Tea Biz

Can Anonymous Worker Feedback Become a Market Signal in Tea? | Glassmarks founder Guy Chambers believes the tea industry is approaching a structural turning point. For decades, ethical sourcing systems relied heavily on audits, certifications, and private compliance reports. But consumers increasingly want transparency, while producers who invest in better working conditions often receive little r...

Middle East Conflict Dramatically Lowers Sri Lanka Tea Exports | Assam Unrest Reveals Deeper Industry Strains | Turkish Tea Finds a Bigger Export Market | Podlink signup: https://pod.link/1549975153 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Middle East Conflict Dramatically Lowers Sri Lanka Tea Exports | Assam Unrest Reveals Deeper Industry Strains | Turkish Tea Finds a Bigger Export Market - Guy Chambers, Founder, Executive Chairman, Glassmarks PLUS | The Power of Feedback | What if anonymous worker feedback became reliable and pervasive? Could feedback be powerful enough to reshape tea sourcing? For decades, ethical tea relied on a...

In Sri Lanka, stronger competition persisted for cleaner, high-grown, well-manufactured teas, while secondary descriptions continued to encounter resistance. | In Colombo, prices averaged $3.24/kg this week, ↑ +$0.03/kg vs the previous week (Week 18), supported by continued supply tightness and stronger competition for select high-grown and well-manufactured leafy teas. In North India, prices aver...

Regenerative agriculture has become one of the tea industry’s most discussed concepts, but definitions often remain vague. Producers, traders, and brand owners generally agree that healthier soils and more resilient ecosystems matter. The harder question is what regenerative farming actually looks like in practice on a working tea farm. For Michael D. Ham, the answer begins with restraint. On Jeju...

Fertilizer Shock Threatens Tea Quality, Yields, and Costs | International Tea Day Events Expand Across Global Markets | India Pushes Ahead with Contested Tea Auction Mandate | Podlink signup: https://pod.link/1549975153 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Fertilizer Shock Threatens Tea Quality, Yields, and Costs | International Tea Day Events Expand Across Global Markets | India Pushes Ahead with Contested Tea Auction Mandate NEWSMAKER – Michael D. Ham, CEO of Wild Orchard Tea PLUS | Regenerative Farming Begins by Doing Less Regenerative agriculture has become one of the tea industry’s most discussed concepts, but definitions often remain vague. Pr...

Tea markets closed WEEK 17 with prices edging firmer across the major auction centers, but the underlying signal remains quality, not volume. | Across Colombo, North India, Mombasa, and Indonesia, buyers continued to participate, but with discipline. Competition focused on clean, well-manufactured teas needed for immediate blending and export commitments. Secondary grades remained more difficult t...

On Earth Day, it’s easy to talk about sustainability in broad terms—but much harder to connect those ideas to what’s actually happening on the ground. | For tea producers, climate pressure is no longer abstract. It’s showing up in yield, cost, and long-term viability. | What we’re exploring today is a different approach—one that attempts to measure soil health, biodiversity, and resilience, and li...

Middle East Instability Threatens Blending Hubs | A Refund Rush is Underway in US Trade | China’s US Ambassador Praises Tea Harmony | Podlink signup: https://pod.link/1549975153 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Middle East Instability Threatens Blending Hubs | A Refund Rush is Underway in US Trade | China’s US Ambassador Praises Tea Harmony NEWSMAKER – Tea Rebellion Founder Annabel Kalmer, and a RegenTea Trustee PLUS | Regenerative Tea Moves from Sustainability Claims to Farm-Level Economics | Tea Rebellion Founder Annabel Kalmar explains how RegenTea is testing whether soil health can translate into mea...

Tea markets closed ISO Week 15 with conditions still stable—but with a subtle shift in what is driving that stability. Across the major auction centers—Colombo, North India, Mombasa, and Indonesia—buyer activity remained steady, but highly selective. Demand continues to focus on teas needed for immediate blending and export commitments, with well-made teas attracting consistent competition. | At t...

Specialty tea has long defined quality through craftsmanship, origin, and terroir. These pillars have shaped how producers grow tea, how buyers evaluate it, and how consumers understand value in the cup. But a new layer is emerging—one that shifts attention beneath the surface. As environmental pressures intensify across global agriculture, regenerative farming is entering the tea conversation. It...

War Costs Mount | China Opens Zero-Tariff Access—But Compliance Decides Who Benefits | US Tariff Refunds Begin April 20: What Tea Importers Need to Do Now | Podlink signup: https://pod.link/1549975153 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

War Costs Mount | China Opens Zero-Tariff Access—But Compliance Decides Who Benefits | US Tariff Refunds Begin April 20: What Tea Importers Need to Do Now | NEWSMAKER – Bernadine Tay, President of the European Speciality Tea Association | PLUS | Specialty tea has long defined quality through craftsmanship, origin, and terroir. These pillars have shaped how producers grow tea, how buyers evaluate i...

Tea markets closed ISO Week 13 with prices still largely influenced by quality, buyer selectivity, and disciplined exporter behavior rather than any broad increase in demand. Reports from the current week suggest a generally stable but uneven market across all major auction centers, with strength mainly in well-produced teas and growing pressure on secondary descriptions. Colombo (Sri Lanka) Price...

World Tea Expo was once the center of gravity for the specialty tea trade in North America—a place where retailers, importers, and producers aligned around a shared vision of quality, origin, and education. In 2026, that center has shifted. The show floor is busier. The audience is broader. Matcha and Japanese green tea suppliers were highly visible thanks to Government-backed export programs. The...

One Year After Tariffs: The Tea Industry’s Costly Lesson | ONTHEFLOOR at World Tea Expo l Regulatory Shock: EU Tightens MRL Enforcement | Podlink signup: https://pod.link/1549975153 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

One Year After Tariffs: The Tea Industry’s Costly Lesson | ONTHEFLOOR at World Tea Expo l Regulatory Shock: EU Tightens MRL Enforcement NEWSMAKER – Host Dan Bolton PLUS | World Tea Expo - A Show Transformed | This week, we’re on the floor at World Tea Expo in Las Vegas—where the show has quietly transformed. No longer a standalone tea event, it’s now embedded inside a broader bar and restaurant ec...

Tea markets closed ISO Week 11 with price discovery still driven more by quality and execution than by broad demand expansion.  In Colombo, the latest broker-published weekly comparison available during the week showed sales averaged $3.68 per kilo for the 4 March sale, down from $3.85 per kilo for the prior 25 February sale. So Colombo softened on that measure, even as better-made teas continued...

 Few specialty retailers have expanded as successfully—or as thoughtfully—as The Spice & Tea Exchange https://www.spiceandtea.com/. Founded during the depths of the 2008 financial crisis, the brand has grown from a single shop in St. Augustine, Florida, into a nationwide franchise with more than 90 locations. | At the heart of that growth is CEO and co-founder Amy Freeman, whose approach comb...

Hormuz Shockwaves Reshape Global Tea Trade and Freight Risk | India-U.S. Trade Pact Could Reopen U.S. Market Access for Indian Tea | DMCC Reveals New Details on 600-Metre Uptown Dubai Megatall Tower | Podlink signup: https://pod.link/1549975153 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Hormuz Shockwaves Reshape Global Tea Trade and Freight Risk | India-U.S. Trade Pact Could Reopen U.S. Market Access for Indian Tea | DMCC Reveals New Details on 600-Metre Uptown Dubai Megatall Tower NEWSMAKER – Amy Freeman, CEO and Co-Founder Spice & Tea Exchange PLUS | Tea Discovery Drives Retail Growth | Few specialty retailers have expanded as successfully—or as thoughtfully—as The Spice &a...

Tea auctions closed Week 9 broadly steady across Colombo, North India, Mombasa, and Indonesia, but dispersion inside catalogues continued to widen. Benchmark averages remain range-bound, yet price realization is increasingly determined on an invoice-by-invoice basis. Premium, well-made teas cleared competitively, particularly brighter liquoring high-grown and consistent liquidity grades, while sec...

Traceability is quickly becoming one of the defining challenges in the global tea trade. Consumers want to know where their tea comes from, how it was produced, and whether environmental and labor standards are being met. At the same time, governments are tightening regulations, brands are facing new compliance requirements, and importers are seeking better visibility into sourcing risks. | The Te...