HEAR THE HEADLINES – Tea in a Flash: PG Tips Introduces 60-Second Tea Bag | Tea Reforms Benefit Kenya Growers | Rapid Growth of Tea Subscription Programs Slows

| NEWSMAKER – Joydeep Phukan, Secretary and Principal Officer, India Tea Research Association

| FEATURE INTRO – The UN FAO’s Intergovernmental Group on Tea is a forum for consultation and exchange that has provided exceptional market insights and guidance since 1969 for one of the most important cash crops in the world. Members include all the major tea-producing countries. India is hosting the 25th gathering in November in Assam. Aravinda Anantharaman spoke with Joydeep Phukan, secretary and principal officer of the Tea Research Association, India, responsible for organizing and managing the event. Joydeep talks about the FAO IGG, the focus areas, what they've achieved in the past through it, and what he looks forward to at this upcoming event.

FAO IGG Major Emphasis on Smallholders – During this session, the primary emphasis would be on the smallholders because the FAO is trying to focus on how the tea produced by smallholders can be integrated into the international supply chain, says India's Joydeep Phukan, TRA Secretary and Principal. "That will gel well with India because India's smallholders already produce more than 50% of the country's tea."

And the second is basically on climate issues because so much change is happening. Many things have been done, but I would like to revisit what can be done because tea is more of an agriculture-based industry. Third is the Tea and Health Group. They will pitch at least two or three areas to promote tea among the young and increase demand.

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HEAR THE HEADLINES – Kenya's Nandi County Assembly Considers a 4900pct Tax Increase on 150,000 Acres of Tea Lands | Major Tea Producers All Report Half Year Export Declines | Green Tea Market Growth Accelerates

| GUEST – TeaBookClub Founder Kyle Whittington

Tea House Recipes to Make at Home – TeaBookClub founder Kyle Whittington describes Easy Leaf Tea by Postcard Teas founder Timothy d’Offay as a "tea recipe book with a difference. This sumptuously illustrated book focuses on recipes for brewing tea and tea-centric kitchen creations. This isn’t a book about cakes with a dash of tea thrown in; this is tea, tea, and more tea, but with a twist. Tea is, as it rightly should be, the star of the show. Indeed, the book has the feel of the d’Offay’s London shop: incredible teas, thoughtful brewing, and a big splash of heart.”

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HEAR THE HEADLINES – Planting Hope Acquires Argo Tea Assets | Foodtech Venture Will Market Tea and Veggies to College Students | Bangladesh Opens a Third Tea Auction Center | Coffee Overtakes Tea Consumption in the UK

| NEWSMAKER – Sabita Banerji, Founder and CEO THIRST, The International Roundtable for Sustainable Tea

| FEATURE INTRO – THIRST founder and CEO Sabita Banerji is overseeing a three-year human rights impact assessment of the tea industry. In August, she toured Kenya and Tanzania, seeking examples of innovative alternative approaches to better understand how tea workers and farmers see the future of tea. She joins Tea Biz from Oxford, England, to share insights from her travels.

Alternate Models Emerge as Tea Smallholders Aggregate – Control distributed amongst its elements makes for a much more powerful, stronger, sustainable, and more efficient entity, says THIRST CEO Sabita Banerji.

“I've seen some very good plantations in my travels, in India, in Tanzania, in Kenya, and I'm sure there are others in many other countries as well. But at the end of the day, a plantation is still a plantation, and the workers are still in that large entity,” says Banerji.

“I think that an alternative model of smallholder farmers sort of aggregating is starting to emerge in Tanzania and Kenya, where I've visited many different smallholder farms and a few plantations,” she said. “Just comparing the two, the difference between how a tea plantation worker lives and how a smallholder farmer lives are really quite significant.

“I think this model will gradually replace plantations in the long run,” she said.

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HEAR THE HEADLINES – India Tea Board Weighs Auditor Concerns: Additional Resources Needed to Market Tea | Overindulgence and High ABV Tea | India’s Oldest Captive Elephant Dies 

| GUEST -  Managing Editor Aravinda Anantharaman 

| FEATURE INTRO – Tea is intricately woven into India’s cultural tapestry. In its latest marketing campaign, Tata Tea Premium acknowledges and elevates several of the Indian state’s distinctive patterns in fabric and symbols of pride, drawing attention to the tea company’s extensive range of hyperlocal blends. Tata tells the story of extraordinary weavers whose homespun artistry was digitally enhanced in an interactive tribute to handlooms. Aravinda Anantharaman reports on this eye-catching effort: 

India’s Vivid Handloom Legacy –  Tata’s TV campaign features a celebrated singer at the heart of great campaigns that evoke nationalistic pride and emotion, which ties in with what Chai means to people nationwide. And that’s not all. The brand also launched one of the largest 3D LED anamorphic auto activations ever seen in the country in time for Independence Day at the DLF Cyber City Mall in Gurugram. Tata’s Desh Ke Dhaage campaign, celebrating India’s vivid handloom legacy, pushes creative boundaries to bring the consumer an experience that will visually delight and establish powerful connections. 

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HEAR THE HEADLINES – India Audit Cites Regulatory Shortfalls of Tea Board: More than a third of tea smallholders were not even registered | China Tea Exports Decline as Travel Restrictions Ease | Kenya Tea Production is Up, Exports are Down 

| GUESTS – UKTA Director Jennifer Wood and Jo Selman-Smith, a project manager with the UK Tea Academy 

| FEATURE INTRO – Jennifer Wood, founder of Canton Tea Co., and Jo Selman-Smith, a project manager with the UK Tea Academy who, in 2022, oversaw the launch of The Leafies, join us this week to discuss the academy’s international judging of tea in 12 categories. This year’s competition is open not only to farmers and suppliers but also to tea retailers worldwide. 

All teas must be received in Scotland by September 18.

The Leafies Competition Welcomes Retailers - Entry is now open for the Leafies International Tea Awards, organized by the United Kingdom Tea Academy and in partnership with Fortnum and Mason. The awards are open for entries across the globe. This is Dananjaya Silva, and I sat down with Jennifer Wood and Jo Selman-Smith of the UK Tea Academy to talk about this year’s awards, what’s new, and how to enter.

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HEAR THE HEADLINES –  CVC Capital Partners Exploring Sale of Kericho Tea Gardens | Unilever Brands Are Not for Sale | Dunkin’ Will Soon Begin Selling Hard Tea at Select US Locations | A Study of UK Biobank Data Shows Tea May Lower the Risk of Gout

| GUEST – ZhenTea Co-owner Phil Rushworth

| FEATURE INTRO – Phil Rushworth loves adventure camping, canoeing, climbing, and hiking. This week the Ottawa-based co-owner of ZhenTea describes teas and techniques to help Tea Biz listeners enjoy special moments in the great outdoors.

Taking Tea in the Wilderness – When Studio Executive Phil Rushworth married Zhen Lu, he became part of an established Chinese tea family. His mother-in-law Jianli Wu is a nationally certified tea art specialist, taster, and appraiser with more than 25 years of experience in the tea business. She has authored five books on tea. The couple live in Ottawa and visit China frequently. Phil has a background in science and engineering and brings his unique “scientific” perspective focusing on the mechanism and chemistry of tea and its processing. Although a relative newcomer to Chinese tea, Phil explains that he has gradually come to understand the nuance in teas cherished in China. He describes his work as a bridge between science, intuition, and Western and Eastern culture.

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HEAR THE HEADLINES – Sustainable Practices are Correlated to Brand Loyalty: Age and income influence consumer loyalty, healthy brand attributes help | JDE Peet’s Will Halt Sales of its Best-Known Tea Brands in Russia | UN Global Peace Council Honors WomenServe Founder Nioma Narissa Sadler

| NEWSMAKERS – Anuruddha Gamage, General Manager of Human Relations & Corporate Sustainability at Kelani Valley Plantations, and Dr. Roshan Rajadurai, Managing Director of Hayleys Plantations

| FEATURE INTRO – The recently concluded International Plantations Sustainability Summit hosted by The World of Hayleys in Colombo, Sri Lanka, last week encouraged tea professionals to visualize “Reimagined | Redesigned | Resilient” large-scale tea plantations in Sri Lanka and beyond. Forum attendees, at the invitation of Hayleys’ Managing Director, Dr. Roshan Rajadurai, forged new pathways for collaboration and integration of Sustainable Development Goals into modern plantation strategies.

Forum Considers Sustainable Factors that Define Long-term Solutions – Anuruddha Gamage, the General Manager of Human Relations & Corporate Sustainability at Kelani Valley Plantations, spent the past two years identifying ways to integrate the BIO (Biosphere), GEO (Geosphere), SOCIO (Social), and ECONO (Economy) elements of sustainable tea. Participants, drawn from government, academia, NGOs, and research institutes, met in pre-summit workshops to identify the unique, sustainable factors that define the long-term solutions for current challenges. He reports that climate change was top of mind.

As the architect of the summit, Hayleys Plantations Managing Director Dr. Roshan Rajadurai seized what he called “a unique opportunity to bring together stakeholders to share best practices and drive long-term change.”

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HEAR THE HEADLINES – Kenya’s KTDA Chair Resigns Following Tea Reforms Conference | David Ichoho Later Filed and then Withdrew a Lawsuit Alleging His Resignation was Forced | Nestle Announces Cost-Effective Sugar Reduction Technology | AriZona Unveils a 5% ABV Hard Iced Tea – Monster is next

| GUEST – Rajesh Bhuyan, Director of India's Trustea Sustainable Tea Program

| FEATURE INTRO – A decade has passed since the Trustea Sustainable Tea Program established benchmarks for tea growers supplying India’s domestic tea industry. Director Rajesh Bhuyan joins South Asia Editor Aravinda Anantharaman to discuss why 65% of India’s tea now meets the trustea code.

India's Home-Grown Supply Chain Sustainability Code – Rajesh Bhuyan, Director of India's Trustea Sustainable Tea Program, says, "We cover the supply chain from the fields where the tea is picked up to manufacturing and dispatch from the factory. So that is the ambit of the program. Because we look at sustainability in a holistic way, we think that environment, livelihood, and safety go hand in hand. We must have one with the other. The activities we deem sustainable, which we would like people to follow, cover these three pillars and all the operations, people, and processes in this part of the supply chain.

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HEAR THE HEADLINES – Unrelenting Heat is Lowering Tea Yields | Global average air temperatures reach a new high | Herbal Tea Market Growth is Accelerating | Dilmah Tea Founder Merrill J Fernando Passes at 93

| GUEST – Pradeep Kumar Sacitharan, CEO of London-based Donsfield

| FEATURE INTRO – Pradeep Kumar Sacitharan is an expert in business development with a passion for assisting online entrepreneurs in dealing with disruptions like the tea industry is facing. He is CEO of London-based Donsfield, a trade development firm that buys and builds successful global brands. Pradeep writes that “growth in life is to be able to take bigger risks at a faster pace at every stage.”

The Critical Role of Data in Defining Consumer Demand – Pradeep was born in Sri Lanka but fled at six during a tragic civil war. In England, he earned a master's degree at Imperial College in London, a doctorate in molecular and cellular medicine from the University of Oxford, and he was named a Fulbright Scholar and studied medicine at Harvard University with fellowships at the Sorbonne University in Paris and Xi’an Jiaotong University in Suzhou, China. Pradeep grew up in a tea-drinking family and was involved in a tea business that failed to thrive. He shares that story and offers valuable insights into sales and marketing. In this discussion, he advocates for MTC (manufacturer-to-customer), a business model suited to specialty tea. He is a digital marketing resource with expertise largely untapped by the tea industry.

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HEAR THE HEADLINES – Scotland Court Will Hear Kenyan Tea Workers' Lawsuit | The landmark class action was filed against James Finlay Kenya | Market Leading Twisted Hard Tea Doubles Down on ABV | EGCG is a Promising Treatment for Uterine Fibroids 

| GUEST –  Lisa Boalt Richardson, Director of the World Tea Academy 

| FEATURE INTRO – World Tea Academy Director Lisa Boalt Richardson joins us this week on the 10th anniversary of the Academy, an online resource offering comprehensive basic and advanced training for tea professionals and enthusiasts. The program has taught classes to more than 1,250 students from 64 countries. 

World Tea Academy as Relevant Now as When it was Founded – Educator Lisa Boalt Richardson first began teaching tea professionals the basics of cultivation and processing and how to cup tea as an instructor with the Specialty Tea Institute, where she later served as a board member.

In 2015, Donna Fellman, the founding director of the World Tea Academy, recruited Lisa as a substitute teacher for the growing online program. Lisa advanced to assistant director in 2018 and succeeded Fellman when Donna left the post in 2019. In the decade since its founding, instructors have taught 5,200 classes. The Academy has awarded nearly 400 certifications since graduating its first class of 36 students in July 2013. Certifications include Certified Tea Sommelier, Certified Tea Health Expert, Certified Tea Blender, and Certified Tea Aroma Expert. 

Today the Academy enrolls between 150 and 230 students a year. The cost to become a Certified Tea Specialist is $2,173, which includes six three-week basic courses. Students must also complete one advanced course. To experience tea in their homes and offices, students purchase tea and supplies bringing the total expense to about $2,525.

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HEAR THE HEADLINES – Kenyan Convenes National Tea Summit | Kenya Deputy President Promises Action on Lagging Tea Act Reforms | The World Awaits the Hottest Days On Record | Author Horacio Bustos Announces an English Edition of El Té Gourmet Argentino

| IN MEMORIAM – David C. Bigelow, former president and CEO of Bigelow Tea

| GUEST – Sivanathan Selliah, retired plant manager, now a tour guide at Helpewatte Tea Factory, Uva Province, Sri Lanka

| FEATURE INTRO – Sri Lanka is among the most popular tourist destinations. Tea lovers find that the island nation offers hundreds of options, from quaint tea gardens, homestays, and bungalows to tea trails, landmarks, waterfalls, caves, and historic sites. In May, Tea Biz toured the Halpewatte Tea Factory and then visited Ella to see the Ravana Pool Club, the country’s first day-use retreat for the adventurous and those who want to sit and sip tea in the scenic splendor of the central mountains.

Tea Factory Tour and a Splendid Day at the Ravana Pool Club – Our day began with a visit to the Halpewatte Tea Factory, about six kilometers from Ella. The five-story factory is perched at 4,035 feet altitude (1,230 meters) in what is known as Hill Country. Halpe was built in 1940 and is the largest tea factory and plantation in Uva Province. The impressive structure is rated among the country’s best garden and factory tours. Admission is $5.Sivanathan Selliah, a retired administrative officer in the tea plantation sector, leads tours of the factory. He has worked in tea for 50 years.

Next, we traveled to Ravana, a spacious Balinese-inspired bamboo complex of public and private swimming pools, a heated jacuzzi, a restaurant and bar, and a dance floor with a DJ. There are boutiques to shop, trails through the garden, archery, an air rifle range, all-terrain vehicles, mountain bikes to rent, abseiling rock climbing in the cliffs, and a mega half-kilometer zipline to spike your adrenaline. The resort offers a splendid view of Little Adam’s Peak and Ella Rock, an impressive monolith across the valley. Operated by 98 Acres, the resort is a 2.5-kilometer taxi ride from Ella, a town of 50,000 located 130 miles south and east of Colombo, a five-hour drive. Take the nine-hour daily express train cross country for spectacular views or the Night Mail that departs Colombo at 8 pm and arrives at 6 am.

Then, we traveled to Ravana, a spacious Balinese-inspired bamboo complex of public and private swimming pools, a heated jacuzzi, a restaurant and bar, and a dance floor with a DJ. There are boutiques to shop, trails through the garden, archery, an air rifle range, all-terrain vehicles, mountain bikes to rent, abseiling rock climbing in the cliffs, and a mega half-kilometer zipline to spike your adrenaline.

The resort offers a splendid view of Little Adam’s Peak and Ella Rock, an impressive monolith across the valley. Operated by 98 Acres, the resort is a 2.5-kilometer taxi ride from Ella, a town of 50,000 located 130 miles south and east of Colombo, a five-hour drive. Take the nine-hour daily express train cross country for spectacular views or the Night Mail that departs Colombo at 8 pm and arrives at 6 am.

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HEAR THE HEADLINES – Sri Lanka Restarts $250 Million Tea Barter to Settle Iranian Oil Debt | India Exporters Expect Iran to Resume Tea Orders Halted Last November | Israel Declares Wissotzky Tea a Monopoly | Rohit Jawa Takes Charge at Hindustan Unilever

| NEWSMAKER – Ksenia Hleap, Development and Communications Director at AVPA, the Paris-based Agency for the Valorization of Agricultural Products, updates listeners on the 6th Teas of the World contest.

| FEATURE INTRO – AVPA is a non-governmental, non-profit organization mainly composed of producers and taste enthusiasts. AVPA’s annual Teas of the World contest offers more value than a medal. AVPA services include tasting workshops, technical support, and distributor staff training. During the past six years, the organization has elevated the status of tea and herbal producers, large and small, not only on the global stage but in their local markets. Teas must be traceable from origin and cannot be chemically flavored. A technical jury of professionals evaluates the teas, followed by a gastronomic jury of enthusiasts that mirror consumer preferences. The deadline to enter is Aug. 31, 2023. Register at AVPA.FR (Agence pour la Valorisation des Produits Agricoles)

AVPA Call for Entries for 6th Teas of the World Contest – Over the years, there’s been a steady increase in how many entered the competition, says Ksenia Hleap, Development and Communications Director at AVPA. “Last year, we had more than 300 participants, 33% more than the previous year. This year was very, very rich in possibilities for us. And for some members from AVPA to visit the producing countries. We are in contact with all producing countries for monovarietal teas, infusion lands, and herbal teas. The difficulties sometimes are just the way of communication because we contact the tea boards in every country. Unfortunately, not all tea boards respond. We are contacting the associations and tea cooperatives also. So, it depends on the countries and depends on different histories.” Hleap said recognition in Paris, in the capital of gastronomy, gives contest winners the right to put the AVPA medal on their packaging and promote their tea worldwide. “But the biggest advantage is recognition in their local market. Even those who do not earn a medal benefit, she explains. “All our participants are winners because they dare to register for the contest and sell their products. Unfortunately, not all of them are winners this year, but they will probably be next or another because they are doing a very great job. They are putting their hearts and time into what they are doing,” she said.

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HEAR THE HEADLINES – India’s Tea Board Orders a Review of its Raw Leaf Price-Sharing Formula | Consultancy BDO India has six months to complete an extensive report on cultivation and processing costs | Fast-food Outlets Have Yet to Rollout Boba Nationally | The European Speciality Tea Association Offers Tea Foundation Certificates to Coffee Shop Staff

| NEWSMAKER – Dilhan C. Fernando, CEO Dilmah Ceylon Tea Company

| FEATURE INTRO – Tea Biz travels to Sri Lanka to attend the Dilmah School of Tea hosted by Dilmah Ceylon Tea Company CEO Dilhan C. Fernando. The school teaches that knowledge inspires passion. In this interview, Fernando shares his love for modernizing the tea experience for consumers ordering tea at restaurants, hotels, and resorts.

Teaching Hospitality Pros to Share The Magic of Tea – Dilmah Ceylon Tea was founded in 1988 by Dilhan’s father, Merrill, who recently celebrated his 93rd birthday. Merrill was one of six Sri Lankan tea tasters selected in 1950 to replace British tasters following the country’s declaration of independence. Forty years later, Dilmah launched the first native producer-owned brand to offer tea handpicked and packed at its origin. Dilmah teas are authentic, ethically sourced, and packaged unblended; many are sold as single estate. Dilhan Fernando was energetic on the Colombo Hilton’s grand ballroom stage, inspiring a room filled with chefs, restauranteurs, and mixologists with insights into the “magic” behind camellia sinensis. This was the 75th edition of the training program, which has graduated 6,000 alums during the past 15 years. Fernando recorded this interview between sessions.

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HEAR THE HEADLINES – Scrutiny of Tea Supply Chain Intensifies | An online Tea Traceability Tracker permits consumers to compare sustainability policies of tea supply chains | Tea Auction Prices Remain Firm as Inflation Ebbs | DAVIDsTEA is Adding Tea Bars to its Retail Locations

| NEWSMAKER – TeaFit founder Jyoti Bharadwaj

| FEATURE INTRO – Harvard University researchers report that people who consume sugary drinks regularly — 1 to 2 cans a day — have a 26% greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes. Mixed alcohol, sports and energy drinks, fruit juices, and soda are the worst. Unsweetened tea is the perfect alternative, according to Mumbai-based TeaFit, which bottles award-winning blends of ayurvedic botanicals and tea. TeaFit founder Jyoti Bharadwaj shares her vision of sugarless bliss with Aravinda Anantharaman.

Feature Headline – Sweet Success: Jyoti Bharadwaj launched TeaFit in 2021, offering a range of unsweetened iced teas. She has since added unsweetened premixes to the product portfolio. For a country with a large population suffering from diabetes, she says, unsweetened beverages were needed, and tea offered the perfect vehicle to create it. More recently, Jyoti Bharadwaj was featured on Shark Tank, where she secured a 5,000,000 rupees investment. Jyoti talks to us about tea, RTD, and how her brand is helping tea shed its fussy image.

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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 Walpola, Chief Executive Officer of Tea Smallholder Factories in Sri Lanka. Walpola talked with Tea Biz in May at his headquarters in Colombo and later arranged a visit to one of the company’s seven bought-leaf factories. Combined, these factories produce three million kilos of black tea a year. Walpola explains that investing in programs to earn the loyalty of thousands of small tea growers is one reason why their teas get top dollar at auction.

Factories Earn Smallholder Loyalty to Achieve Competitive Quality - Bought-leaf factories play a significant role in processing Sri Lanka’s 250 to 300 million kilos of tea annually. Smallholders farming tea gardens of ten acres or less contribute 62% of the total crop, a percentage that has increased over time. Bought leaf factories purchase an estimated 70% of smallholder-grown tea. Only 18% of Sri Lanka’s factories process tea exclusively grown on their own estate. Large estates own 56% of the 188,000 hectares under tea but contribute only 38% of total production. In aggregate, smallholders cultivate 44% of the land under tea, selling to both large estates and bought-leaf factories. All sectors compete at the weekly Tea Auction in Colombo, where quality is rewarded with the world’s highest average auction prices for black tea.

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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 sack of processed tea as an offering. Then, accompanied by drummers and dancers, they paraded to the courtyard of an ancient temple, where a Buddhist monk blessed their first fruits of the season.

Badulla Harvest Blessing – Badulla is an ancient city of 50,000 located in the remote central mountains of Sri Lanka. It is the capital of Uva Province, where tea is grown on steep hillsides exposed to the northeast and the southwest monsoon winds. Plantations are located between 3000 and 5000 feet above sea level. Here, Thomas Lipton cultivated the world’s most famous tea blend. Every year the city sponsors a parade to receive the blessing of the first fruits of the harvest. On their arrival at the Buddhist temple, celebrants unveiled a brass urn on a long marble altar. Planters then began tearing open small bags of tea and pouring the tea into the urn. Next, pluckers brought fresh leaves, forming a large pile near a statue of the Buddha. The crowd was devoted, joyous, and eager to present their teas before sitting cross-legged in the sand to join a meditation led by the monk. The monk’s harmonic chants calmed the crowd, who joined in. He then spoke of the harvest before blessing the teas on the altar. He explained that Buddhist blessings rely on energetic cultivation, not simply prayer. To be blessed requires practical actions to accumulate merits and good deeds. Buddhists earn merit through mindfulness, meditation, chanting, and performing rituals.

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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 metric tons of tea cross the trading desks of sell-side brokers. Asia Siyaka Managing Director and CEO Anil Cooke spoke to Tea Biz on a recent visit to his Colombo, Sri Lanka office. Cooke heads one of eight accredited brokerages responsible for assessing the quality and transacting the sale of millions of kilos of Ceylon teas generating more than 1 billion dollars annually. 

Inside Sri Lanka's e-Auction – In 1883 the Colombo Tea Auction sold its first five lots. Brokers now sell more than 5,000 metric tons weekly, about 300,000 metric tons yearly. The total represents 90% of Sri Lanka’s tea production. Auctions were conducted in person for 150 years until COVID-19 forced the Colombo Tea Traders Association (CTTA) to select, install and test a digital auction platform in May 2020. The first e-auction went live in only seven days with the help of CICRA Solutions, the local Microsoft affiliate. Several upgrades have followed. Looking over his shoulder, Cooke explains the digital bidding process that is now routine: 

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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 Vega, director of tea sustainability and content at DAVIDsTEA. This company fosters a spirit of POSITIVI-TEA which she describes as doing what’s right for our local communities and global suppliers. Jessica Natale Woollard reports.

Sustainability is a Long-Term Commitment, Not a Campaign or Promotion – Cheerful packaging and bright aqua for a signature color have made DAVIDsTEA one of Canada’s most recognizable tea brands. Founded in 2008, DAVIDsTEA expanded to become Canada’s largest specialty tea boutique, offering over a hundred teas and blends. The company made tea accessible, attracting a new generation of tea drinkers. Pre-pandemic, it operated 240 retail locations in Canada and the US but today focuses on e-commerce and wholesale. From day one, DAVIDsTEA has been sustainably oriented. It’s in the company’s DNA, says Nadia de la Vega, DAVIDsTEA’s director of tea sustainability. Nadia joins us on the podcast to discuss sustainability in the tea industry and how mindfulness and fun can go hand in hand. “Sustainability is not a campaign,” says de la Vega. “When you’re doing sustainability work, you are not doing a sale, and you’re not doing a promotion. This is a long-term commitment to your product and the people that provide the product you consume and love.”

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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 this week to the foot of Adam’s Peak, where Forest Hill Tea founder Buddika Dissanyaka led us on a hike to a forest of 900 trees growing wild on an estate abandoned 135 years ago.

Revitalized Tea Forest Offers Distinctive Wild Taste –

Millions of tea trees, first Introduced in 1867, can be found along the 268-mile length of Sri Lanka, a tropical paradise of tea estates that employ 1.5 million people today. The trees at Warnagala Tea Estate, established in 1890 by Scottish planters, rise 40 to 50 feet into the rainforest canopy on the slopes of the sacred Sri Pada Mountain range. Pluckers from Forest Hill artisan tea climb into the trees to retrieve green leaves for tea making.

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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 Eteakol, an innovative business-to-business platform created to connect wholesale tea suppliers with discerning retailers who want to showcase artisanal tea packed at origin and shipped direct.

Tea Wholesale Simplified – The unit economics of cross-border trade is expensive and requires a lot of effort, beginning with mastering import-export regulations, customs clearance policies, and logistics, explains Eteakol founder Guarav Gogoi. Traders send large volumes of tea to minimize expenses. We take care of all end-to-end fulfillment, so all regulatory clearances, logistics, shipping, and operations are simplified for artisan tea makers.

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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy