Tea Biz

HEAR THE HEADLINES – AVPA Announces 37 Teas of the World Gold Medal Winners | Coca-Cola India and Luxmi Tea Relaunch Honest Iced Tea | Sri Lanka Urges Smallholders to Increase Planting Density | NEWSMAKER – Eduardo Alberto Molina Anfossi, Head of Tea Experience for P&T (Paper & Tea) Berlin | FEATURED – Tea retailer Paper & Tea has emerged from the pandemic with renewed vigor, opening seven new stores in 2022, including their first retail location outside Germany. The Vienna store was a catalyst as the Berlin-based tea merchant has since opened airy storefronts in Zurich, Switzerland, Utrecht in the Netherlands, Bruges in Belgium, Copenhagen in Denmark, and soon in Oslo, Norway, with more to come. There are now 30 locations across Europe, 23 of which are in Germany. High ceilings and large windows have a captivating effect on passersby attracted to their brightly lit interiors, colorful displays, and a wide variety of fine teas to sample. Today, we are joined by Tea Sommelier Eduardo Molina, Head of Tea Experience for P&T, the man who is responsible for creating an alluring experience for every customer who visits. P&T Experiential Retail Stores Entice the Passing Crowd – Tea is well suited to experiential retail, a type of physical retail marketing that offers customers experiences beyond browsing. Tea retailers worldwide are experimenting with sophisticated sampling, live music, art, interactive displays, video walls, and even making cameras available for customers to record and share experiences. Eduardo Molina, 37, is originally from Chile, a narrow coastal country whose people drink more tea than any country in South America. Eduardo embraced the tea-drinking culture, discovering his passion for tea working in hospitality at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Santiago in 2007. He has since traveled extensively in the tea lands. “The culture and history of tea is fascinating,” he says. His special focus is training. “I love training people how to present, sell, and tell stories about tea,” says Eduardo. He has ten years of retail experience, including three years as the co-founder and tea sommelier of Adagio Teas in Chile. He taught at the Chilean Tea Academy and joined P&T in Berlin in May 2018 as product manager for new business development. As Head of Tea Experience, he is responsible for marketing the new properties and training staff. He leads the team that created the in-store experience at every location, including the company’s soon-to-open 31st store. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tea-biz/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Holiday Consumers Lose Confidence Before Black Friday Sales Begin | Tanzania Debuts New Digital Tea Auction in Dar es Salaam | Tea Barter: Cash Short Egypt Offers Kenya a Blank Check | NEWSMAKER – Theophord Cosmas Ndunguru, Director General, Tanzania Smallholders Tea Development Agency, Dar es Salaam | FEATURED – As Director General, Theophord C. Ndunguru is the voice of the Tanzania Smallholders Tea Development Agency (TSHTDA), but he also has their ear. In October, I traveled to Dar es Salaam to talk with Theophord and fellow members of the Tea Board of Tanzania to better understand the state of tea smallholders. Today’s report is an excerpt from our discussion. Tanzania Tea Confronts an Array of Challenges with Zeal – Tanzania is the third-largest tea producer in Africa. Smallholders farm 48% of the country’s 23,800 hectares under tea. Data from the Tea Board of Tanzania (TBT) estimates that 32,000 tea smallholders collectively produce about 40% of the country’s green leaf. The economy in this country of 68 million is mainly agrarian. There are approximately 3.7 smallholdings of 2.2 hectares or less. “The tea industry in Tanzania is currently going through several challenges and constraints. But the government of Tanzania has started taking very strong and robust measures to make sure that all these challenges are sorted out,” says Ndunguru. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tea-biz/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Starbucks Announces Ambitious Global Expansion | Record Revenue Powers Plan to Operate 55,000 locations by 2030, with 75% overseas | Bangladesh May Finally Break an Elusive Record | Researchers Challenge the Belief that Adding Cream and Sugar to Tea Impacts Health Outcomes | GUEST – Jason Walker, Marketing Director Firsd Tea, the US subsidiary of Zhejiang Tea Group | FEATURED – In October, Transworld, China’s first USDA-certified organic tea producer, and Firsd Tea, the US subsidiary of Zhejiang Tea Group, released the Chinese Tea Sustainability Report, a 12-page survey of perspectives and practices at Chinese tea farms and processing facilities. Jason Walker, marketing director at Firsd Tea in New Jersey and one of the architects of the sustainability report, joins Tea Biz for an in-depth discussion of the results of this ongoing survey. Tea Sustainability Perspectives and Practices – Most survey respondents have an improved outlook on progress made in sustainability in the last ten years, says Jason Walker. They also view present-day efforts more favorably and predict an increased improvement trajectory in the next ten years, adds Walker, 46, one of the architects of the Chinese Tea Sustainability Report. Walker is the Marketing Director at Firsd Tea in New Jersey. His expertise includes business development, market research, and tasting. “China set [sustainability] standards, especially domestically, for tea. About 85% of China’s tea stays in China. They said, ‘We have to protect our people and raise our standards internally as well.’ he said. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tea-biz/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

UK Tea Academy Announces Winners of The Leafies | Rooibos Red Chosen as one of the Top 10 Colors for 2024 | Indian Tea Undergoing FSSAI Safety Analysis | GUEST – Steve Anyango, Managing Director, Nemooneh Iranian Food and Industries | FEATURE INTRO – Tea was first cultivated in what is now Tanzania by German colonists early in the 20th century. Farms were planted high in the Usambara Mountains, a biodiversity hotspot in the shadow of Mt. Kilimanjaro rising vertically from the plains. The region was known as Tanga and would later, under British rule, become Tanganyika. The UK greatly expanded tea production through the 1960s and remains a significant trading partner with the Republic of Tanzania. Joining us today is Steve Anyango, an expert strategist in commodity trading and logistics with deep ties to tea. Tanzanian Tea: Strategically Sought, Yet Widely Unknown – Tanzania is a critical player in the transport of tea among landlocked producing countries that are members of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). Malawi, Burundi, Rwanda. Even the Congo and Madagascar can easily use the port at Dar es Salaam to export tea and spices. Tanzania produces good teas, amiable for blending with various herbals. This makes the tea strategically sought after by buyers in many regions. Black Tanzania tea reaches about 75% of the world tea market but remains largely anonymous as a preferred base tea in teabags and herbal infusions. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tea-biz/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Middle East Unrest Heightens Tea Logistics Concerns | Iran Running Short of Tea | Just Ice Tea Raises $14 Million to Expand Distribution | Wagh Bakri Executive Director Parag Desai, 49, Dies Fleeing Stray Dogs | GUEST – Tahira Nizari, co-founder and CEO of the Kazi Yetu Tea Collection | FEATURE INTRO – Tea Biz traveled to Tanzania last week to explore the tropical Usambara tea-growing region. There, I met with smallholder farmers, tea makers, traders, tea sellers, members of the Tea Board of Tanzania, and a tiny cooperative of 14 families deep in the jungle who invited me to watch as they hand-rolled and wood-fired organic black tea that always sells out on “market day” in the local village. I recount my adventure beginning today with Tahira Nizari, a savvy business school graduate and humanitarian who 2018 founded Kazi Yetu. This specialty tea brand advances the role of women in Tanzania’s tea industry. Value Addition at Origin Enhances the Lives of Tea Workers – Kazi Yetu sources much of its tea from the Sakare farmer’s cooperative in the Usambara Mountains, a range in northeastern Tanzania that is 90 kilometers long and about half that wide. Usambara is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, with a virgin rainforest that rises to more than 7,500 feet (about 2,289 meters above the Indian Ocean). Teas are finished and transported to the port at Dar es Salaam, where 35 women are employed in blending, packaging, and distributing tins and canisters of specialty tea available globally. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tea-biz/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Unilever Kenya Pays Tea Workers Harmed in 2007 Attacks | Tea is Powering Taiwan’s Bottled Beverage Market | Big Tobacco Infuses Rooibos With Nicotine | GUEST – Aravinda Anantharaman, Tea Biz Senior Editor South Asia Assam Celebrates 200 Years of Tea – The story of tea in Assam is fascinating. It dates to antiquity as one of the birthplaces of tea and remains relevant today. Situated in the Brahmaputra valley, Assam reaches from the foothills of the Himalayas down to the Bay of Bengal. It is the world’s largest tea-producing region, contributing 700 million kilos annually. Aravinda Anantharaman recounts the storied history on the 200th anniversary of planting the first tea gardens in Assam. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tea-biz/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Report from the Indian Tea Association Describes Acute Financial Crisis: Auction prices are low, and tea exports are in decline | Tea Awards Season is Underway as Judging Concludes in Major Global Competitions | Online Venture Vahdam Tea Opens its First Brick-and-Mortar Tea Room in Delhi | NEWSMAKER – Lumbini Tea Valley Managing Director Chaminda Jayawardana | FEATURE INTRO – Lumbini Tea Valley in southern Sri Lanka relies on the expertise of more than 1,700 small growers to produce 625 metric tons of Ceylon tea annually. Lumbini tea is crafted in 40 styles, from conventional black tea bags to innovative twists and specialty curled tea, with ongoing experiments in inorganic Kale cultivation and a rare white tea cultivar. Smallholders are key to winning international awards that attest to the company’s ability to exceed expectations in overseas markets, says second-generation planter Managing Director Chaminda Jayawardana. He joins us today to discuss how smallholders became the foundation of Lumbini’s success. Foundation For Success – Forty-eight years ago, Dayapala Jayawardana planted tea in the lowlands along the south coast of Sri Lanka near Galle. The pristine 220-acre Lumbini Tea Valley garden he founded was surrounded by 18,900 acres of virgin Sinharaja rainforest(a UNESCO World Heritage site). The factory he built in 1984 was remote and self-reliant, soon becoming an essential means of support for the many smallholders in Ruhana. Twenty-four years ago, his son, Chaminda, was named managing director after several years as assistant superintendent at Kahawatta plantations. In 2000, he received a diploma in plantation management from the National Institute of Plantation Management. Lumbini received the presidential award as the best small-scale factory in the nation in 2017, one of many awards for excellence, including this year’s well-deserved recognition by the SriLanka Tea Exporter’s Association as the Ruhuna tea growing region’s OutstandingTea Producer for 2023. Smallholders contributed to that success from the beginning, says Jayawardana. “It’s mainly the bond we have with the small farmers from when my father started the tea factory. We have the farmers from my father’s era working with us. So they have a great loyalty to our brand and with us.” Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tea-biz/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

HEAR THE HEADLINES – A Daily Cup of Dark Tea Reduces the Risk of Diabetes: Researchers Demonstrate Tea Helps Control Blood Sugar Levels | Mintel Consulting: Consumers Feel Culpable for Climate Change | Kagoshima Benefits from Diverse Tea Exports | GUESTS – Professor Katharine Burnett, Founder and Director of the Global Tea Institute for Tea Culture and Science at UC Davis, UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education Program Manager Heather D. Ogle, and Brendan Shah, CEO at ITI (International Tea Importers) in Los Angeles. | FEATURE INTRO – The Global Tea Institute at UC Davis is a hub connecting tea professionals and academics, a virtual campus enabling the creation and sharing of new knowledge about tea. Last week, the Institute conducted the first of 15 Professional Tea Program lectures in collaboration with tea industry experts. The live online learning advances the vision of a Certificate Program for tea professionals. The deadline to register is Oct. 10 Tea Industry Leaders Sharing Knowledge from the Own-Lived Experience – Fifty years ago, career tracks for tea professionals were the province of global brands and expansive plantations. Future executives were recruited young, rigorously trained, and tested. Aspiring brokers spent hours in labs refining their ability to discern tea quality and set market prices. Future managers assimilated a wealth of knowledge as leaf line supervisors in the fields and junior factory officers. There is no substitute for on-the-job experience, but the 15 industry veterans who teach the course engage in a lively exchange of information among peers, replicating the one-on-one training essential to building confidence when dealing with real-world situations. GTI Founder and Director Prof. Katharine Burnett explains, "We started the UC Davis Global Tea Institute Professional Tea Program at the request of the tea industry. The instructors are largely from the industry itself. And that means these are leaders in the field who can talk to you about the tea supply chain, blending or plucking, and transport. They know from their own lived experience what they're talking about. Bringing this wealth of expertise to the classroom and the group is, frankly, pretty extraordinary." Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tea-biz/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Retail Sales Projections are Ho-Hum for the Holidays | Sales growth adjusted for inflation will be in the single digits, the lowest growth rate since the financial crisis | India Abandons Bharat Experiment and Returns to English Tea Auction Rules | UC Davis Tea Institute Launches a Training Program for Tea Professionals | FEATURE INTRO – A greater share of revenues from tea needs to reach growers. Smallholders worldwide produce most of the world’s tea by volume – yet their net earnings are only a tiny fraction of the product's retail price. Establishing price minimums for raw leaves encourages overproduction – but failing to price green leaves high enough to recover the rising cost of labor and inputs leads to low yields and mediocre quality. The situation is acute in South India, where thousands of growers gathered daily this month to draw attention to their plight. Aravinda Anantharaman reports from the Nilgiri mountains. Desperate Tea Workers in India Protest Silently for Weeks – For over 20 days this September, more than 30,000 people took part in a silent hunger protest on behalf of farmers, mainly from the indigenous Bataga Community living in Ooty, Kothagiri, and Coonoor in the Nilgiris mountains of South India. The demonstrations ended last week, but only after the High Court took cognizance of the petitions that urgently plead the case for fixing a minimum price for green leaf. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tea-biz/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

HEAR THE HEADLINES – New Report Examines the Causes of Gender-based Abuse in Tea | Case Study of James Finlay Kenya following BBC expose | Tea Price Protests in India Continue for Third Week | High Temps Lower Yields of Türkiye’s Black Sea Tea | FEATURE INTRO – This week, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s World Heritage Committee, meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, inscribed as a World Heritage site the Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests of Jingmai Mountain in China’s Yunnan Province. Ancient Forests are a Model for Sustainable Tea Production – UNESCO inscribed five well-preserved ancient forests on its World Heritage List, totaling 1.2 million tea trees on Jingmai Mountain. Two rivers and steep valleys bound the 1,200 acres (18,000 mu) under tea. Jingmai is China’s 57th World Heritage Site. The forest dates to the Quaternary Ice Age. Yunnan is where tea trees likely first evolved. Ancient cultivars growing there rise to 30 feet with crowns spanning 36 feet with trunks several feet in diameter. The oldest have survived 3,200 years. The inscription, one of 41 announced, recognizes the efforts of the Bulang [Blang] and Dai tribes responsible for devising and maintaining forest cultivation of more than a million tea trees for over a thousand years. The model they created, climbing high into the limbs to harvest leaves from trees untreated by chemicals, predates tea gardens and plantations and survives profitably today. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tea-biz/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tea-biz/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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.” Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tea-biz/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tea-biz/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tea-biz/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tea-biz/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tea-biz/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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.” Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tea-biz/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tea-biz/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tea-biz/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tea-biz/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy