HEAR THE HEADLINES – A Global Recession Looms | A Realignment of the Orthodox Tea Supply Chain is Underway | Assam to Open First High Schools for Children of Tea Workers

| GUEST – Korangani Tea Estate planter and mechanical engineer Ranjit Chaliha

| FEATURE INTRO – In this installment of Frugal Innovations, Tea Biz travels to Assam, India, to meet planter and mechanical engineer Ranjit Chaliha who describes the Varun, a device named after the Hindi God of Wind that recirculates heated exhaust to conserve energy and eliminate the inconsistencies in tea dryers that lower tea quality.

Achieving Consistency and Efficiency in Drying Tea – The Model Tea Factory at Tocklai was constructed during Ranjit Chaliha's tenure as chairman of the engineering subcommittee of India's Tea Research Association. During this time he began experimenting with equipment to recirculate exhaust in the factory's tea dryers. At an engineering symposium on tea machinery in 1998, Chaliha presented a paper describing the benefits of recirculating exhaust air. He based his findings on experiments and filed for a patent. A dozen years later, he was finally awarded recognition for his innovation, Varun, a device that reduces inconsistencies in drying tea.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Sri Lanka Tea Harvest is Under Duress | China faces a Qing Ming Quandary | Tea and Productivity are Twinned 

| NEWSMAKER – Sri Lanka Tea Board Chairman Mr. Jayampathy Molligoda

| FEATURE INTRO – This week Tea Biz travels to Sri Lanka where London-based correspondent Dananjaya Silva speaks with the chairman of the Sri Lanka Tea Board about its decision to pursue a Geographical Indication by the European Union. GI status affords global trade protection under the World Trade Organization and officially recognizes the authenticity of the Ceylon brand.

Why Sri Lanka is Seeking Geographical Indication Status for its Ceylon Tea – Sri Lanka has been producing tea for well over 150 years marketed under the brand name Ceylon tea. Today the Sri Lankan tea board is looking to pursue GI Geographical Indication status for its much fame product. GI indication is a seal of authenticity used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or reputations that are due to that origin. Correspondent Dananjaya Silva sat down with Sri Lanka Tea Board Chairman Mr. Jayampathy Molligoda to discuss how the tea board is pursuing GI status and what this means for prices for producers and for the nation's tea.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – American Consumers say The Worst of the Coronavirus Pandemic has Passed | Expect Strong Venture Capital Support for Retail in 2022 | Join Tea Biz "On the Floor" at World Tea Conference + Expo| PLUS listen to how the Boba Guys are Building a Gateway to Tea

| NEWSMAKER – Andrew Chau, co-founder and CEO Boba Guys, bubble tea shops in San Francisco. Los Angeles and New York City

| FEATURE INTRO – This week Tea Biz traveled to Las Vegas for the World Tea Conference + Expo where Boba Tea CEO Andrew Chau, a featured speaker, explains how relentless attention to quality elevated a simple mix of milk tea and tapioca to a $3 billion global segment that is enticing a generation of non-tea drinkers to give tea a try.

'We Really Push the Envelope for Quality' – Boba Guys make their drinks with natural fruit, real milk, real foamed cheese, raw sugar, and natural tea, brewed from loose-leaf oolong and other quality varietals and served with tapioca balls made in their factory. The bustling chain, now with 20 locations in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York City, was co-founded by Andrew Chau and Bin Chen.

| ON THE FLOOR at World Tea Conference + Expo – Mackenzie Bailey is On the Floor with the Tea Biz podcast at the 20th anniversary of the World Tea Conference + Expo. She reports a high level of excitement with tea vendors, customers, and attendees of the adjacent Bar and Restaurant Expo. Mackenzie spoke with several tea vendors about how the event unfolded.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Russia and India Pursue Sanction Workarounds for Tea | Tea Party at the Top of the World | Tea Biz Previews the 20th Anniversary World Tea Expo 

| GUEST – Rajiv Lochan, founder of Lochan Tea and owner of the Doke Tea Estate in Bihar, India

| FEATURES – This week Tea Biz travels to Siliguri, India to speak with Rajiv Lochan, founder of the Doke Tea Estate in Bihar, a non-traditional tea growing region bounded by West Bengal, Sikkim, and Nepal. Lochan’s marketing mastery has literally put Bihar on the official map of India’s tea-growing regions.

The Rise of New Tea Growing Regions –India proudly claims Assam and Darjeeling, two of the world’s most famous tea-growing regions. Yet neither grew tea until 175 years ago and it took 50 years to achieve scale. Today Indian consumers drink 90% of the tea it produces. It is only recently that domestic consumption surpassed exports and the expansion of tea lands. Growing regions are inherently blessed with tea-enhancing terroir, but ideal soil conditions, altitude, and micro-climate still require the pioneering vision and gritty persistence of growers like Rajiv to achieve their potential. Rajiv graduated from university in 1973 with a master's degree in organic chemistry. He spent his early career managing established gardens where the skills he developed in cultivating award-winning teas were complemented by his efficient management. In 1998, the Indian government, noticing the strong growth in domestic sales, issued permits to expand tea lands. Adhering to biodynamic principles, Lochan planted drought-resistant cultivars in the loamy soil along the Doke River. He now produces green, white, and oolong teas and black fusion, a blend of Assam and Darjeeling teas. It took him 10 years to acquire and consolidate smaller plots into the Doke Tea Estate.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Beverage Multinationals Suspend Operations in Russia | Once Unleashed, Sanctions Have an Unpredictable Bite | Extreme Winter Transitions to a Gentle Spring  

| NEWSMAKER – Ian Gibbs, chairman since 2016 of the International Tea Committee  

| FEATURES – This week, Tea Biz travels to the UK offices of the International Tea Committee, where Chairman Ian Gibbs describes several immediate and possibly long-term impacts on the global tea trade - stemming from the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.  

Payment Concerns Further Disrupt Tea Supply Chain – During a period of upheaval caused by the pandemic, the tea industry’s newest worries include guaranteeing payment for containers of tea without violating sanctions while booking scarce carriers for shipments to the Russian Federation and Ukraine.

As the ruble’s value collapsed, Russian tea buyers accustomed to favorable credit terms now find it difficult to secure the financing needed to pay upfront, according to Ian Gibbs, chairman since 2016 of the International Tea Committee (ITC). Gibbs predicts a dip – but not a significant drop in the volume of tea shipped to the world’s third most valuable tea market. In 2020 the Russian Federation imported 142,000 metric tons of tea valued at more than $400 million and produced 4,000 metric tons of its tea, grown in Southern Russia along the coast of the Black Sea near Sochi.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Russian Invasion Roils Tea Trade | Duncans Troubled Tea Gardens are Bought Out of Bankruptcy | The Pandemic Transformed Tea Tourism, a TEAIN22 Forecast

| NEWSMAKER – Anil Cooke, managing director and CEO of Asia Siyaka Commodities 

| FEATURES – This week Tea Biz travels to Colombo, Sri Lanka to assess the impact of the war in Ukraine on one of the Russian Federation’s most important tea trading partners. Correspondent Dananjaya Silva spoke with veteran exporter Anil Cooke, managing director and CEO of Asia Siyaka Commodities. Cooke's insights offer clarity amid a fast-changing crisis that is disturbing global harmony in tea.

Sri Lanka's Close Ties to Russia and Ukraine –Russia, which annually imports 150,000 metric tons of tea faces an unprecedented combination of payment and logistics barriers that are already interrupting supply. The combined resolve of governments condemning the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has created uncertainty over prompt clearance of payments. Sanctions that exclude Russian banks from the SWIFT global payment system and threats to the liquidity of Russia’s Central Bank led to a severe devaluation of the ruble making tea imports far more costly. In addition, closing airspace and the collective refusal of the world’s shipping companies to deliver or receive goods pose severe barriers to the movement of tea.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – The Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says the Tea Industry Can Help Transform the Global AgriFood System | Domestic Demand Drives Bangladesh’s Surge in Production | Tea Biz Recounts 2021’s Advances in Health & Wellness, a TEAIN22 Forecast. 

| GUEST – Mike Bunston, OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire), is chairman of the London Tea History Association, honorary chairman of the International Tea Committee, and serves as Sri Lanka’s Tea Ambassador. 

| FEATURES – This week, Tea Biz travels to the Tea History Collection in the UK, where Bernadine Tay discusses modern innovation in tea with taster extraordinaire Mike Bunston. 

Tea Taster Extraordinaire Mike Bunston’s First Taste of Bubble Tea –Mike Bunston recently visited the Tea History Collection in Banbury, Oxfordshire, to videotape a tasting of modern teas, including milk tea, a Jasmine-Mango fruit tea, and his first taste of bubble tea. Charlie Shortt, a co-founder of the Tea History Collection, organized the tasting and narrated this exchange. Bunston then spoke with Bernadine Tay, founder of Quinteassential Teas, sharing his insights on modern tea innovation. “I think what people can do nowadays, with modern technology and all the bright ideas people have, all things are possible,” said Bunston.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Globally, Tea Consumption is Regaining its Momentum | West Lake Longjing Digital Authentication Launches March 1 

| Tea Acquisitions, and Mergers Were Few in 2021, a TEAIN22 Forecast  

| GUEST – Christine Folch, assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Duke University in North Carolina  

| FEATURES – This week, Tea Biz travels to Duke University in North Carolina, where Jessica Woollard explores the cultural underpinnings and growing interest in drinking Yaupon tea. Yaupon is made from the caffeinated leaves of a species of holly tree native to the Americas. Close relatives include Yerba Mate and Guayusa. 

The Cultural Heritage of Yaupon – What makes one beverage more popular than another? What makes a beverage take hold at one moment in history over another? Christine Folch, assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Duke University in North Carolina, explores these questions through her research on three beverages of the ilex, or holly, genus: yerba matte, yaupon, and guayusa

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Restaurants are Clawing Back to Normal | Nepal Tea Exports Plunge | Tea is a Bit Tepid in Grocery, a TEAIN22 Forecast 

| NEWSMAKER – Elizeth R.S. van der Vorst, Consultora de Negócios do Chá, Certified TAC Tea Sommelier

| FEATURES – This week Tea Biz travels to South America where tea lovers from across Brazil are organizing the country’s first Tea Culture Week scheduled for early August 2022. Amigos dos Cha founder Elizeth R.S. van der Vorst, Eli to her friends, and Yuri Hayashi, founder of Escola de Chá Embahú in São Paulo announced the event. Eli joins us this week to discuss tea culture in Brazil. 

Brazil Announces a National Celebration of Tea Culture –Tea Culture Week, scheduled for August 1-7, 2022 will feature online and in-person activities across the country. Retailers, marketers, tea educators, and volunteer enthusiasts have been planning the event for months according to Eli. Events include special tastings, formal afternoon tea, gift offers, and discounts to encourage sampling as well as public presentations, workshops, and gatherings in parks and tea houses. The more than 200 million people living in Brazil, a country hard-hit during the pandemic, are traversing a familiar path as health-conscious consumers seek plant-based foods and beverages. During the period 2013 to 2020 tea consumption increased 25%, “almost double the world average of 13%” according to market research firm Euromonitor. In the past five years specialty tea cafes and franchised tea emporiums have flourished, says Eli.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Finlays’ and Firmenich Partner in Tea and Coffee | Japan Tea Exports Rise to New Record | Nothing is Normal in Tea Logistics, a TEANIN22 Forecast | PLUS The IDH Roadmap to a Living Wage| NEWSMAKER – Judith Fraats, senior program manager IDH, the sustainable trade initiative| FEATURES – This week, Tea Biz travels to Amsterdam in the Netherlands where Judith Fraats, senior program manager at IDH, the sustainable trade initiative, discusses the IDH living wage roadmap and how tea companies can ensure a living wage for workers at every link of the supply chain.IDH Roadmap to a Living Wage –A sustainable future in tea depends on a shared responsibility among stakeholders to assure living wages (for workers) and a living income for smallholders. Last fall, Netherlands-based IDH, the sustainable trade initiative, introduced the Living Wages Roadmap, a platform, online wage matrix, and guide to help businesses assess potential wage gaps along their supply chain. Case studies show that companies that pay a living wage to achieve greater productivity, less turnover, and a competitive marketing advantage by improving the quality of life for workers.