Tea Biz

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Thirst Quenching Cold Brewed Teas are Steaming Along | Consumers favor boldly flavored, non-sweetened blends | Kenya’s Costly Tea Crisis | India Tea Association Lists Tea Industry's Most Pressing Concerns | GUEST – Romesh Walpola , Chief Executive Officer of Tea Smallholder Factories, a Division of John Keells Group, Sri Lanka | FEATURE INTRO – This week’s guest is Romesh...

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Tea is Experiencing a Melancholy Midyear | Yields are down across the tea lands | China Exports Continue to Expand | Demand for Darjeeling is Down | FEATURE INTRO – Tea Biz traveled to Badulla, Sri Lanka, in early May to participate in a spring harvest ceremony with hundreds of local tea growers. Each carried a ceremonial plate with intricately arranged tea leaves or a small s...

HEAR THE HEADLINES –  Violent Protest Halt Ekaterra Tea Operations | Workers set fire to tea harvesting equipment | China Anticipating Massive COVID Wave | India’s Wagh Bakri Tea to Expand to 200 Tea Lounges by 2026  | NEWSMAKER –  Asia Siyaka Managing Director and CEO Anil Cooke  | FEATURE INTRO –  The world’s 14 public tea auctions account for 77% of global trade. Each year about 1.5 million met...

HEAR THE HEADLINES – International Tea Day Makes a Big Splash | This year’s theme is Bringing People Together Over a Cup of Tea | Receding La Niña Expected to Boost Summer Temps | Catchy TV Campaign Promotes Lipton’s New Hard Tea | NEWSMAKER – Nadia de la Vega, Director of Tea Sustainability and Content at DAVIDsTEA | FEATURE INTRO – Tea Biz travels to Montréal, Quebec, to talk with Nadia de la Ve...

HEAR THE HEADLINES – The Cost of Shipping Tea is Near the Pre-Pandemic Normal and Falling | In May, the Drewery Container Composite Price was $1,741 for a 40-foot container | Andrew Yule Tea Sets Export Record | Market Researchers Predict Nitrogen Infused Tea Will Experience Double-Digit Growth | GUEST – Buddika Dissanyaika, founder of Forest Hill Tea | FEATURE INTRO – Tea Biz travels to Sri Lanka...

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Finlays Sells its Kenya Tea Operations to Sri Lanka-based Browns Investments | Nine Finlays estates span 10,300 hectares and employ 10,000 workers | Reaction to India’s Tea Floor Price Proposal is Mixed | World Tea Expo Rebrands as World Tea NEWSMAKER - Guarav Gogoi, founder of Eteakol | FEATURE INTRO – Tea Biz travels to Paris this week to visit with Guarav Gogoi, founder of...

HEAR THE HEADLINES – The Global Dubai Tea Forum Makes a Splendid Return | DMCC Executive Chairman and CEO Ahmed bin Sulayem commits to a schedule of future conferences | South India Planters Name 18 Golden Tea Leaf India Award Winners | The Indian Tea Association Presses for a Tea Price Floor Indexed to Rising Production Costs Borne by Smallholders and Made Leaf Producers | NEWSMAKER - Siân Edward...

HEAR THE HEADLINES – A Billion People Participate in Earth Day Activities | Earth Day Organizers Honor Just Ice Tea Founder Seth Goldman | Iran Snubs India Suppliers as Tea Exports Set Record | Long-Running Drought in Kenya Depresses Tea Yields | NEWSMAKER – Bala Sarda, founder of Vahdam Tea, New Delhi, India | FEATURE INTRO – Tea Biz travels to New Delhi this week to discuss with Vahdam Tea found...

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Tea Remains Resilient in Murky Economy | Easing inflation suggests tea will remain resilient during a period of economic uncertainty | DAVIDsTEA Delists from Nasdaq | Teashop Technology at World Tea Expo | GUEST – Amelia Quelas, president of the American Yerba Mate Association (AYMA) | FEATURE INTRO – This week, Tea Biz takes a sip of Yerba Mate with Amelia Quelas, president o...

HEAR THE HEADLINES - Kenya and Sri Lanka exports topped $1 billion in 2022 as devalued currencies led to a strong influx of foreign exchange dollars | Researchers find Tea and coffee may protect against multiple sclerosis | Meteorologists predict an unusually hot summer for India. | Guest Sipping Streams founder and Alaska tea grower Jenny Tse | Feature Tea Biz correspondent Jessica Natale Woollar...

HEAR THE HEADLINES – World Tea Conference + Expo Reunites North America’s Tea Community with Contemporaries from Overseas | The World Tea Expo this week was an energized event focused on normal business concerns following three years of unprecedented disruption | Global Tea Market to Reach $266.7 Billion by 2025 | Germany’s Ronnenfeldt Tea Celebrates 200th Anniversary | FEATURE INTRO – Conversatio...

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Tea Harvest Gets an Early Start | Traditional Medicinals Unveils First Certified Biodegradable Tea Wrapper | American Botanical Council Launches a Public Database of Natural Products that Meet Natural Health Science Foundation Standards | Historic Goomtee Estate Bungalow Burns | The 1899 structure took three hours to extinguish, a total loss | NEWSMAKER – Saeed Al Suwaidi, Dir...

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Resort and Hotel Developers Submit Proposals to Expand Tea Tourism in Northwest India | The West Bengal Government is Evaluating 16 Projects Valued at $170 Million | TeaTeaMe has launched a beta version of its app for Tea Tourists and Traveling Tea Professionals | Hindustan Unilever Names Rohit Jawa Managing Director and CEO | NEWSMAKER – Yangdup Lama, founder of the Sidecar i...

HEAR THE HEADLINES – World Tea Expo Names “Best of” Award Finalists | Tea Tycoon Competitors Announced | Teaware Manufacturers Adopt Consumer to Manufacturer (C2M) Business Model Pioneered by Fast-Fashion | Study Suggests an EGCG-based Therapy for Treating Alzheimer’s | GUEST – Wendy Weir, founder of Libre Inner Peace | FEATURE INTRO – Tea nourishes and inspires. It is the most ancient of plant-ba...

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Pakistan’s Economic Crisis Threatens African Tea Trade | Kenya open to rice for tea barter to release five metric tons of tea stranded in Karachi | Asahi Launches SOU its First New Tea Brand in Decades | Tatcha Skincare Unveils a Virtual Forest Bathing and Meditation Experience | NEWSMAKER – Narendranath Dharmara, an independent strategic and operations consultant in tea and a...

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Kenya’s Parliament Orders an Inquiry into Allegations of Sexual Abuse on Tea Plantations | Commentators are calling the investigation the #MeToo moment for tea | Pakistan Tea Imports are Piling Up in Karachi | Several Teas are Among the Top 10 Best-Rated Non-Alcoholic Beverages in the World according to the TasteAtlas | GUEST – TeaBookClub Founder Kyle Whittington | FEATURE IN...

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Resilient Turkish Tea Culture Offers Comfort | “Keyif” is a Turkish word describing the pleasure and enjoyment of tea. After last week’s catastrophic quakes, Keyif takes on new meaning as hundreds of ad hoc groups organize to support the homeless and hungry. | Vietnam Reports a Surge in Tea Exports | Pukka Tea Joins Canopy’s Pack4Good Initiative | GUEST – Poorvi Chordia, co-fo...

HEAR THE HEADLINES – T2 Closes its US and UK Retail Locations | Stores in both countries close on Feb. 19. Online sales end on Feb. 22. The Australian company announced it would focus on markets closer to home.| Turkey’s Tea Growing Region Spared During Massive Twin Quakes. | Tea Comforts Quake Victims. | The Global Iced Tea Market is projected to Double in Value by 2030 | GUEST – Tea Book Club fo...

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Tea Lies Safely Dormant as Temperatures Plummet to Record Lows Across Asia | Growers in China, Japan, South Korea, and India are coping with a polar vortex that caused record lows in the tea lands. | A Free Webinar Monday by the Colombo Tea Traders Association Will Explain the National Plan to Make Sri Lanka’s Tea Industry More Resilient | The FDA Will Not Regulate CBD as a Fo...

HEAR THE HEADLINES – USDA National Organic Program Strengthens Enforcement | The revised NOP rules, published Jan. 19, expand certification requirements to brokers and traders at critical links in the organic supply chain. | World Tea Expo announced its lineup of Speakers | Early discount deadline is Jan. 31 | Kenya Tea Production Falls to Five-Year Low | NEWSMAKER – Elyse Petersen, Founder, and C...

HEAR THE HEADLINES – The New Year Brings Predictions of a Global Recession | Two-thirds of the world’s top economists predict economic weakness globally in 2023, according to the World Economic Forum, meeting this week in Davos, Switzerland. | Argentina Celebrates its Tea Centennial | Toronto Tea Festival Returns | NEWSMAKER – Dan Bolton, Founding Editor/Publisher Tea Biz Blog | Podcast | FEATURE...

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Ekaterra Rebrands as LIPTON Teas and Infusions | CEO Nathalie Roos says rebranding will strengthen the company’s position as the world’s number one tea business | The First of Several Agriculture-Focused Satellites is Safely in Orbit | The Specialty Tea Institute Ceases Operations | NEWSMAKER – Mou Dasgupta, founder of Brook37 Thé Atelier | FEATURE INTRO – This week, Tea Biz t...

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Easing COVID Restrictions Leads to Uncertainty in China’s Tea Industry | Millions of urban Chinese will return to their ancestral homes in rural China for the Lunar New Year, raising concerns about outbreaks and possible labor shortages in tea regions as the spring harvest begins. | The World’s Top Black Tea Producers Experience Export Declines in 2022 | Speakers at the Januar...

HEAR THE HEADLINES – EU Bans Imports that Drive Deforestation Including Coffee and Cocoa | tea on forest land cleared after 2020 cannot be imported | Hindustan Unilever Shortlists Two Potential Chief Executives | Falling Yields Hold Down Kenya Tea Prices | NEWSMAKER – Sandip Thapa, founder and CEO CuppaTrade | FEATURE INTRO – This week, Tea Biz travels to Kolkata, India, a global hub for tea comme...

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Iran Has Suddenly Stopped Importing Indian Tea and Rice. The abrupt halt remains unexplained | A World Bank Report Predicts Unbearable Heat for India | China Eases COVID Restrictions | NEWSMAKER – Sabita Banerji, Founder, and CEO of THIRST | FEATURE INTRO – THIRST has completed its initial assessment of human rights in the global tea sector and is now seeking to understand the...