• The Confederation of Tea Smallholders Will Relocate to India | Iran Tea Imports Plunge by 62% | Economists Describe Stable Soft Commodity Prices in 2024

    The UN FAO IGG Confederation of Tea Smallholders Will Relocate its Headquarters from China to India for the Next Four Years | Iran Tea Imports Plunge by 62% | Economists Forecast Higher but Stable Prices for Beverage Soft Commodities in 2024

    Tea News for the week ending February 9, 2024
    Hear the Headlines | Seven-Minute Tea News Recap
    India Tea News | Aravinda Anantharaman

    Delegates from 44 countries (and 14 official observers) who attended The 25th Session of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s Intergovernmental Group on Tea (IGG Tea) on Jan. 31 expanded the organization’s mandate beyond trade aspects, ratifying initiatives addressing all three dimensions of sustainability – economic, social, and environmental. Peter Goggi, IGG TEA delegate representing the US as President of the Tea Association of the USA, discusses #TeaPower, a new health and wellness campaign, FAO’s ongoing support of smallholders, and the economics of oversupply.

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    Peter Goggi, IGG TEA delegate representing the US as President of the Tea Association of the USA

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    UN FAO IGG Confederation of Tea Smallholders
    UN FAO IGG TEA Confederation of Tea Smallholders

    UN FAO IGG Confederation of Tea Smallholders Relocates to India


    By Dan Bolton

    The headquarters and staff of the Confederation of International Tea Smallholders (CITS) will relocate from China to India for the next four years. Delegates to the 25th Session of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s Intergovernmental Group on Tea (IGG Tea) ratified the decision during their recently concluded three-day session in Guwahati.
    According to IGG Tea, smallholders hold a position of growing importance in the tea sector, where they cultivate 70% of the global acreage under tea. Smallholders pluck 60% of raw tea leaves and produce a sizeable amount of finished tea.

    The announcement notes: “Their vitality and integral role within the tea supply chain cannot be overstated. Solving this sector’s issues is essential for the long-term viability and health of the tea industry, not to mention the farmers and their communities themselves.”

    IGG delegates, one each from 44 producing countries and non-voting officials from 14 countries, praised the Government of India and the Assam government for their significant investment in the development of the small tea growers’ sector, citing the dedicated research and development work at the Tocklai Tea Research Center in Jorhat.

    The federation (CITS) was established in May 2016 by delegates to the 22nd Session of FAO IGG on Tea meeting in Naivasha, Kenya. The federation was envisioned as “a forum for developing policies and solutions to strengthen the global tea smallholder sector by acting as a convener, catalyst, and resource to improve the consistency of tea policymaking on a global level.”

    BIZ INSIGHT – Joydeep Phukan, Secretary of the Tea Research Association at Tocklai and Coordinator of the FAO IGG on Tea for India, told Tea Biz’s Roopak Goswami that “Moving CITS to India will synergize the efforts of federal and state governments as well as the Tea Board of India in bringing the global best practices to small tea growers of India.”

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  • Lunar New Year Boosts Tea Consumption | Nepal Recovers from Currency Crisis | Pakistan’s Tea Imports (Legal and Smuggled) Climb

    Lunar New Year Will Boost Consumption and Tea Travel | Nepal Recovers from Foreign Currency Crisis | Pakistan’s Legal and Smuggled Tea Imports Climb

    Tea News for the week ending February 2, 2024
    Hear the Headlines | Seven-Minute Tea News Recap
    India Tea News | Aravinda Anantharaman

    The Toronto Tea Festival concluded on January 28, marking a turning point in 2024 as the crowd surged from a low of 2,600 in February 2020 to 4,000 attendees – a 25% increase from previous highs. Joining us today to discuss the changing dynamics is Tao Wu, co-founder of Tao Tea Leaf and one of the festival’s key organizers… but first, let’s listen to the excitement ON THE FLOOR at the weekend event.

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    On the Floor at the Toronto Tea Festival | Tao Wu, festival co-founder

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    Lunar New Year
    Lunar New Year is Feb. 10-17

    Lunar New Year to Boost Consumption and Tea Travel


    The New Year that begins Saturday will bring renewed vigor to China’s tea economy as travel experts predict strong sales during the extra-long holiday.
    “A year after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted in China, the eight-day Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday is expected to see a major surge in travel and consumption as people head home for family reunions or set off for a week of travel and tourism,” writes China Briefing.

    Last year, Chinese border control agencies recorded 5.2 million inbound and outbound transits, a 4.7-fold increase approaching pre-pandemic totals. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism reported 135 million domestic trips. This is roughly in line with the figure seen during the holiday in 2019, according to the administration.

    East Asian cultures celebrating the holiday include Koreans, Vietnamese, Tibetans, and Chinese. The Chinese New Year falls on Saturday, February 10, 2024, beginning the Year of the Dragon—the Wood Dragon.

    The 2024 Spring Festival Holiday Travel Forecast Report, jointly compiled by Baidu Maps and the Highway Science Research Institute of the Ministry of Transport (MOT), forecasts that travel volume over the 2024 holiday will exceed last year by more than 40%, with the busiest day of travel being on the last day of the holiday (February 17) as everyone returns home (departures are more staggered).

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  • India Tea News: Guwahati Hosts BATIC 2024 to Celebrate 200 Years of Assam Tea | Artisanal Assamese Tea Farmer Maddhurjya Gogoi Passes Away

    By Aravinda Anantharaman | Managing Editor

    India Tea News for the week ending 2nd Feb 2024
    India Tea News | Aravinda Anantharaman
    BATIC 2024 | Assam Bi-Centenary Celebration

    Assam Celebrates 200 Years of Tea

    Ahead of the Intergovernmental Group on Tea’s meeting in Guwahati, Assam, the Tea Research Association hosted a 2-day Bicentenary Assam Tea International Conference as part of the bicentennial celebrations of the Assam tea industry. It took place on the 29th and 30th at the Radisson Blu, Guwahati, and saw close to 400 people from the industry, including guests from the global tea industry representing 25 countries, in attendance. While it was an event that brought people from the tea trade under one roof, there was also a series of discussions on current preoccupations in tea, including regenerative agriculture, marketing Indian tea, the small tea grower segment, and new technologies and innovations in tea. Keynote speakers were James Grayland of Wanlin Teahouse, Shanghai, and Nitin Saluja of Chaayos.


    In Memoriam: Maddhurjya Gogoi, tea farmer

    Tea Farmer Maddhurjya Gogoi,46, passed away suddenly on 31st January 2024 after suffering a cerebral stroke. Maddhurjya was a pioneer in the artisanal tea sector in Assam, running Assam Teehaus, a direct-to-market brand of craft tea. His teas have earned rave reviews across the world. Maddhurjya’s contribution to Assam tea is significant, as is his relentless pursuit of organic specialty tea making. Maddhurjya is survived by his mother and two young children.


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      India Tea News: Guwahati Hosts BATIC 2024 to Celebrate 200 Years of Assam Tea | Artisanal Assamese Tea Farmer Maddhurjya Gogoi Passes Away | Ep 153 |
  • UN Plans Global #TeaPower Promotion | Tea Advice Taken with a Grain of Salt | China Reports Tea Exports Declined in 2023

    UN #TeaPower Promotion Targets Younger Generations | Tea Advice Taken with a Grain of Salt | China Reports Tea Exports Declined in 2023

    Tea News for the week ending January 26, 2024
    Hear the Headlines | Seven-Minute Tea News Recap
    India Tea News | Aravinda Anantharaman

    The Toronto Tea Festival is celebrating its 10th anniversary this weekend. The Tea Guild of Canada and Tao Tea Leaf are co-founders and sponsors of the event. Organizers expect a big crowd to attend educational presentations, cultural demonstrations, and competitions, and there will be products on display from 50 tea vendors, large and small. Rita Fong helped organize the inaugural event. She is a director and manages social media and marketing of what is now the largest tea festival in Canada. She joins us on the Tea Biz Podcast to share insights on this event’s staying power and growing popularity.

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    Toronto Tea Festival Social Media and Marketing Director Rita Fong

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    UN FAO Tea Power
    UN FAO Promotes #TeaPower

    #TeaPower Marketing Campaign Targets Young Tea Drinkers

    By Roopak Goswami
    The Food and Agricultural Organisation’s Intergovernmental Group (FAO IGG) on Tea will launch a global health-focused promotional campaign targeting younger consumers looking for an alternative to sugary drinks.

    “There has been a global increase in consumer awareness of a healthy lifestyle, and dietary habits are changing in response to known linkages between diet and health. However, many campaigns are focused on health benefits that address the concerns of older generations,” the UN agency on tea said in a background paper on Tea and Health, slated for discussion at the 25th session of FAO IGG.

    Ajay Jalan, former president of the Tea Association of India, said, “In current times, health and wellness have become central factors in consumer choices, offering a unique opportunity for the tea industry to tap into new consumer markets, especially among Gen Z and millennials.”
    Tea Biz correspondent Roopak Goswami writes that the gathering provides a forum for intergovernmental consultation and exchange on trends in production, consumption, trade, and the price of tea, including a regular appraisal of the global market situation and short-term outlook.

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  • World Tea Expo Announces Tea Tycoon Competitors and “Best of Award” Finalists

    Expo "Best of Awards" Named
    World Tea Conference + Expo “Best of Awards” Named

    Tea News for the week ending March 10

    World Tea Conference + Expo Announces “Best of” Award Finalists

    | Pakistan is Willing to Barter Rice for Kenyan Tea
    | Teaware Manufacturers Adopt Consumer to Manufacturer (C2M) Business Model Pioneered by Fast-Fashion
    | Study Suggests an EGCG-based Therapy for Treating Alzheimer’s 

    | PLUS Entrepreneurs Three-Minute Meditation with Tea

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    Seven-minute Tea News Recap
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