• Per Capita Tea Consumption Rises to 800 Grams

    Tea News for the week ending September 30

    In London, the International Tea Committee revises the per capita benchmark globally to an average of 800 grams, noting a 113% increase in tea consumption during the past 20 years.

    | Parcel Carriers Hike Rates as Delivery Demand Declines
    | Tea Drinkers Experience Lower Risk of Diabetes

    | PLUS Meet Padmanabhan Subramaniam, a remarkable tea farmer from the Nilgiris whose Facebook series “Knowledge Sharing is Caring” showcases farmers’ successes and achievements. Listen to the interview

    Caption: ITC Chairman Ian Gibbs presents new benchmark at the North American Tea Conference on Sept. 27.

    Hear the Headlines

    Seven-Minute Tea News Recap

  • FAO Report: Sustainable Ag Stalled

    Tea News for the week ending September 23

    Sustainability remains a priority and is trending, but the implementation of the UN FAO’s Agriculture goals has been greatly hampered by war, COVID-19, and climate change

    | Tea Relief for Pakistan
    | MK Shah Exports vs. Outsider in Bidding Contest for McLeod Russel India
    | PLUS PLUS Jami Lewchik discusses TAZO’s long-term ambition to transform its products and the brand’s entire business operations into a regenerative approach.
    Listen to the interview

    Caption: Jami Lewchik, Head of TAZO and Portfolio Sustainability, eketerra Americas

    Hear the Headlines

    Seven-Minute Tea News Recap

  • Stubborn Inflation Nudges US Economy Toward Cliff

    Tea News for the week ending September 16

    Tea brands should brace for a downturn as core inflation increased this month, undermining consumer confidence.

    | Starbucks Announces a Retail Renaissance
    | Orthodox Tea Exports Fall Short of Demand
    | PLUS Hayleys MD Roshan Rajadurai discusses how Sri Lankan plantations adapted and continue to produce tea during the country’s worst economic crisis.
    Listen to the interview

    Caption: At left, Dr. Roshan Rajadurai, managing director Hayleys, agents for Kelani Valley, Tallawakelle, and Horona plantations, sits with Tea Biz correspondent Dananjaya Silva, MD PMD Tea.

    Hear the Headlines

    Seven-Minute Tea News Recap

  • Need to Know News

    Tea News for the week ending July 22

    | Indian Tea Exports to the Russian Federation in April were up 19%
    | Reinvention is Routine at Starbucks
    | South Africa Rooibos Industry Makes First Payout to Indigenous Communities
    | PLUS Niraj de Mel, Sri Lanka’s newly appointed tea board chair, is rallying tea stakeholders in the face of formidable challenges.

    Caption: Sri Lanka Tea Board Chair Niraj de Mel

    Hear the Headlines

    Hear the Headlines | Seven-Minute Tea News Recap
  • Oprah Chai Tea

    SLIDES-INNO-Oprah-Schultz
    By Peggy Watt

    Starbucks has underscored Teavana’s role in the company by teaming with chai-loving icon Oprah Winfrey, who arrived to cheers at Starbucks’ annual shareholders meeting in Seattle March 19 to introduce Teavana Oprah Chai, a custom blend arriving in Teavana and Starbucks stores next month.

    A year and a half after Starbucks bought Teavana, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is still touting the company’s commitment to tea – “the $90 billion global tea market,” as he told the shareholders several times.

    “We’re going to do in the long term for tea what we have done for coffee,” Schultz said, noting that he sought a like-minded partner to promote Starbucks’ refocus on tea.

    Starbucks StageThe introduction of Oprah Chai is not only promoting a love of tea, but also reinforces Starbucks’ charitable efforts. (At its annual meeting Schultz emphasized its recent support for veterans’ groups and hiring veterans and veterans’ families.) Because Winfrey is also known for her charitable work, sales of Teavana Oprah Chai will benefit the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation, which supports education programs for youth. For every two ounces sold, $1 goes to the charity.

    The blend goes on sale April 29 in Teavana and Starbucks stores in the U.S. and Canada. It is described as an infusion of cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and cloves, blended with loose-leaf black tea and rooibos. Winfrey developed the blend with Teavana teaologist Naoko Tsunoda.

    Baristas at the meeting offered samples of sweetened and unsweetened varieties to good reception, even for this generally coffee-focused crowd. (Starbucks annual meetings are appreciated for their generous spread of coffees and bakery items – which this year were all from La Boulange, which Starbucks acquired a year ago).
    Winfrey and Schultz settled into overstuffed chairs on stage to discuss their deal.

    Schultz related that he had observed Winfrey drinking tea at a wedding they both attended. “You didn’t think much of the brand,” she reminded him wryly. He didn’t, and so he sent a sampling of Teavana Chai to her hotel room, which began a conversation that led to her designing Teavana Oprah Chai with the Teavana development team.

    “Starbucks is not just a coffee company. It’s about nurturing the human spirit,” Winfrey said. “And that has been my goal in life. This felt like something I really loved and I really cared about and that would be fun to do.” She said she is a longtime chai drinker and welcomed the opportunity to develop her own blend. Teavana Oprah Chai will be served to guests on “Steep your Soul,” a new segment on the OWN Super Soul Sunday show, when guests share their recharge rituals. “I offer them my chai, and they take it whether they like it or not,” Winfrey declared.

    Schultz referenced both the common ground of commitments to social causes and having gone through difficult times as businesses. Headlines flashed on the display at the shareholders meeting referenced both lucrative times for Starbucks and the rocky start of the OWN cable network. He said he sought a partner who “loves tea” and “is committed to giving back.”

    Oprah ChaiThe packaging is distinctive, too: the canister is an attractive light olive tone with copper lid. The clever box design has an orange base but that same olive-green lid, short enough to show the orange base.

    Teavana Oprah Chai will also be featured in a new store design, Teavana Fine Tea + Tea Bars, open now in Seattle and New York and scheduled to open 20 additional locations in the coming year including Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City.

    View the Starbucks product release press announcement here.

    For past Tea Biz reports on Teavana/Starbucks, see Oct. 2013 First Look at Teavana Fine Tea Bar (Oct. 2013), Teavana Update (Feb. 2014), and Teavana Founder Andy Mack Leaves Starbucks (Feb. 2014)

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