Beyond Matcha | Matcha, a shining success story that revived the Japanese tea industry, also paved the way for enthusiasts interested in other Japanese teas, such as hojicha, a light brown colored green tea roasted in porcelain pots over charcoal. Noli Ergas, Senior Account Manager in the Seattle offices of Sugimoto Tea, joins us this week to explain how matcha’s success instills hope for the future of the Japanese tea industry, especially among younger consumers who prefer sweeter, less bitter teas to the traditional “grassiness” of Japanese greens.

Texas native Noli Ergas discovered green tea in his teens, researching and refining his palate from Arizona RTD convenience store cans to exquisite artisan “works of art.” After he moved to Japan, his professional journey in tea unfolded with the successful completion of the intense training required of a Certified Japanese Tea Advisor

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Tea News Recap | A Swish of Black Tea Kills 99.9% of COVID-19 in Saliva | Expect a Hot Spring | Chinese Celebrate Virtual Qingming

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HEAR THE HEADLINES – A Swish of Black Tea Kills 99.9% of COVID-19 in Saliva | Expect a Hot Spring | Chinese Celebrate Virtual Qingming

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| GUEST – Noli Ergas, Senior Account Manager in the Seattle offices of Sugimoto Tea

| FEATURED – Beyond Matcha | Matcha, a shining success story that revived the Japanese tea industry, also paved the way for enthusiasts interested in other Japanese teas, such as hojicha, a light brown colored green tea roasted in porcelain pots over charcoal. Noli Ergas, Senior Account Manager in the Seattle offices of Sugimoto Tea, joins us this week to explain how matcha’s success instills hope for the future of the Japanese tea industry, especially among younger consumers who prefer sweeter, less bitter teas to the traditional “grassiness” of Japanese greens.

Texas native Noli Ergas discovered green tea in his teens, researching and refining his palate from Arizona RTD convenience store cans to exquisite artisan “works of art.” After he moved to Japan, his professional journey in tea unfolded with the successful completion of the intense training required of a Certified Japanese Tea Advisor

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Selling Tea in Grocery | When asked where they buy their tea, 89% of Canadian consumers prefer supermarkets. This number is even higher in the US, with 91% of shoppers buying tea in grocery stores. Grocery is a promising but challenging channel for specialty tea wholesalers. These surveys revealed that 36% of shoppers select their tea by brand, underlining the importance of brand recognition in this competitive market.

Tea Squared is one of those specialty grocery brands.

Tea importer, blender, and wholesaler Frank Weber founded Tea Squared in 2013. His initial intent was to supply tea shops, hotels, and restaurants. However, his business has thrived in these sectors and expanded to 1,200 grocery and mass market outlets. Frank joins us on the podcast to share his insights on the perils and profits of selling tea in grocery stores.

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India Tea News | April 5, 2024 | Assam BLF Association Factories Stop Production | The Golden Leaf Competition Underway | Elections Present Darjeeling Planters an Opportunity to Seek Intervention

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Tea News Recap | April 5, 2024 | India Bought-Leaf Factories Resume Tea Processing | Three World Tea Expo 2024 Takeaways | Sustainably Grown Tea is Nears a Quarter of Global Production

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HEAR THE HEADLINES – India Bought-Leaf Factories Resume Tea Processing | Three World Tea Expo 2024 Takeaways | Sustainably Grown Tea is Nears a Quarter of Global Production

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| INDIA TEA NEWS – Assam BLF Association Factories Stop Production | The Golden Leaf Competition Underway | Elections Present Darjeeling Planters an Opportunity to Seek Intervention

| GUEST – Frank Weber, founder of Tea Squared, Toronto, Canada

| FEATURED – Selling Tea in Grocery | When asked where they buy their tea, 89% of Canadian consumers prefer supermarkets. This number is even higher in the US, with 91% of shoppers buying tea in grocery stores. Grocery is a promising but challenging channel for specialty tea wholesalers. These surveys revealed that 36% of shoppers select their tea by brand, underlining the importance of brand recognition in this competitive market.

Tea Squared is one of those specialty grocery brands.

Tea importer, blender, and wholesaler Frank Weber founded Tea Squared in 2013. His initial intent was to supply tea shops, hotels, and restaurants. However, his business has thrived in these sectors and expanded to 1,200 grocery and mass market outlets. Frank joins us on the podcast to share his insights on the perils and profits of selling tea in grocery stores.

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Tea outsells every beverage in Japan. Bottled green teas are far more popular than soda. Hot tea consumption, however, has declined by half from more than a kilo per capita. Loose leaf volume spiked briefly during the pandemic but is now at a seven-decade low. In contrast, overseas demand for Japanese teas set a recent sales record. Today, we have the privilege of talking with Rikko Osaki, an accomplished green tea wholesaler, licensed Japanese Green Tea Advisor, and the founder of Hokusan, a brand with family roots in tea.

Aging farmers and fierce competition in the beverage market have led some to question whether Japan’s tea industry can be sustained, says Rikko, “We haven’t had a revolution in 20 years. I think it’s time for the younger generation's creativity to establish new trends. There is always more opportunity, especially in a technologically strong country like Japan.”

Rikko Osaki’s upbringing is deeply intertwined with the tea lands surrounding Mt. Fuji, a region that produces many famous teas. With its spectacular coastline, hot springs, and fertile volcanic soil, Shizuoka is a growing region that plays a pivotal role in Japan's tea production, producing 40% of Japan’s tea in 2023, totaling about 27,200 metric tons. Rikko’s brother is a green tea sommelier and exporter who sources her teas. Rikko has lived in Canada for 20 years. Four years ago, she founded Hokusan. She specializes in matcha, a unique and highly sought-after variety of Japanese green tea.

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India Tea News | March 29, 2024 | Bought Leaf Factories Oppose 100% Dust in Auctions | Assam Expects a Big Drop in First Flush Production | HUL Focuses on Assam to Support Tea Industry

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Certified Organic Handlers Beware of USDA’s Tough New NOP Regulations | Register Now for Discounted Admission to the Colombo International Tea Convention in July | Zimbabwe Tea Yields Pressured by El Nino Drought | Tea News Recap | March 29, 2024 |

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Certified Organic Handlers Beware of USDA’s Tough New NOP Regulations | Register Now for Discounted Admission to the Colombo International Tea Convention in July | Zimbabwe Tea Yields Pressured by El Nino Drought

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| INDIA TEA NEWS - Bought Leaf Factories Oppose 100% Dust in Auctions | Assam Expects a Big Drop in First Flush Production | HUL Focuses on Assam to Support Tea Industry

| GUEST – Rikko Osaki, Founder Hokusan Tea

| FEATURED – Tea outsells every beverage in Japan. Bottled green teas are far more popular than soda. Hot tea consumption, however, has declined by half from more than a kilo per capita. Loose leaf volume spiked briefly during the pandemic but is now at a seven-decade low. In contrast, overseas demand for Japanese teas set a recent sales record. Today, we have the privilege of talking with Rikko Osaki, an accomplished green tea wholesaler, licensed Japanese Green Tea Advisor, and the founder of Hokusan, a brand with family roots in tea. Aging farmers and fierce competition in the beverage market has led some to question whether Japan’s tea industry can be sustained, says Rikko, “We haven’t had a revolution in 20 years. I think it’s time for the younger generation's creativity to establish new trends. There is always more opportunity, especially in a technologically strong country like Japan.”

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THIRST, The International Roundtable for Sustainable Tea, a non-profit human rights initiative, launched a 3-year human rights impact assessment study in 2022. The study aims to listen to and understand the human rights concerns in the tea sector and bring stakeholders together to seek solutions. We have been following THIRST’s survey from the start, and with Phase 2 now complete, we caught up with CEO and Founder Sabita Banerji to hear about the findings and next steps. Sabita is an economic and social justice consultant, campaigner, writer, and activist with over two decades of experience in international development and trade justice.

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India Tea News | March 22, 2024 | NETA Opposes 100% Dust Auction | Spotlight on Safe Tea in 2024 | India to Send Trade Delegation to Iran

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Tea News Recap | March 22, 2024 | World Tea Expo Names Beverage Challenge Winners | Resilient Ukraine Retains Its Taste for Russian Tea | Bogawanthalawa is Certified as the First Climate Neutral Tea Estate

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HEAR THE HEADLINES - World Tea Expo Names Beverage Challenge Winners | Resilient Ukraine Retains Its Taste for Russian Tea | Bogawanthalawa is Certified as the First Climate Neutral Tea Estate

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| INDIA TEA NEWS - NETA Opposes 100% Dust Auction | Spotlight on Safe Tea in 2024 | India to Send Trade Delegation to Iran

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

| FEATURED – Safeguarding the right to a decent life for everyone in tea benefits the industry. Equity and transparency along the entire tea supply chain encourage retention and productivity, enabling sustainable supply. Mandates for due diligence reporting of human rights and enforcement lie ahead. London-based THIRST is midway through a three-year assessment of human rights in tea. This week, managing editor Aravinda Anantharaman speaks with THIRST co-founder and CEO Sabita Banerji to assess progress and challenges that remain.

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Tea Rebellion: Anatomy of a Purpose-Driven Brand | Annabel Kalmar, founder of Tea Rebellion, a small direct-trade single-farm tea venture founded in 2017, joins us today. Her company was certified as a B Corp in September 2022. Annabel describes the DNA of a purpose-driven tea venture and the challenge of changing how tea is traded, marketed, and consumed. The goal is to be a tea brand offering sustainable, transparent, award-winning tea, she says. Tea Rebellion does not offer blended or flavored tea. Farms are co-branded, and marketing draws attention to the farm and identity of growers. "To affect change, we need to credit the maker of the product," she says."To drive impact, I choose to work with tea farmers with a clear goal of sustainability and impact in their communities. Several of these farmers are female-run or committed to the empowerment and well-being of women," she says.

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India Tea News | March 15, 2024 | Indian Tea Association and Goodricke Group Name New Heads | Nilgiris' INDCOServe Will Convert Kattabettu Factory into Tea Tourism Hub

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Tea News Recap | March 15, 2024

Why is First Flush Tea so Tasty? Metabolites | Oversupply Threatens Kenya’s Harvest Windfall | World Tea Expo: An Infusion of Fresh Ideas Opens this Weekend

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HEAR THE HEADLINES - Why is First Flush Tea so Tasty? Metabolites | Oversupply Threatens Kenya’s Harvest Windfall | World Tea Expo: An Infusion of Fresh Ideas Opens this Weekend

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| INDIA TEA NEWS - Indian Tea Association and Goodricke Group Name New Heads | Nilgiris' INDCOServe Will Convert Kattabettu Factory into Tea Tourism Hub

| GUEST – Annabel Kalmar, founder of Tea Rebellion

| FEATURED – Tea Rebellion: Anatomy of a Purpose-Driven Brand | Annabel Kalmer, founder of Tea Rebellion, a small direct-trade single-farm tea venture founded in 2017, joins us today.

The company was certified as a B Corp in September 2022. Annabel describes the DNA of a purpose-driven tea venture and the challenge of changing how tea is traded, marketed, and consumed.

The goal is to be a tea brand for sustainable, transparent, award-winning tea. Tea Rebellion co-brands with farms and does not blend or flavor tea.

“We remain firmly wedded to our original Tea Rebellion DNA,” says Annabel, who has a master's in economics specializing in micro- and rural finance. She previously worked for the World Bank and the OECD.

She returned to academia to study agriculture, focusing on environment and gender. Her fieldwork included studying female banana growers in El Salvador and coffee farms in the Dominican Republic.

"To drive impact, I choose to work with tea farmers who have a clear goal of sustainability and impact in their communities. Several of these farmers are female-run or committed to the empowerment and well-being of women," she says.

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FEATURED

In January, Shabnam Weber. President of the Tea and Herbal Association of Canada traveled to Guwahati, Assam, as one of 44 country delegates at the recently concluded 25th Session of the United Nations FAO Intergovernmental Group on Tea (IGG Tea). During the past two years, as co-chair of the Working Group on Tea and Health, she tirelessly promoted the merits of a unified global campaign to make the benefits of drinking tea relevant to younger generations. She says that HASHTAG Tea Power will generate a global buzz around tea and its role in improved fitness. “There is extensive evidence supporting tea benefits in sports and fitness performance and optimal hydration,” she explains. “These scientific findings provide the framework for a youth-focused campaign to encourage increased tea consumption.” We need to remember that our competition is not ourselves. That's a message for everybody in this industry: we are not the competition; the competition is other beverages. The only way for us to break through that noise is to work together."

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