture

    By Dan Bolton

    The howl of Typhoon In-Fa assailing China, and the monsoons deluging India brought havoc, not relief to parched tea lands this month.

    Record rainfalls in central China’s Henan Province forced the evacuation of 1 million people and swamped or swept away cultivars used to make Xin Yang Mao Jian, a prized green tea. Tea retailers Heytea and Nayuki pledged a combined $1.5 million to a local charity in Zhengzhou for flood control and disaster relief.

    In India, super-heated air from a heat wave that killed thousands — now heavily laden with moisture — traveled north causing flooding. Chiplun in Maharashtra, received 450mm (17.7 inches) of rainfall in a single day on July 22. For comparison, the highest single-day rainfall recorded in the capital, New Delhi, in the last 15 years was 144mm (5.7 inches) in 2016, writes Al Jazeera.

    The Himalayas have been warming for years. Melting ice trapped in 15,000 glaciers is receding at 100 to 200 feet per year, saturating the soil, contributing to landslides and the destruction of two dams in February that killed 200. In Nepal entire villages have been forced to migrate to lower lands to avoid once frozen, now flowing glacial lakes.

    Consider for a moment the leaves that sustain the tea industry.

    Currently the soil under their feet is either soggy and unstable or dry and unyielding. Tea is heat-tolerant up to a point, but growth of new leaves stops at 95o Fahrenheit | 35o centigrade. Insect infestations such as the red mite are now more common. Fungal and bacteria borne diseases are harder for the plants to combat. Leaves of clonal tea bushes cascade to the ground at temperatures above 40o centigrade. Without rain, cells at the core of the trunk contract, no longer able to transport water from the soil. Branches turn brittle, death quickly follows.

    Now, consider China, the world’s largest tea producer.

    In the immediate future leaves basking in the sun benefit, especially in the northern regions where long winters and frost limit yields.

    In a March 2021 article in the journal Environmental Research Letters, researchers conclude that both heat and cold extremes were associated with significantly reduced tea yields.

    “In the present climate, dominating cold extremes influence more than half of China’s tea production, with a maximum of 56% reduced annual production… Climate warming may diminish the negative impacts of cold extremes, they write. However, reduced yields in regions subject to intensified heat extremes will emerge. In the colder regions dry roots withstand frost better than wet — but sustained heat is fatal. In a country that produces billions of kilos of tea, losses are estimated from 14%–26% at the Yangtze River and in southern China regions.

    The authors write that “Increasing heat extremes pose the most challenging changes for tea production in China. We expect up to 11%–24% heat-induced yield loss in Chongqing, Hunan, Anhui, and Zhejiang.

    China accounts for 41% of global production, India contributes 21% and Kenya 8%. All three are impacted. A decline in yield of this magnitude would make quality tea scarce and while quantities will be sufficient to meet domestic needs little will be left for export. A quality declines, consumer tastes will shift to competing beverages.

    Tea is one of the most important cash crops in developing countries, and as a result — tea cultivation is of considerable socio-economic importance for the alleviation of rural poverty. In China, about 80 million people are employed in the production of tea. Smallholders who contribute more than half the volume of tea grown in India and Kenya will be unable to irrigate or relocate to higher, cooler elevations. The World Bank has warned that climate change could sharply diminish living conditions for up to 800 million of those living in South Asia.

    Effects of Extreme Temperature on China’s Tea Production
    Citation: Yulin Yan1, Sujong Jeong7,2, Chang-Eui Park2, Nathaniel D Mueller 3,4, Shilong Piao5, Hoonyoung Park2, Jaewon Joo2, Xing Chen2, Xuhui Wang5, Junguo Liu6Show full author list Published 30 March 2021 • © 2021 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd Environmental Research Letters, Volume 16, Number 4 Citation Yulin Yan et al 2021 Environ. Res. Lett. 16 044040


    Speciality Tea Definition Refined

    By Dan Bolton

    Tea Associations in the US, Europe, and Canada responded this week with concerns about the European Speciality Tea Association’s definition of specialty tea. The Tea & Herbal Association of Canada, the Tea Association of the USA, and Tea & Herbal Infusions Europe issued a joint statement expressing “concern” with the language ESTA used to differentiate specialty tea from traditional tea.

    Criteria cited in the ESTA definition includes tea’s physical and sensory characteristics and a requirement that it be traceable through details such as location, pluck date, processing facility.

    These are the same criteria used by every tea taster in the industry, regardless of “specialty” or “traditional” label, reads the joint press release.

    The release points out that traceability is not unique to specialty teas, “Traceability requirements are at the core of food safety laws in place around the world and must be demonstrated as part of regular audits for large retailers as well as certification programs.”

    Although all the above may be part of what defines specialty tea “suggesting they are not a part of “traditional” tea is factually incorrect,” reads the release.

    In reply, David Veal, executive director of the European Speciality Tea Association writes that “We note the concerns about the language of differentiation between speciality and other teas, but that is the very point of defining speciality, to differentiate it, and so to further distinguish speciality tea from commodity tea we place emphasis on attaining tea excellence from bush to cup. Speciality tea can be defined by the quality of the criteria – not the use of the criteria. ESTA believes that the degree of excellence that a tea reaches in each of these criteria determines specialty versus commodity,” writes Veal.

    The joint release states that the signatories “take great pride in our collective approach of inclusion… our members include all parts of the supply chain operating in what is commonly referred to as the “traditional” tea industry as well as the “speciality” tea industry.

    Since the release of our definition, we have received very positive responses from small farmers and consumers… and we believe that we are moving in the right direction for the benefit of the speciality tea market, writes Veal.

    “We welcome all feedback and hope to be able to continue discourse directly with all parties who are interested in promoting speciality tea,” he added.

    Biz Insight – In an updated post on the Tea Biz blog, ESTA continues to refine its  definition with an explanation by ESTA president Nigel Melican of the term hand-crafted and the role of machinery in making specialty tea.

    Learn more…

    Unilever Tea Brand Divestiture on Pace

    During a July 22 earnings call Unilever CEO Alan W. Jope told investors that “the operational separation of our tea business is now substantially complete” but he did not offer a timeline for the divestiture.

    He said the company has created “an attractive standalone business with dedicated leadership. We’re very pleased with the progress we’ve made on the complex separation… we’ve filled 3,500 vacancies around the world, we’ve established the sales organizations in our largest markets. We will start to engage externally very shortly to execute on outcome, and this could be through an IPO, through a sale, or partnership,”? said Jope. 

    The company intends to divest a sizeable portion of its tea business including the Tazo, Pukka Herbs and T2 brands.

    – Dan Bolton

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  • Tea Biz Podcast | Episode 27

    Tea Biz Podcast Logo

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    Hear the Headlines

    | New Criteria Proposed for Differentiating Specialty Tea
    | Walmart Tea is now 100% Certified by Rainforest Alliance
    | Kenya Sets KTDA Tea Auction Price Minimums

    Seven-minute Tea News Recap
    Tea Price Report
    India Tea Price Watch | July 17

    Assam’s new state government continues to woo the tea industry with new schemes, the latest is that workers on tea gardens will be included in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which will benefit them in winter when the gardens are not producing tea.  Read more…

    Features

    Tea Biz this week travels to London for a chat with David Veal, Executive Director of the European Speciality Tea Association. Veal describes the association’s new perspective and new definition of what makes specialty tea special.

    … and then to northern India where Aravinda Anantharaman visits a tea café with heart.

    David Veal, executive director, European Speciality Tea Association

    Differentiating Specialty Tea

    By Dan Bolton

    A rigid definition of what makes tea special has eluded the industry. Professionals understand excellence in specific styles. After 45 years of competitions there is consensus on the qualities that make an outstanding Dong Ding oolong as judged by the Lugu Tea Farmers’ Association in Taiwan. In France, the AVPA has demonstrated skill in determining the gastronomic qualities in tea that please the local palate. The International Specialty Tea Association posts a set of universal standards such as pluck and leaf quality. Consumers mainly differentiate by price.

    The European Speciality Tea Association recently announced a definition that is more aspirational than dogmatic. ESTA Executive Director David Veal explains how the association adopted this approach and why it will prove helpful. 

    Read more…

    David Veal on what makes specialty tea special.
    Staff at the La Gravitea café L to R, in the front, Suraj Thakur, Chandra Prabha, Nandita. In the middle, Monika Mahato, Amit Kumar Singh, Amit Lahari. Back row, Shakuntala Hansda, Nikit Sharma and Navin Kumar

    For the Love of Tea

    By Aravinda Anantharaman

    La Gravitea café is a remarkable tea café with hundreds of selections of fine teas inspired by the travels of founder Avinash Dugar but aside from specialty teas, what make La Gravitea special is that the young staff are hard-working graduates of the local school for the hearing-impaired. Learn more…

    Aravinda Anantharaman takes a virtual tour of the La Gravitea cafe

    A New Definition of Specialty Tea

    By Dan Bolton

    The European Speciality Tea Association this week presented a comprehensive new definition of specialty tea. The 450-word definition seeks to “encapsulate the spirit of speciality tea” writes ESTA president Nigel Melican. The essence is that those involved in producing specialty tea “aspire to attain excellence from bush to cup” says Melican. Four aspects cited in the definition seek to differentiate speciality tea from commodity.

    These include transparency that makes know the supplier, location, production dates, and processing method; Physical characteristics such as size, shape, and appearance of the wet and dry leaf; sensory properties including color, clarity, flavor, aroma and mouthfeel; and the mitigation of environmental impacts including support for biodegradable packaging.

    The definition describes specialty teas as “hand-made.”

    The effort involved stakeholders at every level, but the messaging is directed to consumers.

    “We believe that the consumer needs to be inspired from the moment they enjoy the aroma, liquor, and taste of the tea and celebrate in the plant’s personality, the origin of the tea, the care that has been taken in the processing and brewing of it; this being a speciality moment,” reads the association announcement.

    See the definition and supporting documents at www.specialityteaeurope.com

    Biz Insight – Forty years ago consumers in the US and Europe tossed aside 25-cent cups of stale, anonymous, percolated, and warmed-over drip brew in favor of carefully selected, roasted, and barista-prepared single-origin coffee and specialty blends.  The additional billions spent on $4 espresso drinks and premium beans revitalized the industry.

    Will the same be true for specialty tea? David Veal, executive director of the European Speciality Tea Association, discusses the reasoning behind the new definition in this interview.

    David Veal on what makes specialty tea special.
    Walmart Tea now 100% Rainforest Alliance Certified Sustainable

    Walmart Tea is Certified by Rainforest Alliance

    By Dan Bolton

    Walmart announced this week that all its Great Value Brand black and green teas will be 100% certified sustainable by the Rainforest Alliance.

    “This is good news not just for Walmart, but also for farmers, and the future of tea,” writes Silvia Azrai [AZ RAY] Kawas, Walmart vp of Private Brands Food. She explained that Rainforest Alliance helps ensure that three pillars of sustainability are met: social, environmental and economic.

    “Our Great Value Brand black and green teas will remain affordable, high-quality drinks, with an added bonus: Each box you buy makes a measurable impact on the life of a smallholder farmer,” according to the company.

    Biz Insight – In 2007 when Unilever, the world’s largest tea supplier, committed to Rainforest Certification at Kericho, Kenya it signaled to commodity suppliers that to remain competitive they needed to invest in environmentally-friendly cultivation at origin. A consumer-driven embrace of sustainable processing, packaging, and waste reduction soon unfolded, making the entire supply chain more efficient. In 2016 Walmart committed to sustainably source 20 commodities by 2025 including tea. Now Walmart, the world’s largest tea retailer, has extended that commitment to the terminus of the supply chain.

    Kenya Sets Tea Auction Price Minimums

    The Kenyan government withdrew tea valued at 1 billion Kenyan shillings (about $9 million in US dollars) at the Mombasa Auction because prices failed to meet a controversial $2.43 per kilo minimum reserve price. 

    “We made a drastic but necessary decision with regard to sale of teas at the Mombasa tea auction,” Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya told the local press.

    He said the government has plenty of storage capacity and will continue withdrawing tea if prices do not meet the minimum rate.

    The decision angered traders who simply purchased tea on offer from other African countries leaving 8 million kilos of Kenyan tea idled in local warehouses. A spokesman for the East African Tea Traders Association said that when sellers set prices for themselves, instead of relying on free market fluctuations, there is “no guarantee that buyers will follow that lead.” Production far outstrips demand and as such, prices have taken a hit. This is not an auction problem,” said EATTA’s managing director Edward Mudibo.

    Secretary Munya said the government is determined raise the price at auction. “We believe we can sustain the situation as we have enough reserves,” he told Citizen TV.

    Biz Insight – It is unclear in this face-off whether tea traders or the Kenyan government will be the first to blink. Nine tea producing countries sell their tea at the Mombasa auction and independent producers are free to ignore the Kenya Tea Development Agency reserve price, but none can rival output of 620,000 smallholders supplying KTDA’s 54 factories.

    Traders must also weigh the fact that tea exports are down from India, a bidding rival. The Sri Lanka auction at Colombo has sufficient volume of tea but prices, at an average $3.97 per kilo for low-grown tea, are significantly higher than the recent 5- and 10-year lows seen in Mombasa. Tea prices at the Mombasa auction have averaged $1.80 per kilo so far this year, dipping to $1.65 per kilo, significantly below the estimated $2 per kilo cost of production.

    – Dan Bolton

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  • Defining Specialty Tea


    A rigid definition of what makes tea special has eluded the industry. Professionals understand excellence in specific styles. For example, after 45 years of competitions there is consensus on the qualities that make an outstanding dong ding oolong as judged by the Lugu Tea Farmers’ Association in Taiwan. In France, the AVPA has demonstrated skill in determining the gastronomic qualities in tea that please the local palate. The International Specialty Tea Association posts a set of universal standards such as pluck and leaf quality. Consumers mainly differentiate by price. This week the European Speciality Tea Association announced a definition that is more aspirational than dogmatic. ESTA Executive Director David Veal explains how the association adopted this approach and why it will prove helpful.

    David Veal, Executive Director of the European Speciality Tea Association on what makes specialty tea special.

    A field of tea in Japan

    A New Definition of Specialty Tea

    Aspiring to attain excellence in all aspects of tea processing and brewing from the bush to the cup

    Dan Bolton – David, the European Tea Society that evolved into the European Speciality Tea Association did so initially without delineating specialty tea from the great sea of commodity offerings. That task is now complete. Will you share with listeners your process in defining the specialty tea segment?

    David Veal – Three years ago, we didn’t really have a definition. [Association President] Nigel Melican had this definition in his head, but he’d never really put it down on paper. I’d been through the whole journey with the specialty coffee association of Europe. So, between us, we just lay down a fairly short definition that was open to people with different views in the industry to disagree.

    We decided early on this year to set up a working group of very experienced tea professionals to really look at it and we covered a lot of ground.

    Our starting point was to ask: Are we ever, ever, going to get a universally agreed definition of specialty which everybody will agree with? The answer, of course, is no, we weren’t going to do that. So, knowing that we weren’t going to achieve perfection, we looked at it from a different angle.

    We still call it a definition because that has impact, but really it’s more of a description, an attempt to broaden understanding a bit and bring in words and descriptions and ideas and concepts that most people in the industry would buy into – knowing that not everybody would be happy with every part of it.

    Dan – Will you summarize for listeners the fundamental concepts captured in the definition’s key phrase: “Aspiring to excellence in all aspects of tea processing and brewing from the bush the cup.”

    David – We came up with a general statement that we feel is a fairly holistic view, about speciality in terms of it being a product, in terms of it being, you know the passion for excellence, the taking care at every step. Also, not forgetting the most important part is the actual sensory experience in the cup. It speaks to the education that we’ve indulged in to try and help the consumer understand more about what they’re drinking.

    That indefinable subjectivity, the conceptual side of it, the community side of it, the aspirational side with the point that it is a movement as well. Speciality tea is something that some people get, and some people don’t get.

    Merging all of this together we came up with a description that we feel will never be perfect for everybody, but it’s fairly close.

    Dan – How will this definition make a difference?

    David – Is it enforceable? No, but we’ve very firmly nailed our colors to the mast here. This isn’t just the work of the working group, it’s been endorsed by the whole of the board of European specialists, the association, and other peers as well. If you look at those parameters that we’ve actually put into the definition. A speciality tea would have to fit into all of those, for most people, I believe, speciality would have to fit into those parameters. But a tea that fits into those parameters isn’t necessarily a speciality.

    Dan – Will you expand on the definition’s reference to “delicate and unique hand-crafted teas which can be categorized as speciality tea”? How does “hand-crafted” differ from “handmade” tea? Please also clarify the role of machines in processing specialty teas.

    Nigel Melican [Association President] – “Hand-made” is an oft used descriptor more aspirational than actual,  If it is applied in a strictly literal sense it potentially allows the inclusion of an appallingly bad tea made solely by hand while excluding a superb machine-made tea. 

    Personally, I have worked with a few CTC (cut, tear, curl) teas that I include as “Specialty” – due to their stunning make, bloom, grade, consistency, density – stunning to the senses even before cupping them: Rare occasional examples from a few factories in Rwanda and Mt. Kenya. Stunning enough to run shivers down my back in anticipation: but definitely not hand-made – no hand alone could produce that degree of excellence in a CTC tea.  Tell me that an expensive “hand-made” Swiss watch is made without machinery – lathes, diamond drills and saws, precision jigs, CNC cutting equipment – and then I will agree to exclude machinery from the “hand-making” of tea.

    Similarly, the use of novel selective plucking machinery that exceeds the leaf quality of hand plucking, such as now operating in the US to produce some supreme specialty teas would, if we use the term “hand made” too literally, exclude this excellent mechanically plucked teas from the specialty tea market.

    I believe handmade is well understood by consumers to mean hand-crafted, using relevant tools of the trade: to the watchmaker his lathe and drill – to a tea maker his rolling machine and dryer.  If the result is supreme excellence then it counts as a specialty, however, achieved. 

    For all these reasons the ESTA definition uses the term hand-crafted, not hand-made – and, to further distinguish specialty tea from commodity tea we place emphasis on attaining tea excellence from bush to cup.

    Dan – The coffee industry successfully arrived at a definition of specialty leading to consumer enthusiasm that ultimately benefitted growers, but it took more than 20 years to establish the protocols that differentiate the highest quality coffees from commodity coffee.

    David – I think we’re quite a long way behind the curve compared with the coffee industry. We haven’t achieved the penetration of education and level of understanding to consumers that the coffee industry does. People don’t have the correct understanding to be able to value atea as well as they do coffee nowadays. But it will follow without a doubt.

    We don’t mention pricing. It’s inherent in what we believe that if we can help improve the quality that’s coming into consuming countries of specialty, then prices will go up. And hopefully, a lot of that extra margin will go back down the line to give people a better living and a better reward for putting in their love, care, passion, hard work, sweat, perspiration to make better tea.

    We know that we’re up against the big, big guys, the multi-nationals, the centuries-old economic model, that drives the price down, and therefore quality with it. You have to believe that if you improve the quality and give the consumer a better experience that will give the producer a better price. We’re also aware speciality will be 5% to 10% to the market, maximum, maximum. But as it improves we’ll pull along other parts of the industry.

    I had a really good conversation with a well-respected, experienced person who worked for so many of the big companies over here. He told me the other day that he believes that specialty will be the savior of the tea industry. As you can imagine, I quite like hearing that.

    Related: Is Tea Divisible?

    Editor’s note: Updated to clarify the use of mechanical devices in producing specialty tea.

    The Definition

    European Speciality Tea Association (ESTA) values the science and art of tea making at every level. We value the skill, dedication and care which has been applied to create delicate and unique hand-crafted teas which can be categorized as speciality tea.

    We support the speciality tea industry in all aspects of tea production from bush to cup and recognise the farmers who are aspiring to attain excellence.

    We also value the following factors which we believe help contribute to being able to distinguish speciality teas from commodity teas. These can include but are not limited to:

    The known supplier, the known farm, the known location, the known production dates, the known processing method.

    Speciality tea can also be defined by the quality of the five criteria below:

    1. The dry leaf
    2. The aroma of the dry leaf
    3. The colour and clarity of the liquor
    4. The flavour and mouthfeel of the liquor
    5. The appearance and aroma of the wet leaf

    At ESTA we also support the use of biodegradable and environmentally friendly packaging because this is an integral part of the tea industry’s future.

    We believe that the consumer needs to be inspired from the moment they enjoy the aroma, liquor and taste of the tea and can celebrate in the plant’s personality, the origin of the tea, the care that has been taken in the processing and brewing of it; this being a speciality moment.

    European Speciality Tea Association joins in growing an inspirational community, supporting the movement which promotes speciality tea and improving the quality of tea consumed. Speciality tea exists through the dedication of people at all levels of the tea value chain. We respect and support the person plucking the leaves, the person producing the tea to the consumer brewing the tea. Each person who touches the tea until it is finally sipped can affect the final cup and our aim is to support this and share knowledge that will improve the tea industry.

    European Specialty Tea Association strives to value, support and promote the people who have this dedication and who are involved and passionate in providing perfection in every cup.

    We value all of the above when considering what is speciality tea and we welcome like-minded people and or affiliates to join us in our quest for tea excellence at every level.

    In summary ESTA supports and promotes speciality tea (Camellia sinensis), the community and the movement. We also support the botanical sector as an inclusive part of our organization due to its extensive synergy within the tea industry and with tea lovers and professionals.

    We are a dynamic organization, we are aspirational for speciality tea, and we aim to have a positive impact on the wellbeing of all sectors of the tea industry. 

    The European Speciality Tea Association

    European Speciality Tea Association is an inclusive organisation whose mission is to create and inspire excellence in the speciality tea community through innovation, research, education and communication.

    With members from over 28 countries representing all parts of the tea supply chain from producers to tea baristas, European Speciality Tea Association is helping to generate a vibrant speciality tea community across the world and is dedicated to promoting great quality tea in all of its forms to create a new sensory excitement amongst tea drinkers. You can join by emailing us at [email protected]

    David Veal


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