Tea Biz

Rebuilding Darjeeling Export Value | Rising Costs Squeeze Kenya Tea Bonuses | India Removes Paraquat from Tea Protection Code NEWSMAKER – Vale Farms CEO and Founder Luke Larson PLUS | American Matcha | Can the Pacific Northwest grow exceptional matcha at commercial scale? Seattle-based Vale is putting that question to the test. Founder and CEO Luke Larson says Vale Farms has planted twelve thousan...

Tea markets closed ISO Week 39 with good demand in Kenya and Sri Lanka, and fair demand in North and South India and Indonesia. Colombo offered about 4.8 million kilograms, its smallest catalog since April 2024. Reduced availability supported competition for better teas. North India’s latest official CTC average was almost unchanged in rupee terms, showing a stable headline market even as buyers r...

Rebuilding Darjeeling Export Value | Rising Costs Squeeze Kenya Tea Bonuses | India Removes Paraquat from Tea Protection Code | Podlink signup: https://pod.link/1549975153 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Can the Pacific Northwest grow exceptional matcha at commercial scale? Seattle-based Vale is putting that question to the test. Founder and CEO Luke Larson says Vale Farms has planted twelve thousand tea plants on what will eventually grow to two hundred acres on Whidbey Island, Washington. Plans include a greenhouse and a thirty-thousand-square-foot processing facility in nearby Oak Harbor. The f...

Quality Widens the Price Gap | Tea markets ended ISO Week 37 with prices increasingly determined by quality rather than broad market direction. Across the major auction centers, buyers remained active but selective. Colombo recorded fair general demand, but stronger teas separated from weaker Western and Orthodox descriptions. North India remained under pressure relative to earlier-season highs, e...

Tea producers seeking higher returns are often advised to add value through improved processing, certification, packaging, or branding. Independent recognition of the finished tea’s quality is another part of that conversation. AVPA, the Paris-based organization behind the international Teas of the World competition, evaluates entries through blind sensory assessment. For producers moving beyond b...

Africa Pushes Value Over Volume | Europe Pays More for Better Tea | ISO Advances Tea Standards | Podlink signup: https://pod.link/1549975153 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Africa Pushes Value Over Volume | Europe Pays More for Better Tea | ISO Advances Tea Standards NEWSMAKER – Ksenia Hleap, Chief Operating Officer of AVPA in Paris PLUS | Certification can tell a buyer how a tea was produced. But does it taste good? Ksenia Hleap explains how independent sensory recognition can help producers distinguish their teas in the market. Later in the program, we discuss what...

Quality-Led Firmness Masks Uneven Auction Liquidity | Tea markets closed ISO Week 35 with headline support intact, but quality mattered more than volume. Buyers remained disciplined, closely tying bids to immediate blending needs. Colombo was buoyant overall, led by low-grown leafy teas and selected better high- and mid-grown descriptions. Mombasa improved at the headline level, though incomplete...

Behind the Cup: Why Quality Tea Needs a Better Business Model | Social and environmental conditions behind tea production remain far less scrutinized than those of coffee or cocoa. In this Tea Biz Spotlight, I speak with Ecological Economist Pierre William Johnson, author of the French-language Thé: l’envers de la tasse — Tea: Behind the Cup. Pierre’s central argument is not that the tea trade sho...

Nepal Tea Enters Recovery Mode | India Puts Tea Under Satellite Surveillance | Vale Bets on US-Grown Matcha | Podlink signup: https://pod.link/1549975153 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Nepal Tea Enters Recovery Mode | India Puts Tea Under Satellite Surveillance | Vale Bets on US-Grown Matcha NEWSMAKER – Author and Ecological Economist Pierre William Johnson PLUS |Behind the Cup: Why Quality Tea Needs a Better Business Model Social and environmental conditions behind tea production remain far less scrutinized than those for coffee or cocoa. In this Tea Biz Spotlight, Ecological E...

Quality Holds as Regional Tea Prices Diverge | Tea markets closed ISO Week 32 with mixed headline prices but a consistent trading pattern: buyers remained active for immediate coverage and continued to reserve their strongest bids for clean, well-made teas.| In Colombo, prices averaged $3.58 per kilo, up 3 cents versus the reconstructed Week 31 benchmark. | In North India, prices averaged $2.37 pe...

Taste the World of Tea in Seattle | The 16th edition of the Northwest Tea Fest returns to Seattle Center September 26–27 with a sold-out exhibitor hall and a deliberately broad view of the tea world. Visitors can taste teas from major origins, speak directly with the people who source and sell them, attend presentations and workshops, and explore teaware and tea culture under one roof. Virginia Wr...

Typhoon Deluges South China’s Tea Lands | Floods Halt Production at 30 Assam Tea Gardens | Argentina Moves Its GI-Protected Tea Origin to Market | Podlink signup: https://pod.link/1549975153 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Typhoon Deluges South China’s Tea Lands | Floods Halt Production at 30 Assam Tea Gardens | Argentina Moves Its GI-Protected Tea Origin to Market NEWSMAKERS | Festival Coordinator Andrew Goodman and Puget Sound Tea Education Association President Virginia Wright PLUS | A World of Tea Comes to Seattle | Festival organizers Andrew Goodman and Virginia Wright preview the 2026 Northwest Tea Festival, S...

In Colombo, prices averaged $3.55 per kilogram this week, up 10 cents versus the previous week, Sale 24. In North India, prices averaged $2.62 per kilogram, up 8 cents from the last available official average (Week 25). In Mombasa, prices averaged $2.33 per kilogram, up 1 cent versus the prior indicative benchmark, Sale 25. | In Indonesia, prices averaged $2.41 per kilogram, flat versus the prior...

When Tea Becomes More Than a Product: Building Ritual, Community, and Trust Without Losing Authenticity Tea is often described in terms of origin, cultivar, elevation, and craft—but another dimension is harder to quantify and increasingly central to how people engage with tea today: presence. Across the specialty market, we are seeing a shift. Not just toward better tea, but toward more intentiona...

Assam Enters Commercial Matcha Production | Caffeine Labels Could Work in Tea’s Favor | Floods Threaten the World’s Largest Jasmine Harvest | Podlink signup: https://pod.link/1549975153 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Assam Enters Commercial Matcha Production | Caffeine Labels Could Work in Tea’s Favor | Floods Threaten the World’s Largest Jasmine Harvest | Newsmaker - Luong “Flowing River” Shen, Co-founder of Drishti House PLUS | When Tea Becomes More Than a Product: Building Ritual, Community, and Trust Without Losing Authenticity Tea is often described in terms of origin, cultivar, elevation, and craft—but a...

Tea markets closed Week 25 with a firmer but still highly selective tone. Demand was present across the major auctions, but buyers remained disciplined, concentrating on clean, useful teas rather than bidding broadly across the catalog.| In Colombo, prices averaged $3.95/kg this week, ↓ -$0.05/kg vs the previous week, Sale 22. In North India, prices averaged $2.59/kg this week, ↑ +$0.06/kg vs last...

Vietnam has long been a volume player in tea—but that's changing. As demand shifts toward origin, clarity, and craft, a new generation is redefining what Vietnamese tea can be—and how it's valued. | Today's guest is Tri Nguyen, CEO of Tea Cusp. BIO: Tree Tri represents a new generation of Vietnamese tea makers—one rooted in heritage but intent on redefining how the world understands Vi...

Heatwave Warning: El Niño and Tea’s Climate Stress Test | Nepal Tea Factories Reopen, But Export Risk Remains | Availability Is Not Deliverability | Podlink signup: https://pod.link/1549975153 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Heatwave Warning: El Niño and Tea’s Climate Stress Test | Nepal Tea Factories Reopen, But Export Risk Remains | Availability Is Not Deliverability NEWSMAKER – Tri Nguyen, CEO of Tea Cusp PLUS | Vietnam: Changing Perceptions | Vietnam has long been a major force in the global tea trade, but rarely the center of the conversation. As demand grows for specialty tea, matcha, and origin-driven products,...

Quality Holds, Averages Ease | Tea markets closed ISO Week 21 with functional demand but a wider separation between quality teas and secondary descriptions. The market is not distressed, but it is more selective. Colombo saw fair demand, though the total sales average eased from the previous week. North India remained active, especially for improved teas and dusts, but Sale 21 averages moved lower...