France’s oldest tea house, Mariage Frères, opened its first maison de thé in Paris in 1854, building on the family tradition of tea importing and trading since 1660. Then, in 1984, Mariage Frères opened to the retail trade, and continued to open further locations across Paris, Japan, London and Germany. 

The Covent Garden location I visited opened in 2018, after the success of its Selfridges boutique in 2012. It is a beautiful building set over two floors for the public, consisting of a ground floor tea shop, with displays of patisseries to take away, as well as their myriad teas, and exquisite tea paraphernalia. There is also a floor above containing the tearoom, where visitors could sit and enjoy its edible offerings, accompanied of course by a vast selection of Mariage Frères teas, overlooking the shop floor below, or out onto the busy street at the front. 

Out on display, front and centre, was Mariage Frères anniversary blend, ‘Birthday in Love’, which is a handpicked Darjeeling, with additions of bergamot, rose petals and jasmine, which comes in a red, pink and gold box of 30 individual tea muslins. And, as part of their summer launches, there was also the newest addition to the Mariage Frères iced tea portfolio, many of which are themed to specific locations or cities, and so it was apt timing for the Parisian tea company to launch ‘Paris Summer.’ Housed in a large jar, the loose-leaf tea is designed to be cold brewed, and consists of green tea with yuzu, mint, green bergamot and rose petals. Also in the summer launches, were the tea infused and inspired patisseries, such as the ‘Bon Anniversaire’ cream cake and ‘Tea Ice-Cream Sandwich’, both flavoured with the ‘Paris Summer’ tea. 

In between sampling the new offerings, I spoke to Mariage Frères’ Covent Garden store manager, Benjamin Biget, about the launches and the company’s ethos. He emphasised that quality is everything, and they are entirely immovable on that fact. They negotiate directly with farmers, not just to ensure a fair price, but also to ensure the highest standard of quality, including that they are organic. If an ingredient used in one of their teas or blends is no longer available at the high standard Mariage Frères requires, then the product it is used in will just be no longer available for however long it takes, explained Biget. Mariage Frères won’t compromise by subbing in an inferior ingredient just to keep the product line available for customers. This is especially essential since many are very often ‘made to measure’ exclusively for Mariage Frères. All Mariage Frères teas and infusions are rigorously tested for compliance to strict standards of quality and organic practices, and the Mariage Frères  ‘Jardin Premier’ stamp, certifies that they meet the standard. Biget added that, while this is a very expensive process for the company, it is non-negotiable. 

This sense of fastidiousness and tradition is part of the fabric of Mariage Frères, said Biget, and transparency is everything. Little has changed in the company since it first opened its doors to the public, yet it continues as a steadfast brand associated with French elegance. Mariage Frères achieves this, explained Biget, by staying in its own “bubble,” not looking at what competitors are doing, only focusing on themselves and staying true to its purpose and way of doing things. 

Most of the news we receive at Tea & Coffee Trade Journal can be rather coffee-oriented, and I think that is because tea is so much more steeped in tradition, as evidenced by Mariage Frères and its “bubble.” The tea world seems to want to do things the way it has always done them, and doesn’t feel the need to be constantly reinventing itself the way coffee sometimes does. This mentality clearly works, with tea being the most consumed beverage in the world, second only to water, beating its coffee counterpart. Tea is associated with tradition and propriety; you only have to look at the huge popularity of afternoon tea services that places such as Mariage Frères and many prestigious London hotels provide. There is an appetite for the experience as well as the tea, and this is something that Mariage Frères felt acutely aware of on my visit. Something I will continue to ponder, over the ‘Paris Summer’ iced tea I took home with me! 

• Kathryn Brand, associate editor, Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.
  Keep in touch via email: kathryn@bellpublishing.com Twitter: @TCTradeJournal or LinkedIn: Tea & Coffee Trade Journal

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In partnership with eight female tea entrepreneurs from across the globe, The Tea Group is launching The Ladies Tea Collection this National Tea Day (21 April) which has been curated to give back to the women working in the tea industry around the world.

This collection of brand-new teas will be showcased to represent some of the most prestigious hotel brands at the Jersey Fine Tea plantation. Hoteliers and luxury hospitality operators such as the Four Seasons, One&Only, Le Dam De Pic, The Landmark and Searcys will have the opportunity to put the spotlight on their establishments by harvesting the tea themselves and indulging in sampling it first before they introduce it to their guests.

Proud to have created the world’s first network dedicated and committed to helping women working in the tea industry, Managing Director of The Tea Group Díaz Ayub said: “We are delighted to be announcing the launch of our simply beautiful Ladies Tea Collection to mark this year’s National Tea Day on 21 April. The collection is a true labour of love, bringing together a selection of the most delicious and delicate blends of tea from across the world – all imagined and brought to our tea cups by astoundingly talented women in the tea industry.

“The event on the island of Jersey, kindly hosted by Visit Jersey and one of our featured Ladies Tea Collection brands, Jersey Fine Tea, is an opportunity for the luxury hospitality sector to be the first to enjoy and experience this stunning collection.

“We want to put the spotlight on tea in a way that brings the versatility, playfulness and experiential nature of the drink to life for those who enjoy it most – and that is female drinkers. Our research shows that the majority of tea drinkers and tea employees are female, which is why our new collection is centered on the female tea experience.”

The collection features brand new blends of tea from eight inspirational women tea leaders across the world, including:

• Sakura Green Tea – a vibrant and creamy blend by Saeri of Chill Tea Tokyo
• Premium Black Tea – a rich and malty flavour from Jess of Jersey Fine Tea
• China Green Tea – a refreshing and smooth oolong from Maria of New World Tea
• A brand new Elegant Earl Grey Tea – a rich and robust flavour from Darcey of Darcey’s Tea Co
• Dawn Tea – a sweet and rich blend by Kate Moss’s Cosmoss
• Opus Raw Pu Er Tea – an elegant and robust brew from Carole of Teaspec
• Organic Turmeric Chai – a spicy and fragrant tea from Vishaka of Tea People
• Dubai Chai – a spicy and robust blend from Noreen of Tribe Tea

Developing the focus on the new collection, Díaz Ayub – who launched The Tea Group and National Tea Day in 2015 in order to recalibrate the perception of tea as a drink not just of necessity and routine, but also of pleasure, ceremony and refinement – said he was excited to also launch a series of events in the UK.

Díaz Ayub added: “After our trip to Jersey, we look forward to launching a very special new event in London. We’ve crafted a ‘7 Chakra Teatime Experience,’ launching at The Mandrake Hotel, which will include a tea pairing of seven courses, all designed to stimulate each of the seven chakras through colour and the functionality of the food and featuring teas from five ladies from around the world.”

The Ladies Tea Collection has been created to give back to women working in tea plantations, tea businesses and tea cultures. Women constitute 65% of the world’s tea consumption, and it is women who are largely responsible for the careful planting, delicate picking, processing and packaging of tea.

50% of all profits from the Ladies Tea Collection will be collated and donated to enhance education, health-care and sanitary services for women in tea, the world over. The Tea Group is in the process of creating The Ladies Tea Foundation, which will continue to give back to these women in tea. Next year, to mark National Tea Day 2025, the organisation will announce how much has been raised from the Ladies Tea Collection and how the funds have been donated.

Díaz Ayub added: “Our new selection of teas has been curated in direct response to the survey of more than 2,000 people we conducted last year, which revealed that the traditional English Breakfast tea was fast becoming a second or third choice since 2019 when it accounted for 85% of sales in 2019 according to a Unilever report. In 2024, tea lovers are opting for new wellness and mindful-centered teas amongst an ever-growing selection of delectable teas.

“The teas in the Ladies Tea Collection, from Kate, Carole, Vishaka, Noreen, Maria, Jess, Saeri and Darcey are an eclectic mix, speaking to all preferences, moods and tastes. We can’t wait to hear how our customers and followers enjoy sampling and pairing these gorgeous teas and to see the impact of the Ladies Tea Collection on the women behind the magic of these beautiful flavours, who work and live in the tea-growing communities.”

The Ladies Tea Collection will be officially launched on National Tea Day 2024. Available to purchase online at The Tea Shop and served in luxury retailers and hotels around the world.

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More scope and agency lie with both the farmer and the brands selling the tea to define the grade of the tea they produce or sell, whether that be specialty, premium, commodity, or the infinite distinctions in between. And this largely is centered around pricing; if the tea costs more to produce it needs to be priced higher and is therefore generally considered a higher grade tea, but there may also be a discrepancy between how the brand positions itself and the quality of the tea it is selling.

Premium and specialty tea, most would agree, is of an elevated quality, and the consumer will recognise this at the point of purchase by factors such as its price point, packaging (loose leaf, specialty tins, pyramid tea bags etc), origin information, sustainability credentials, or how and where it is sold. But the question remains, how much overlap is there between the two segments, and is there a way of distinguishing one from the other? Are there certain attributes only associated with specialty tea, for example? Without the clear distinction of coffee available, it is easy for the segments to blend into one another, or as Marco Sinram, head of tea trading and sustainability at Wollenhaupt commented, for the premium label to be a mere marketing tool rather than a differentiation from its commodity grade cohort.

Attempting to distinguish specialty and premium

Wollenhaupt, a wholesaler that also provides blending, flavouring and packaging services, operates across all grades of tea, commodity through premium and specialty. “We are catering, on the one hand side, to large industrial customers with very commercial qualities. And on the other hand, we are also supplying, to very specialised kinds of customers, high-end teas which can be called a real specialty rather than premium,” explained Sinram. Therefore, where Wollenhaupt crosses the spectrum of tea, it is in a unique position that necessitates dividing the tea it processes into segments, and translating somewhat arbitrary distinctions into something it can put a value against.

Sinram marked the distinction between specialty and premium as such; “Premium certainly is defined as high quality, but it can also be, for example, a blend of various types of tea or various origins of tea. Whereas the true specialty tea we would rather define as a single origin tea, or even to be more defined, which is located from a single tea estate, or even more specific in our case, which is being produced from a special type of tea plant cultivar.” He added further that it can also come down to the specific method of production that makes a tea unique, and therefore specialty. However, Sinram agrees there can be overlap between premium and specialty.

There is concurrence with Sinram’s perspective and that of Hälssen & Lyon, which trades, refines, blends, flavours and packages teas from the world’s leading tea-producing countries. The company’s spokesperson defined premium tea products as “orthodox produced whole leaf or broken Camellia sinensis products, as well as fruit or herbal products with visually appealing flowers and a wide range of high quality flavourings.” Whereas specialty tea comes “from specific regions or growing areas and is often inaccessible to the average consumer due to their limited availability and high price. In comparison, premium teas are much more accessible due to the unlimited variety of flavours that are available in each tea category.” The region where the tea is grown remains crucial in defining the category, as does the availability, which both drives the price and is a symptom of it.

Image: Wollenhaupt

Similarly, Sandra Nikolei, a member of Kloth & Köhnken’s (K&K) tea department/corporate social responsibility team, emphasised the production method, “specialty tea means it is a special tea, it was not produced a ‘normal’ way. The shape or the leaf size must be special, formed or like a Pai Mu Tan, just sun dried and not formed. [Whereas] Premium tea can be made by normal production but the taste must be special. The taste must be unique or extra ordinary.” K&K wholesales, blends and packages some of the world’s finest teas.

This suggests that, while the precise distinction can verge into the realm of vague, it is possible to pinpoint distinct and tangible attributes that separate specialty tea from premium, and indeed most importantly, set specialty on a level above that of premium. However, this viewpoint is not universal, and is not shared by all corners of the tea industry. Mark Donovan, head of botanicals, flavours & innovation at Tata Consumer, which includes five tea brands under its umbrella (teapigs, Tetley, Tata Tea, Good Earth, and Vitax), commented, “The term specialty tea is a construct of the industry. […] I would define specialty tea as any tea (whether leaf or fannings) that is not a straight black or green tea. Within all three sectors there is premium tea, which consumers equate to price point rather than actual quality or type of tea.”

Donovan’s point is reiterated by Bala Sarda, founder & CEO of Vahdam Tea. “Specialty teas encompass a broader category of teas that have been enhanced or infused with additional ingredients, flavours, or production techniques. These teas, also known as value-added teas, include blends incorporating herbs, spices, flowers, or fruits to create unique and innovative flavour combinations. Specialty teas may also encompass limited edition blends or signature blends developed for special occasions,” he noted.

Whereas premium teas, Sarda explained, “are defined by their exceptional quality and often command higher prices in the market. These teas are typically sourced from specific regions known for producing high-quality leaves, such as select invoices of first or second flush from renowned tea-growing regions like Assam and Darjeeling. Premium teas are prized for their distinct flavour profiles, aromas, and superior craftsmanship, making them sought after by tea connoisseurs who value excellence and authenticity.” In other words, how Hälssen & Lyon’s spokesperson, Sinram and Nikolei define specialty tea.

It is evident that even for actors within the tea supply chain, there is confusion and discordance about what exactly specialty tea is when compared to premium tea and whether they can even be distinguished from one another. However, both categories are distinct from commodity or mass produced tea and their origins and production reflect this.

Higher quality tea at origin

Premium and specialty teas are generally grown on smaller farms, with less land and therefore lower yields, not only due to the land size but also due to the very nature of the tea. “You cannot use every leaf. Mostly you use only two leaves and one bud or even less,” explained Nikolei, resulting in the cost of raw materials on a weight basis, being much higher, added Donovan. Further, such teas require gentle handling and additional training when being harvested, increasing the labour costs at the farms. “It’s more labour intense, because to maintain specialised types of tea plant cultivars, it definitely takes more time and labour to look after,” said Sinram. The quality requirements are just that much higher.

“Quality control stands as a paramount aspect, necessitating meticulous oversight at every stage of production. This involves not only the careful selection of tea leaves but also the implementation of precise processing techniques and stringent quality control measures to ensure consistency and excellence in the final product,” stated Sarda. And this quality control can also include adherence to certifications such as Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, or organic, which involves further cost from the producer, as well as specialised processing techniques to preserve the best flavours. It is a much more cost intensive process for the farmer, which they hope to offset by being able to charge a higher price.

And this is normally the case, with the cost being transferred along the supply chain and resulting in a higher priced tea at point of sale. This is a higher price in relation to commodity grade tea, however it can vary widely from only a little higher, to a lot higher, depending on the tea, and quite how premium or specialty it is, as well as how the company selling it chooses to market it.

Selling premium & specialty tea

It is becoming increasingly common to see higher quality or premium-grade tea in supermarkets and grocery stores, brands such as teapigs or certain ranges of Twining’s and Pukka, being the major UK ones. But in order to find the truly the most premium or specialty teas, Sinram said the number one place they are best sold is in dedicated tea shops.

Image: teapigs

“Some of the most outstanding quality teas we sell end up in specialised tea shops because you need to give the consumer who buys high quality tea, a specialty type of tea at a fancy price. [However,] you need to [offer] this consumer a lot of information, otherwise they will not accept the high price unless they understand the reason why the product [is so pricey],” said Sinram, adding, “and with the understanding and with knowledge, the consumer is more [willing] to pay a [high] price for such a product. And in my personal opinion, that works best in the shop where you have a face-to-face kind of experience between the knowledgeable shopkeeper and the consumer. I think this is still the best way to sell a specialty tea; either tea shop or specialty food shop.”

Sinram explained that the next best option for selling specialty or premium teas is online, where a lot of information about the teas can be provided; origin, background knowledge, special ways of preparation. There are myriad possibilities for brands to showcase this online, whether it be text, images, graphics or videos.

It is the additional information that is provided about premium and specialty teas that also sets them apart. In the same way as coffee, if a consumer is paying a higher price, they want more information for that price; they want to truly understand what it is they are paying the extra cost for and why. If one is to accept Sinram, Nikolei and Hälssen & Lyon’s spokesperson’s distinction of premium and specialty, whereby specialty tea is that step above premium and exceptionally contingent on specific regions and cultivars, it is in these tea shops where this kind of tea is best appreciated and sold, and the information supplied with it is essential.

The demand for quality

The appetite from consumers for higher quality teas is on the rise. “Based on Nielsen Market data, American consumers are showing declining demand for commodity grade teas and are more than willing to pay a little more to get a significantly better beverage experience,” revealed Darren Marshall, CEO of Smith Teamaker.

Vahdam Tea’s Sarda also noted an uptick in demand for higher quality tea, and credits this to consumers’ heightened interest in the nutritional value of the products they consume; “Higher quality teas, known for their rich antioxidants and other wellness-promoting properties, are becoming increasingly sought after by consumers seeking to enhance their overall well-being.” He also referenced the growing emphasis on origin and authenticity, and as a result the sustainability of such products, as well as the desire for indulgence and sensory pleasure which has prevailed, along with demand for wellness, since the Covid-19 pandemic.

While there may be growth in the premium segment, Sinram argued that for the especially high-end, or what he defines as specialty tea segment, there is some growth, but it is expected to remain a niche market. “I think it’s natural that these types of products will never be a mass type of market product.”

Nevertheless, there is some growth, and a reason for that, Sinram noted, is due to Western consumers, especially the younger demographic, being attracted by Asian culture, Asian food and Asian rituals. And this especially involves tea. Sinram said that they are “interested in preparation of high quality tea, the Asian way. Which is a very specific type of tea preparation compared to what we do in the UK, and what we do in Germany and so on. And it’s appealing to consumers.” Sinram added that specialised tea courses are becoming popular, where consumers can learn about tea production and especially preparation, much like is common in the wine segment with tastings and vineyard visits.

This knowledge is so much more readily available to consumers with the dominance of the internet and social media. Rituals and expert preparation techniques can be learnt freely and readily across the world. Highly premium and specialty tea is something, as Sinram noted, that is still a niche market in the Western world. However, this is not the case in specialty tea-producing countries such as China, Japan and Taiwan. He explained that the “main ratio of their production, and specifically also the high quality part of their production, is tending to remain in country for internal consumption,” because the demand as well as understanding and knowledge for high quality teas is so much higher and consumers are willing to spend a lot more money for such teas. So, a lot of highly premium and specialty teas are not being exported to reach the Western market as there is such a good internal requirement.

Yet with the desire for knowledge surrounding specialty and premium teas in consuming countries growing, it will not be surprising to begin to hear more calls for a universal definition of specialty tea, as in the specialty coffee world. If large players in the tea industry remain ambiguous and even discordant on how to differentiate and articulate tea quality, then how can consumers be expected to fully engage with and understand the information companies give them about their premium or specialty teas, or make informed decisions about their purchases? An accepted definition would be useful and would help clarify the difference between premium and specialty tea in the eyes of consumers, as well as bringing the specialty tea world up to the lofty success of specialty coffee.

• Kathryn Brand is an associate editor on T&CTJ, while still writing for several of Bell’s other magazines. She joined Bell Publishing at the beginning of 2022 after graduating from the University of East Anglia with a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing. She may be reached at: kathryn@bellpublishing.com.

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Jordan Moore, director, emerging beverages at market research firm, NIQ Consumer & Category Outlook, noted that, although inflation may be decelerating, prices are still trending higher. In fact, CPG inflation has been well above the general inflation average in the US. “Consumers are feeling the pinch, with buying power significantly eroded,” she said, adding that consumers are spending 33% more at the grocery in the past 3+ years.

Any growth is largely inflationary as dollar growth is slowing, and shipments are down, but costs are higher. Tea volumes have been affected by the double-digit price increases. “RTD tea is still outperforming packaged tea, both black and green, with green experiencing the largest drop,” said Moore.

Gary Hemphill, managing director of research at the Beverage Marketing Group, echoed Moore’s comments, explaining that after the pandemic, consumer confidence dropped sharply. “US beverage market growth has been soft in 2022 and 2023 after a pandemic-induced performance rebound in 2021. Revenues have generally outpaced volume growth — a trend that has accelerated since 2021 due mostly to high inflation.”

Refreshment beverages have outperformed the overall beverage market, but volume performance has been soft the last two years, with most refreshment beverage categories experiencing slower growth in 2023. Hemphill said that the total tea category has been soft in recent years as the overall category has experienced modest declines. RTD tea returned to volume losses in 2022 and 2023, after pandemic recovery-based growth in 2021, but he shared, “the category remains well-positioned from a health and wellness perspective.”

It’s not ‘new’ news to say that health and wellness are key market drivers. Hence, beverage categories with health wellness attributes are outperforming those without. “People want healthier refreshment; caloric intake from refreshment beverages has been steadily declining over the last decade,” Hemphill commented, noting that “the diet segment of RTD tea is one of the best developed in all liquid refreshment beverage categories because it also includes unsweetened product.”

As consumers migrate to healthier options, they want more variety, and RTD tea offers that. The bulk of the RTD tea category is comprised of mainstream brands – PepsiCo/Lipton, Arizona and Coca-Cola are the leaders in the RTD tea category with the three combined accounting for more than half of the RTD category – however, both premium and specialty tea have made slight share gains in recent years, as more innovation is coming at the high end of the market.

“Innovations have played a key role in RTD tea, although much of the recent innovation has been in tea-adjacent categories,” Hemphill explained. “Much of the growth of RTD tea has been hived off into separate categories such as kombucha and mate/guayusa, but there are also other attempts at innovation such as cold brew and even herbal tea-based wellness soda.”

He noted that increasingly, there is an overlapping of alcohol and no-alcohol categories. “RTD tea is no exception, providing the foundation for alternative adult beverages such as hard teas and cannabis-infused tea drinks.”

Hemphill stressed that competition in refreshment beverages is fierce with innovation coming from within categories along with new categories emerging.

Beverage-wise, consumers have more than ever to choose from, so for RTD tea to successfully compete, brands must remain innovative and continue to meet consumers’ changing demands and needs.

• Vanessa L Facenda, editor, Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.
  Keep in touch via email: vanessa@bellpublishing.com Twitter: @TCTradeJournal or LinkedIn: Tea & Coffee Trade Journal

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A total of thirty-six Highly Commended and thirteen Gold awards were presented by The Leafies judges, which include preeminent tea leaders from brands such as Fortnum & Mason, The Ritz London, Postcard Teas, Twinings, Lipton and more. A selection of Special Awards were also presented to individuals, estates, or institutions that were effecting positive change within the industry in areas such as education, community empowerment, innovation and environmental stewardship.

This winner of the Fortnum & Mason Best in Show award, and therefore the highest scoring tea of the entire competition, is Yame Tea Kumaen’s Gyokuro Saemidori, an exquisite steamed green tea produced by a tiny tea garden in a remote mountainous region in Fukuoka, Japan. Guests at the ceremony were able to sample this tea, brewed by Kazumi Nakatani who travelled from Japan, amongst twenty-five of the award-winning teas made available to taste.

Zealong Tea Estate were another notable winner of the afternoon, scooping three awards in total for its Aged Oolong, Aromatic Oolong and the UKTA Lifetime Achievement Award, recognising Zealong’s phenomenal efforts pioneering a tea culture in New Zealand and demonstrating a tireless commitment to environmental regeneration through its sustainable farming practice. Zealong CEO Gigi Crawford and International Marketing Manager Sen Kong were present at the ceremony to serve their teas and said “this award acknowledges 25 years of hard work bringing about a tea industry and culture in New Zealand by Zealong Tea Estate, we are deeply honoured and grateful to receive this award.”

The Leafies aims to connect primary tea producers with buyers and hospitality professionals and offer exposure to a global tea-focused market. A selection of winners will once again be selected for sale across Fortnum & Mason’s Rare Tea Counter, where six winning teas from last year are still currently being sold. Ottilie Cunningham, tea buyer for Fortnum & Mason, said, “An enormous thank you and huge congratulations to everyone for another successful year of The Leafies. The organisation that goes into the entire thing is immense and it is really exciting to see how much it has grown since last year’s launch.”

New for this year were categories for retailers who are selling tea online or in store and connecting tea drinkers with carefully selected high-quality teas. Triple award-winning Japanese tea shop, Chaki Co was started by three former tea producers in March this year. Dorothy’s Teas, a former UK Tea Academy student and retailer based in Cumbria, UK, won Gold in the BRITA sponsored White Tea category for her Shannon Estate Silver Needles White Tea.

The full list of winners is available on the UK Tea Academy website here.

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With zero use of plastic in these tea bags, tea drinkers are able to enjoy delicious flavours of tea conveniently, as well as re-steep their tea without worrying about consuming microplastics.

Easy to brew, no hassle whole leaf tea bags

Tea bags are typically packed with tea-bag cut leaves or Brokens and Fannings, which are small pieces of tea and tea dust left-over from the production process of whole leaf tea. Unlike tea-bag cut leaves or broken tea leaves, whole leaf teas need the space to fully unfurl in hot water, and release all the layers of their flavors and aromas. This is why whole leaf teas are typically sold unbagged.

Nepal Tea Collective’s improved pyramid design allows their whole leaf teas to fully unfurl within the tea bag. This is why the experience of aromas released while brewing a cup of tea with Nepal Tea Collective’s tea bags is similar to brewing a pot of loose leaf tea.

An array of flavours 

Nepal Tea Collective’s tea bags come in four tea varieties: Himalayan Sunrise Black tea, Himalayan Mist Green Tea, Nepali Breakfast Chai Blend, and Kathmandu Cosmos Decaf Spice Blend, for sale on Nepal Tea Collective website.

These tea bags contain organic, artisanal teas. Only the first two leaves and the terminal bud are hand-plucked with delicate care, and processed by tea artisans of eastern Nepal.

Himalayan Sunrise Black tea: 

Flavour notes: Dark Chocolate, Raisins, Cherries

Himalayan Mist: 

Flavour notes: Floral, Roasted Nuts, Green Tea

Nepali Breakfast:

Flavour notes: Warm Spices, Cinnamon, Ginger bread

Kathmandu Cosmos Organic Chai Blend:

Flavor notes: Fruity, Citrus, Lemon ZIng

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There were ample exhibitors from across the speciality food and beverage sphere, from chocolate, cheese, spirits, and of course a sprinkling of speciality tea and coffee companies.

The ground floor was largely made up of more established companies, such as the English Tea Shop, a partner of the event, which, like almost all the companies exhibiting, had samples on hand for inquisitive visitors. Venturing upstairs I came across a couple of coffee roasters: Wales-based Bay Coffee Roasters had a great selection of its coffees on display, including project specific blends and roasts, and Rounton Coffee Roasters, who were sporting recent Great Taste Awards for six of its specialty coffee products, including two stars for Sparkling Water Decaf Coffee and Colombian Wilton Benitez Pink Bourbon Coffee.

It was also a pleasure to meet some of the many smaller, newer companies at the show many of which were part of The Start-Up Village, comprising companies trading under two years. QuirkyMonkey was launched only in November 2022, and came to the Speciality & Fine Food Fair to display its nootropic mushroom coffees, as well as its recently introduced mushroom hot chocolate. Darwin Fletcher, QuirkyMonkey’s founder, developed the idea for the company after discovering how nootropic drinks could support his focus throughout the day with his neurodiversity. The show presented a great opportunity for new companies, such as QuirkyMonkey, to place themselves in front of possible buyers and collaborators.

There was certainly a theme of health benefits and functionality at the show, and not just across tea and coffee. Functionality, sustainability and ethical production seem to be a necessity for specialty products, as customers are seeking more from their purchases than just a great taste; if they are going to pay that bit extra, they want the extra benefits, whether that be to their health or to the environment. Consumers want to feel that they are using their money for a good cause, and specialty producers are rising to meet this demand, with a tide of Fairtrade, organic, and B-Corp certifications flooding the packaging, and frequently more wellness claims of improved sleep or mood, calmness, better digestion and pretty much anything else you could want.

While some more budget and commercial products may still be able to get away with dodging sustainability pressures for now, as they have the price point advantage, consumers seeking more premium and specialty products do not withhold such demands from their purchasing choices. The array of projects and efforts on display at the Speciality & Fine Food Fair were a credit to this.

• Kathryn Brand, associate editor, Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.
  Keep in touch via email: kathryn@bellpublishing.com Twitter: @TCTradeJournal or LinkedIn: Tea & Coffee Trade Journal

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In June 2021, Shanghai police broke up a ring of pu’er counterfeiting dens and confiscated over ten tonnes of fake pu’er cakes that would have been sold for an estimated 1.8 billion RMB (about USD $250 million). The police made a public display of destroying the seized teas, which included a road roller pulverising the fake cakes.

Police busts like this in China are not uncommon. Guangzhou police confiscated about 23,000 cakes in 2014, and 120,000 cakes again in 2018. Counterfeiting pu’er cakes appears to be big business.

Shanghai police steamroll counterfeit pu’er teas in June 2021. Image source: zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/420794580

Authentic pu’er cakes can be quite pricey. The value of pu’er is due to a combination of several factors. Pressed pu’er cakes can be aged for decades or even centuries. A properly aged pu’er is comparable to an aged bourbon or wine in that aged pu’er are appreciated for their exquisite character. Use of the name “pu’er” or “pu’erh” has also been deemed a protected geographical indication (PGI) within China since 2008, and a 2021 China/EU agreement expanded its international recognition.

Pu’er tea can only be produced within designated areas in Yunnan province. This PGI creates further constrictions on producers of authentic pu’er in that they now have a more defined region from which they must procure leaf of various quality levels and sizes to follow blend recipes. The more highly prized pu’er often comes from celebrated mountains where tea trees have been growing for hundreds of years. Generally, the better the mountain’s reputation and the more ancient the source tea trees, the more valuable the pu’er.

Before delving further into the nuances of pu’er and counterfeit pu’er, it helps to have some definitions in place. Outside of China, “pu’er” may be used to refer to many different dark teas. Dark teas are teas that have undergone a pile fermentation process in which bacteria and enzymes break down elements like naturally occurring sugars and amino acids in the tea leaves. This process is different from oxidation, the more common process that is controlled to create green, black, and wulong (oolong) teas. Dark teas are produced in Yunnan province as well as other provinces. Hunan province, for example, is known for producing various styles of dark tea, but Hunan dark teas would not be considered pu’er teas in China. Additionally, lower grade pu’er products, like some fannings and bulk leaf products bound for the export market, may be manufactured in the pu’er style in places outside of the PGI designated areas. These lower value pu’er items are best understood by the import countries as a product reflecting shu (see below) pu’er flavour and character without the intent of infringing on PGI status or counterfeiting.

Pu’er teas come from designated areas within Yunnan province. PGI and China domestic designations specify that pu’er tea must meet several criteria, including:

• The leaf material must come from the designated pu’er areas;
• The type of leaf used;
• The processing methods used.

When these criteria are met, two kinds of pu’er can be produced:

• Raw, or “sheng” pu’er. Sheng pu’er is a greener leaf that is often pressed into cakes for the purpose of aging over years or decades. The fundamentals of the traditional sheng pu’er process have been used for centuries.
• Ripe or “shu” pu’er. Shu pu’ers and shu pu’er processing methods were developed roughly 50 years ago to replicate some of the look and characteristics of sheng pu’er. It can be thought of as a type of rapid aging process, but the result is considered inferior to a well-aged sheng pu’er.

Modern pu’er cake nei fei with anti-counterfeiting features. Image: Google/JW Kaler

On the counterfeiting side, forgers employ several methods to create fakes. The more egregious counterfeits copy the packaging of well-known pu’er brands. This involves copying the outer wrapper of the pu’er cake along with the nei fei (paper label pressed into the surface leaves of the pu’er cake) and the nei piao (paper ‘ticket’ placed on top of the cake before wrapping the cake. More modern pu’er cakes employ anti-counterfeiting measures on their internal and external packaging.

In addition to imitating famous brands, counterfeiters may also use substandard tea leaf or leaf from outside of the official pu’er area. The overall quality of the tea cake may be compromised, with higher quality leaves showing on the outside of the pressed pu’er cake, while broken and poor quality leaves are used below the surface of the pressed cake. Newer and lesser-known pu’er brands may also falsify information on the mountain or the age of the trees that the leaf material came from, knowing that older trees and specific mountain origins command higher prices.

The impact is vague

Counterfeiting pu’er may be a lucrative criminal business within China, but the impact outside of China is less clear. China’s annual production records provide a breakdown of overall dark teas produced each year. Export data is classified differently. In December 2020, the China Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council adjusted the export codes used to delineate exports of shu pu’er from other dark teas. No separate designation for sheng pu’ers was provided. Reports tell us that China consumed 364,000 metric tonnes (mt) of dark tea in 2022. The average price was 88.19 RMB per kg, compared to 160.99 RMB per kg for green tea.

Exports of shu pu’er totalled 1,916mt, or 0.5 percent of all 2022 tea exports. In comparison, 351mt of dark tea was exported. A further breakdown is harder to find, but well established pockets of pu’er and dark tea consumers can be found in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Malaysia. These export destinations are also known to have communities of pu’er and dark tea collectors who seek out rare and high quality teas. The climates of these areas are considered ideal for naturally aging these teas.

Pu’er and dark tea consumers outside of China have a limited range of options to avoid purchasing counterfeit pu’er. For starters, it is the more expensive pu’er that gets copied, so one should exercise caution when purchasing pu’ers that are decades old with asking prices in the thousands of USD. In the United States and other countries that do not recognise PGI, problems also arise when “pu’er” gets used as a broad category term for a wider variety of dark teas. In such situations, a reputable vendor is important in verifying whether a pu’er product complies with GI standards used in China or the EU. When purchasing pu’er pressed cakes, experienced buyers have learned how to examine the inner and outer packaging (ie, the wrapper, nei fei, and nei piao) for evidence of forgery.

Counterfeit pu’er teas remain an ongoing problem, particularly for investment-grade pu’er cakes. However, opportunities to avoid fraudulent purchases exist where traceability of geographic indicated products and anti-counterfeiting packaging practices are properly scrutinised. In some regions of the world, better distinctions between dark tea and pu’er will also enable customers to better understand the kinds of teas they purchase.

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Top Notes: Roses and camphor
Middle Notes: Sweet eucalyptus, layered with honey and brown sugar
Bottom Notes: Citrus and sweet mint.

Even among the unique flavours of Nepali black teas, the Rose Label Reserve stands apart. Earning its luxury status with its rich and complex flavours, says the company, this tea also comes with a prestigious history and a unique story of discovery.

The rare Bannockburn-157 cultivar from which this tea was hand-plucked has a prestigious history in Nepal. This special cultivar was gifted to a Nepali king decades ago and carefully reared on tea gardens in Eastern Nepal. However, it was the work of a young tea maker, who was only 19-years-old at the time, Nikesh Gurung’s experimental crafting process that highlighted the complex rose notes in these tea leaves.

For this year’s harvest of the Rose Label Reserve, the Bannockburn-157 cultivar, along with several other Wild Assamica cultivars growing in Eastern Nepal, were sequestered and carefully reared and hand-plucked during the summer months. The dry leaves, black with a red-tint, exude a delicate fragrance once steeped in hot water, brewing into deep-red liquor that is perfect to serve on special occasions.

“This tea is the embodiment of our passion for creating exceptional teas,” expressed Nishchal Banskota, founder of Nepal Tea Collective. “The Rose Label Reserve is a testament to the skill and dedication of our tea artisans, and we are thrilled to present this luxurious tea to tea enthusiasts worldwide.”

The Rose Label Reserve is available at USD $100 for 100 grams, for a limited time only. To purchase the Rose Label Reserve, please visit the Nepal Tea Collective website.

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Yet The Tea Group is striving to elevate the tea experience further, as it demonstrated at its National Tea Day event at the Dorchester Hotel, London. The event was a luxurious and informative showcase of teas from all over the world, and even some closer to home. Díaz Ayub, managing director at The Tea Group, noted that specialty tea has been taking a backseat from specialty coffee in recent years, despite tea being the second most consumed beverage globally, after water.

The menu for The Tea Group’s National Tea Day event. Image: Kathryn Brand

Each tea presented at the event was paired with a dish with the intention of enhancing the flavour notes of the drink, with some pairings forming natural companions, while others were certainly more unusual and bold. Jersey Fine Tea’s British-grown green tea, paired with tuna tartare with a tobiko caviar and yuzu, was the former. The salty and citrus flavours of the dish balanced with the fragrant and mild green tea, which was pleasantly not bitter, unlike so many green teas I have tried before. We were told that this was a combination of the fact that Jersey Fine Tea only pick the top leaves of the plant to use in its teas, and also knowing how to brew green tea correctly, which is at a lower temperature of about 80-85°C, to refrain from burning the delicate tea leaves and creating that astringent flavour often associated with green tea.

The event was a fantastic opportunity not only to showcase some amazing tea growers and producers, but also to showcase the ritual, tradition and ceremony behind certain teas. One such example was a Japanese matcha ceremony, from Chill Tea Tokyo, whereby the matcha was mixed with a small amount of hot, but not boiling, water, and stirred with a special bamboo whisk until frothy, to promote creaminess in the flavour, before more water was added to make the final drink. The Tea Group demonstrated to the guests, most of whom were representing luxury London hotels, with each tea how it should be served to guests, in order to maximise not only the flavour, but the whole experience of teatime, validating the premium value that such specialty teas demand.

While the UK, and much of the world, is going though economic challenges and cost of living crises, people are still seeking out small moments of luxury where they can, and afternoon tea is more popular than ever, both in the UK and the US, said Díaz Ayub. Therefore, an opportunity is presented to maximise people’s desire for a little luxury and offer them an entire experience with their teatime. Since the pandemic, consumers are increasingly interested in teas, with so many willing to branch out from their standard cup of builders to something that will promote wellness, digestion, or mental health through botanical and herbal blends. This provides hospitality companies with an eager audience to really promote specialty tea to their guests, and enter a category that needn’t just be reserved for coffee.

• Kathryn Brand, associate editor, Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.
  Keep in touch via email: kathryn@bellpublishing.com
  Twitter: @TCTradeJournal or LinkedIn: Tea & Coffee Trade Journal

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Black tea still leads in terms of global production volume, but green tea has seen a slight but gradual gain in share over the last 10 years. According to the London-based International Tea Committee (ITC), the share of green tea production has increased from about 30 percent to 33 percent. Estimates put the world’s total green tea production at 2.1 million metric tonnes (mmt) in 2021.

China drives green tea production, contributing over 1.8 mmt. This makes the Middle Kingdom the provider of over 85 percent of the world’s green tea. In relation to its own production, however, green tea comprises about 60 percent of its total annual production. Green tea holds the largest share in terms of China’s output, with black tea being the next closest at about 14 percent of annual China production. It is worth noting, however, that China’s classification system for teas distinguishes between green tea and flower tea. Because of this, all forms of jasmine green tea – from specialty jasmine green pearl teas to jasmine green tea fannings – are not counted towards the green tea totals but are designated as flower teas. Depending on interpretation, this can serve to under-report the actual amount of green tea produced.

Japan is the next best-known home of green tea production, contributing about 0.8 mmt of green tea per year. The majority of Japan’s green tea comes in two forms. Sencha accounts for a little over one half, and bancha makes up more than a third. Matcha (tencha) and gyokuro each contribute less than 4 percent of the total volume but their average value in USD per kg is more than double that of sencha.

Other well-known tea-producing countries, including India, Argentina, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Vietnam either do not parse out green tea production from black, or mainly focus on reporting green tea exports.

China leads in exports

As may be expected, China also dominates in green tea exports. China’s 2021 green tea exports totaled 0.31 MMT, or nearly 85 percent of China’s total exports. Value-wise, however, green tea exports represent roughly 60 percent of China’s exports. China’s average annual export rates reached USD $5.55/kg, with green tea averaging $4.44/kg compared to black tea at $10.25/kg. China’s main export partner has remained Morocco for several years now, as the country has relatively high per-capita tea consumption and a longstanding tradition of drinking green tea (eg Moroccan mint tea).

Vietnam appears to be one of the next largest green tea exporters, though nowhere close to China’s volume. In 2021, Vietnam exported 62,000 mt of green tea, or just shy of half of the nation’s total exports. Vietnam’s top tea export destinations include Pakistan, The Republic of China (ROC), and Russia. It is unclear as to the share of green tea exports among these countries, especially when Pakistan and Russia are known for purchasing significantly more black tea than green.

Japan, on the other hand, exported over 6,000 mt of predominantly green tea. As mentioned above, Japan’s production is largely divided between sencha and bancha. About one-third of Japan’s green tea exports went to the US.

Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India each exported between 5,500 and 3,000 mt of green tea. Indonesia’s major tea export partners include Malaysia, Russia, and the US. Sri Lanka’s top export destinations include Iraq, Turkey, and Russia. India’s three largest tea export countries include Russia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

US imports of green tea grows

Of the world’s top three tea-importing countries (Pakistan, Russia, and the US), the US provides the clearest picture of green tea imports. Of Russia’s 135,000 mt of imported tea, at least 85 percent of it is black tea. Similarly, tea imports into the US in 2022 showed about 14 percent, or 16,618 mt was green tea. Of that total, nearly 7,000 mt originated from China. A further dissection of US green tea imports reveals that 1,800 mt was organic green tea, of which about 1,000 mt came from China.

Producing countries consume the most tea

Considering that the world’s top two producing countries (China and India) generally keep about 85 percent of their produced tea within their borders, these countries hold sway over global green tea consumption. China’s domestic sales of green tea reached 1.3 mmt. During that period, China only imported about 4,300 mt of green tea.

India’s green tea volumes also remained available for the domestic market. As with China, at least 85 percent of India’s total tea production volume didn’t leave the country. This proportion held true for green tea as well. About 15 percent of India’s green production was exported, leaving about 85 percent within its borders.

The US also held relatively steady in an 85/15 split of black-to-green tea consumption, with more emphasis placed on iced tea.

In relation to per capita consumption of tea, some of the major countries increased their consumption over the past ten years. Most notably was Morocco, a major green tea consumer, which increased an estimated 15 percent per head. China’s per capita also saw a significant rise from just shy of 1 kg per head to roughly 1.75 kg.

The outlook for green tea is positive

Compared to black tea, green tea consumption still appears modest but with positive signs for the future. The UK has seen declines in black tea consumption, while green tea has remained relatively steady. Green tea in the US also holds promise, as consumers are attracted to the reported health benefits of green tea.

The Japanese tea industry still sees potential for the further expansion of matcha exports, with matcha being viewed by international markets as a more premium and health-forward tea option. The nation has seen decreases in production of leaf tea and increases in powdered teas and teas used for RTD. The Japanese government has established initiatives to upgrade tea farms, modernize tea harvesting and processing, and promote Japanese teas in the US, Europe, and Asia Pacific.

China’s expansion of new tea fields also indicates a continued trend toward steady production of green teas. China’s internal estimates classify about one third of the nation’s current tea plants as over 30 years old and recommend removing or replacing these less-productive bushes. A gradual phasing out of old fields and the advent of new fields coming online will help keep China on top as a green tea powerhouse.

• Jason Walker is marketing director of Firsd Tea North America. Prior to his work with Firsd Tea, Walker served in a variety of roles in tea and beverage business capacities. His experience includes business services for small tea companies, a top-ranked online destination for tea consumer education and co-founding a coffee business. His insights draw upon his diverse range of experience in sales, operations and management in the tea world. He may be reached at: jason.walker@firsdtea.com.

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The goal of this programme is to celebrate and honour emerging small businesses, which produce innovative products that add significant value to the global tea industry. Winners will receive numerous benefits to support their growth including three passes to World Tea Expo 2024, ITI wholesale account with $1,000 credit, coverage in TeaTime Magazine, consulting session with Kevin Christiansen of Café Barnabas, and inclusion in a press release announcing the winners in World Tea News.

2023 Devan Shah Tea Tycoons Finalists include:

Sustainability

• Wild Orchard Regenerative Teas
• Seven Senses Organic Greek Herbal Teas
• Four Stages Tea & Herbals LLC

Innovation

• Honey Badgers Bee Farm
• SINENSIS
• Conjure Tea
• Myanmar Tea Leaf

Camellia-sinensis focused

• Sibahle Teas
• Treehouse Teas
• The Connoisseur Portfolio Tea Club

“I’m very excited about the Devan Shah Tea Tycoons finalists this year,” said FathAnn Bailes, conference and content manager for the World Tea Conference + Expo. “Each of these finalists are incredibly deserving of this recognition, and I can’t wait to see what our finalist are going to bring to this year’s stage for the live competition.”

This year’s Tea Tycoons competition will honour Devan Shah. Shah, who passed away in 2016, was the founder of the International Tea Importers and over his career helped make considerable contributions to the growth, education and innovation of the specialty tea industry.

International Tea Importers will once again be sponsoring the Devan Shah Tea Tycoons competition and is the exclusive registration sponsor for World Tea Conference + Expo.

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Pursuant to this lifestyle trend, DavidsTea has created healthy, RTD alcohol-free teas filled with antioxidants, anti-aging and energy-boosting properties that don’t lead to the oh-so-despised hangovers. The Toronto, Ontario-based specialty tea brand has launched two ready-crafted mocktail teas; Gin & Tonic and La Vida Coco:

• Gin & Tonic: Gin & Tonic tastes just like the classic version. Though the tonic (quinine) flavour was difficult to introduce, DavidsTea emulated it with a bit of lemon, licorice root and bitterness that comes from green tea. Prices range from USD $10.98 for 50 grams to $54.90 for 250 grams.
• La Vida Coco: Has a sweeter taste from the coconut, goji berries and hibiscus. This blend also contains yerba maté, an herb which has been sipped for centuries because of its focus- and energy-boosting properties. Prices vary between $10.98 for 50 grams and $54.90 for 250 grams.

For more information, visit: davidstea.com/us_en/home/

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Their signature tea, Nine Ladies Dancing, a black teais joined by the Tea Gardens of Scotland’s roasted green tea — the first of its kind to come out of Scotland.

The Bvlgari Hotel and Residences is a luxury boutique hotel in Knightsbridge, London with a distinctive modern burst that oozes glamour and authentic elegance. The Bvlgari Group has hotels worldwide in major cosmopolitan cities and luxury resort destinations with further openings planned over the next few years.

Commenting on the debut at the Bvlgari Hotel, a spokesperson for Tea Gardens of Scotland said, “We have been delighted by the encouraging uptake of our tea and how well it has been received. Our aim was to produce an authentic, high-quality, hand-crafted tea, it is a real joy when years of hard work pays off. To be included on the tea menu at the Bvlgari Hotel is a dream come true for us all.”

Nine Ladies Dancing is a black tea with amber to light gold liquor, a bright clear cup, and light, delicate, sweet caramel, chocolate, dried fruit, and woody notes. Named Frisky Rascal after a rescued red squirrel, this Perthshire grown green tea has been carefully crafted from the combined leaf of just three independent gardens in the county. It is a roasted green tea with pale green/lemon liquor, a vegetal and floral aroma that is light, smooth with toasted nuts and grilled artichoke notes.

Regarding the new Frisky Rascal tea, Ronnie Murray of the Tea Gardens of Scotland, said, ‘We have spent many hours exploring match making combinations to achieve perfect pairings for our green teas. There is no shortage of food pairings to complement and enhance the wonderful flavours.” We are all delighted with ‘Frisky Rascal’ tea, it is different, smooth, vegetal and nutty notes make it stand apart from so many green teas that we love from elsewhere in the World. It has been amazingly well received, way beyond our expectations, we are all thrilled.’

A spokesperson for Canton Tea, which specialises in high end, rare teas, and which has helped the Tea Gardens of Scotland place their tea into high end hotels, in London said, “Canton supplies some of the world’s top hotels and we are delighted to introduce Nine Ladies Dancing and Frisky Rascal to Bvlgari Knightsbridge to be available on their Fine Tea menu with their afternoon teas. At Canton we are in awe of the dedication and craftsmanship of these ladies of Tea Gardens of Scotland. The feedback from our customers has been positive which is great credit to the astonishing achievement of these Scottish tea growers.”

Tea Gardens of Scotland consists of nine female Scottish tea growers who all grow tea in their separate gardens in Perthshire, Fife, Angus, and Kincardineshire. They began planting tea seeds in 2016. For the Nine Ladies Dancing Tea, they all pluck on the same day and combine their leaf to make this black tea. It is pure, 100% Scottish grown tea. Tea Gardens of Scotland has previously sold to Fortnum & Mason, The Royal Penthouse Suite at the Corinthia Hotel and Canton Tea.

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Tea and coffee have been competing for throat-share in the West for many decades and consumption patterns continue to shift. Markets are becoming more global, new generations opt for wider choices, diversification has become key to growth and social and economic sustainability are today an intrinsic part of the list of goals. There is a desire for specialty teas to move towards a more unified platform, but the path to do so is a challenging one.

In the late 1980s, tea was the leading caffeinated hot brew in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Russia, whilst coffee was the king of the morning in North America and the rest of Europe. The multinational brands were dominating with mostly blended black teas in tea bags, and the premium segment comprised the spring leaves harvested from a few world-famous origin areas, located mainly in India and Sri Lanka. When China came back to the market in 1982, with Deng Xiao Ping restoring private ownership and encouraging foreign trade, the market was shaken up with a wealth of new cups arriving in the West, all unknown and unheard of. These countless varieties of specialty teas, coming in different colours and many different shapes and grades generated a keen need for learning more about them to assess these cups and to understand their high prices.

Importing, trading, retailing & brewing premium cups

In the wake of China’s opening access to its ‘ten thousand teas’, the big issues were how to provide product knowledge for the suppliers/retailers on one side and for the consumers on the other side, how to ensure accurate information and how to manage authenticity concerning origin, process, botanical cultivar, and harvesting period etc.

Green teas were the first to puzzle the Western palates, followed by white teas, oolong and puer teas. All these cups were new and exciting with striking leaves to brew them. After generations of tea buyers, tasters and blenders having been trained in-house by the traditional tea majors and family companies the new specialty teas brought along a fully new challenge.

The big question of how and where to find complete and accurate product knowledge became a key issue in the late 1990s, with many operators doing their own sourcing travels to origin to learn about the product on the spot. Several highly renowned companies were founded during this period by passionate tea explorers and tea travellers, such as the French companies Mariage Frères, Palais des Thés, Jardins de Gaïa, and Cha Yuan; the Canadian company Camellia Sinensis; the British Fine Tea Merchants and Postcard Tea; and the Americans Seven Cups and Rishi Tea, to name a few. These well-known and fully acknowledged tea pioneers have paved the way for many more new operators, attracted by the novelty of this fascinating, exotic and high added value niche market.

Education, teaching and training

To profitably market the new cups, the urgent need for education occurred rapidly and was picked up in various forms according to national market patterns. It was in North America that the first nationwide initiatives were taken to provide accurate knowledge about these new specialty teas to the tea professionals. The Tea Association of the USA founded the Specialty Tea Institute (STI) in 2001, and the Tea & Herbal Association of Canada (THAC) launched the Tea Sommelier Certification Programme in 2006. These educational structures, vetted by the two countries’ domestic tea industry, provide fully endorsed curricula, thus ensuring that the tea professionals will acquire in depth knowledge about specialty teas.

Image: Newby Teas

Peter Goggi, president of the Tea Association of the USA, underlined the importance of the statutory tea associations, which can offer nationwide legitimation and endorsement, which is a significant competitive advantage compared to other self-proclaimed tea schools and tea training educators. STI offers certified education, which leads to graduation, giving tea professionals the status of accreditation by the Tea Association of the USA. THAC’s Tea Sommelier Certification Programme applies similar rules and offers a wide range of educational courses with certifying exams, open to tea professionals and to tea lovers.

In Europe, the tea-sourcing pioneers and specialty tea company founders acquired their tea knowledge on the ground, a learning which is not easy to access by many, hence the need to provide teaching and training to all the other tea professionals at home to prevent mis-and dis-information, and to introduce all the new cups in an attractive and fully competent way. With the national Tea Industry Federations being run by the tea majors, there was no interest to invest in specialty tea education in the early times. Therefore, the private sector followed up and the first tea school in Europe was launched by Palais des Thés in Paris, France in 1999, with the teaching open to all, however without any exams, certification or graduation. Since that time most of the French specialty tea companies have launched their own tea training lectures and tasting sessions and many tea drinkers flock there happily, to learn more about these delicious cups.

With the same objective to introduce tea training and tea education for tea professionals and to open the tea drinkers’ minds to the new and enlarged universe of the ten thousand cups (from China), renowned tea pioneer and tea author, Jane Pettigrew, launched the UK Tea Academy in London (UKTA) in 2016. In Italy, the tea expert, Gabriella Lombardi established the ProTea Academy in Milan in 2016, offering tea education and tea training to tea professionals as well as to tea lovers.

There are company tea courses and private tea schools also in Spain, Denmark, Czech Republic, and Poland, etc., all with the aim to allow the customers to learn more about the many fine cups on the market to foster consumption.

It is important to note that very sophisticated training and education is also sometimes made available by origin country operators, which have established their tea houses in the West, such as Thés de Chine in Paris, and others who come from Taiwan, Japan and Korea, where tea is not only a fragrant cup but intimately linked to ancient cultural traditions.

With the desire to share their own professional experience with tea lovers to foster an in-depth knowledge of these fine cups, many valuable tea books have been authored by well-known tea pioneers since the early years of the new millennium, a further useful tool for spreading tea knowledge in Europe and North America.

Exploring new cups from the Far East

In the early years of the new millennium, black tea producers in Darjeeling, Malawi, Rwanda, and Sri Lanka, etc., became so fascinated with China’s silver needles that they launched their own white teas to display their abilities and skills. White teas were arriving from many new origins at that time, always beautiful, whilst not always brewing to expectation. Responding to a need for ‘good order with basic processing steps properly defined,’ an ISO-tea technical report, ISO/TR 12591 White Tea Definitions, was published in December 2013, after several years of discussions, which defined and enshrined terms and definitions for these beautiful teas. Finally, the white tea-frenzy calmed down as production costs were huge for the untraditional white teas, and today, most of them come from China as before.

Spring harvest from Sikkim Temi Tea

With highly proactive promotion by Japanese major Ito En, matcha was introduced to North America over the last few years, and it has created a true craze for premium green tea powder in the USA and is now gradually gaining ground in Europe too. As some producers in Korea and China were keen to join the matcha-boom, there arose again a need for having some agreed basic rules for the sake of ‘good order’, hence the ISO sub-committee on tea convened a Matcha Tea working group in 2018 and a technical report, which lays down basic rules and requirements, published as ISO/TR 21380:2022 Matcha Tea in April 2022.

There is no end to this yet, since one also finds today puer tea made in Malawi and Laos and elsewhere and Oolong tea from India and Indonesia, therefore two new working groups have been organised by ISO-Tea to continue drafting basic definitions and terms to complete the framework of ISO standards for the new tea categories.

The international level

In 2013, Ramaz Chanturiya, CEO of the Russia Tea & Coffee Federation launched the Tea Masters Cup with the focus on promoting specialty teas with the end consumers through highly educated and knowledgeable tea professionals in the Russian tea market. Highly successful domestically, he then introduced this benchmarking scheme on an international level, embedded in a high-profile event, Tea Masters Cup International (TMCI), in 2015. Up to the Covid disruption, there have been four TMCI competitions in Turkey, Korea, China and Vietnam.

In 2015, the first Teas of the World contest was run by AVPA, a not-for-profit agency, based in Paris, France, with the purpose of promoting terroir food products, such as edible oils, coffee, chocolate and tea. The concept targets the promotion of fine teas, submitted by the producing companies at origin, for a quality assessment carried out by professional tea tasters and tea experts, and awarded with medals for commercial purpose, attracting the media, Western retailers and customers. The fifth contest took place in July 2022 and the number of samples submitted has increased hugely since inception.

Premium sencha cups from different cultivars

In 2018, the European Specialty Tea Association (ESTA), was launched in the UK, with the purpose to create a European-wide platform for the promotion of specialty teas. The plan follows the lines of the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE), founded in 1998, and unified within SCA in 2017, with a structure of national chapters and accredited tea Certifiers who train, educate and assess.

Outlook for the post-Covid times

With the unending stress generated by the sanitary crisis, tea is becoming the sought-after soothing, relaxing and restoring cup, attracting many new consumers. However, the premium and specialty teas continue to require educated retailers and tea professionals, hence the need to maintain the ongoing efforts for more training, authentic and qualified storytelling and improved competence for brewing practices.

Despite many attempts, there is not yet any fully agreed definition nor an approved set of criteria required for a tea to belong to the category specialty tea, although origin, cultivar, harvesting period, and manufacturing process are most likely to figure somewhere on the list. The market share of specialty teas varies greatly throughout the Western consumer countries, which impacts the degree of consumer awareness and the growth potential. It may well take some more years of training, educating and promoting before reaching comparable market patterns to build a federating platform on European level with the support of the national federations for tea and herbal infusions.

• Barbara Dufrêne is the former Secretary General of the European Tea Committee and editor of La Nouvelle du Thé. She may be reached at: b-dufrêne@orange.fr.

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In creating the definition of specialty tea, ESTA explained that they believe certain factors can help contribute to being able to distinguish specialty teas from commodity teas. These can include but are not limited to: the known supplier, the known farm, the known location, the known production dates, and the known processing method. According to ESTA, specialty tea can also be defined by the quality of the five criteria below:

1. The dry leaf
2. The aroma of the dry leaf
3. The colour and clarity of the liquor
4. The flavour and mouthfeel of the liquor
5. The appearance and aroma of the wet leaf

Specialty tea is much more complicated to define or even categorise than specialty coffee, which has strict criteria. In terms of “specialty tea,” is it just Camellia sinensis or do blends, herbal/botanicals and flavoured teas count? Does the origin and the elevation matter? Can specialty tea be mechanically harvested, or must it be hand-plucked? And who is clamoring for the definition, consumers or the tea industry at large?

Even when issuing the new definition, ESTA’s executive director, David Veal, said the document is “closer to a description,” noting, “summarised by the phrase ‘aspiring to excellence in all aspects of tea processing and brewing from the bush to the cup,’ we acknowledge that it will be difficult if not impossible to achieve a definition universally agreed by all in the specialty tea community, so we have described our approach rather than dictate a definition, in the hope that most people will agree with most of its content. However, we acknowledge, and indeed hope, that this document will encourage an ongoing debate and therefore continue to promote speciality tea into the future.”

ESTA’s wish to “encourage an ongoing debate” has come true as there was immediate response to their definition — although everyone who commented did applaud ESTA’s efforts.

“I think they’ve tried hard to talk in aspirational terms, and I like the direction they have taken,” said one industry official. “I do note that they have purposely avoided mentioning Camellia sinensis, although the criteria they list tend to limit all BUT true tea.”

In response to ESTA’s definition of specialty tea, the Tea and Herbal Association of Canada (THAC), Tea and Herbal Infusions Europe (THIE) and the Tea Association of the USA (TAUS) released a statement (which can be seen in its entirety here) expressing concern with the language used to differentiate ‘specialty tea’ from other tea.

THAC, THIE and TAUS pointed out that the ESTA definition of specialty tea includes knowledge of supplier, farm, location, production dates and processing methods — all supply chain elements that are known and documented by all reputable companies operating within the tea industry regardless of ‘specialty’ or ‘traditional’ label. “[These] are critical to traceability requirements which are at the core of food safety laws in place around the world and must be demonstrated as part of regular audits for large retailers as well as certification programs,” they stated.

THAC, THIE and TAUS also noted that the five criteria being used to define specialty tea are “the same criteria used by every tea taster in the industry, regardless of ‘specialty’ or ‘traditional’ label. Although all the above may be a part of ‘specialty tea,’ suggesting they are not a part of ‘traditional’ tea is factually incorrect.”

Another official asked whether any form of blended or flavoured tea be could – or should – considered specialty. He noted that some Sri Lankan estates have tea fields that would classify as high-grown elevation. The same estate can have other fields or sections of fields that fall in the mid-grown elevation designation, but the estate’s processing is done at the low- or mid-grown elevation. That final product of that estate is classified according to the elevation of the processing facility. “So, if all the teas from this one estate are processed together to form one lot, is this a blend? Furthermore, what happens if this estate decides to offer some specialty tea or jasmine green tea? Does the jasmine portion have to be from a designated origin (not to mention the green tea itself) for the final product to be classified as a specialty jasmine green tea?”

In conclusion he said, “I think there are a lot of refined definitions that need to be created before a ‘specialty’ designation is useful to some significant portions of the tea industry.”

Perhaps the “specialty tea definition debate” could be a topic of conversation at the next FAO IGG plenary meeting, or a session at an upcoming North American Tea Conference, World Tea Conference & Expo or Global Tea Initiative Tea Colloquium?

However, and I could be mistaken, but tea consumers do not seem to be demanding a definition of specialty tea, rather more and more consumers are desiring higher quality tea (and are willing to pay for it). So, for the moment, maybe we should consider THAC president Shabnam Weber’s suggestion, “I think that defining specialty is like ‘nailing Jello to the wall’ — to borrow a line from Bill Clinton. Specialty tea means something different to everyone asked and if we accept that truth, then why not spend our energy on elevating the category of tea to benefit the entire industry.”

• Vanessa L Facenda, editor, Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.
  Keep in touch via email: vanessa@bellpublishing.com
  Twitter: @TCTradeJournal or LinkedIn: Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.

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In the collective statement issued today, The Tea and Herbal Association of Canada, Tea and Herbal Infusions Europe and the Tea Association of the USA offered the following:

[“We] take great pride in our collective approach of inclusion, representing the tea industry from bush to cup. Our members include all parts of the supply chain operating in what is commonly referred to as the ‘traditional’ tea industry as well as the ‘specialty’ tea industry. The European Speciality Tea Association (ESTA), has recently announced their definition of ‘specialty tea.’

Although we agree fully with their statement acknowledging “…that it will be difficult if not impossible to achieve a definition which is universally agreed by all…”, we are concerned with the language used to then differentiate ‘specialty tea’ from other tea. The ESTA definition of ‘specialty tea’ includes knowledge of supplier, farm, location, production dates and processing methods. These supply chain facts are known and documented by every reputable company operating in the tea industry regardless of ‘specialty’ or ‘traditional’ label. In fact, they are critical to traceability requirements which are at the core of food safety laws in place around the world and must be demonstrated as part of regular audits for large retailers as well as certification programs.

The definition goes on to list five criteria by which quality is defined: dry leaf, aroma of dry leaf, colour and clarity of the liquor, flavour and mouthfeel of the liquor, appearance and aroma of wet leaf. Again, these are the same criteria used by every tea taster in the industry, regardless of ‘specialty’ or ‘traditional’ label. Although all the above may be a part of ‘specialty tea,’ suggesting they are not a part of ‘traditional’ tea is factually incorrect.

As national associations, we celebrate the vast range of teas available to consumers. We believe in accessibility for all and strongly support elevating the value of tea. We encourage all efforts to make the industry more sustainable, thereby benefiting the entire supply chain – from bush to cup.”

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Summarised by the phrase ‘aspiring to excellence in all aspects of tea processing and brewing from the bush to the cup,’ ESTA executive director David Veal said the document is closer to a description. “We acknowledge that it will be difficult if not impossible to achieve a definition universally agreed by all in the specialty tea community, so we have described our approach rather than dictate a definition, in the hope that most people will agree with most of its content. However, we acknowledge, and indeed hope, that this document will encourage an ongoing debate and therefore continue to promote speciality tea into the future.”

Nigel Melican, president of ESTA, added: “We all like to put things tidily into boxes: to define them. But ‘specialty tea’ in its infinite uniqueness likes to defy definition. ESTA has endeavoured to encapsulate the spirit of specialty tea as ‘aspiring to attain excellence…from the bush to the cup.’ For me, this comes very close to defining the indefinable.”

ESTA stated that it “values the science and art of tea making at every level. We value the skill, dedication and care which has been applied to create delicate and unique hand-crafted teas which can be categorised as specialty tea. We support the specialty tea industry in all aspects of tea production from bush to cup and recognise the farmers who are aspiring to attain excellence.”

In creating the definition of specialty tea, ESTA explained that they believe certain factors can help contribute to being able to distinguish specialty teas from commodity teas. These can include but are not limited to: the known supplier, the known farm, the known location, the known production dates, and the known processing method.

According to ESTA, specialty tea can also be defined by the quality of the five criteria below:

1. The dry leaf
2. The aroma of the dry leaf
3. The colour and clarity of the liquor
4. The flavour and mouthfeel of the liquor
5. The appearance and aroma of the wet leaf

ESTA joins in growing an inspirational community, supporting the movement that promotes specialty tea and improving the quality of tea consumed. “Specialty tea exists through the dedication of people at all levels of the tea value chain. We respect and support the person plucking the leaves, the person producing the tea to the consumer brewing the tea. Each person who touches the tea until it is finally sipped can affect the final cup and our aim is to support this and share knowledge that will improve the tea industry,” offered ESTA in a statement, adding, “ESTA strives to value, support and promote the people who have this dedication and who are involved and passionate in providing perfection in every cup. We value all the above when considering what is specialty tea and we welcome like-minded people and or affiliates to join us in our quest for tea excellence at every level.”

In summary, ESTA said that it supports and promotes specialty tea (Camellia sinensis), the community and the movement. “We also support the botanical sector as an inclusive part of our organisation due to its extensive synergy within the tea industry and with tea lovers and professionals. We are a dynamic organisation, we are aspirational for specialty tea, and we aim to have a positive impact on the wellbeing of all sectors of the tea industry.”

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According to the Tea Association of the USA, Inc, premium tea bag sales in grocery grew at an unprecedented rate of over 18 percent during 2020, fueled by tea’s reputed benefits of decreasing stress and boosting immunity, which consumers sought out for helping to ease the stress of dealing with the pandemic. New consumers turned to tea, and existing tea drinkers drank more tea. Fueled by an explosion of online sales and omni-channel acceleration in grocery, tea products still have room to grow in the grocery channel and show no signs of slowing in 2021. This bodes well for making functional teas with perceived health benefits even more accessible to the consumer.

On the flip side of the tea industry, the restaurant sector will take several more years to bounce back from declines of 40 to 70 percent in 2020, at which point we can expect to see a rebalance of that channel, resulting in higher prices. For tea, although absolute numbers may remain in decline, this represents an opportunity for premium expansion, reinvention and dramatic innovation in the restaurant and hospitality sector. It is important to note that the Kombucha category remains a strong double-digit growth segment, as do the tea-infused mocktail and low-ball cocktail market niches.

So, what do these shifts mean for tea industry trends in 2021 and beyond? Here are a few important things to consider.

1. Taking the Premium Tea Experience Home – With fewer people dining out, whether out of reluctance to frequent public establishments, or tightened budgets combined with higher prices, the food and beverage dining industry is undergoing a transition. Complete grab-and-go and semi-prepared meals are on the rise, while on-premise dining is working towards a business model of less-dense seating, with more premium, higher per customer spending. In both these cases, customers will have the opportunity for more premium tea options. As people re-discovered cooking at home and a return to comfort foods as a welcome coping mechanism in 2020, many of those patterns will persist well into the future. Many consumers had their first ever tastes of premium tea during Covid, whether they chose that tea as a healthy beverage or as an affordable luxury. Those of us in the industry know that a premium tea experience can bring a newfound appreciation for time, place, and intention – things which consumers will continue to seek in a post-pandemic world. Having discovered this and successfully steeped their own tea at home, they’re now looking to expand their understanding of the many layers of tastes and varieties available to them in the world of tea. A home tea experience is rarely price-prohibitive, when compared to other premium beverages we consume in North America.

2. Keeping Tea a Part of Everyday Wellness – As we look at tea beyond flu season, and the significant spike in tea and herbals in 2020, there’s reason to believe that consumers will continue to want to manage their health from home. Living through the Covid-19 pandemic has solidified the market for immunity-strengthening foods, and even blurred the lines between supplements and grocery items. Plant-based and functional foods are here to stay, and wellness beverages, where tea plays a central role, are a trend that will accelerate even further at in 2021. We should expect to see more positioning of tea products as superfoods, pre- and probiotics, even with added functional ingredients like vitamin C, mushrooms, adaptogens and CBD. Consumers will continue to seek to foster a calm headspace and support their immune systems. Beyond these functions, look for teas targeting muscle health and anti-inflammation, heart health, energy balance and specific functional teas for men and women. Tea for everyday wellness will even extend to healthy hydration with tea, including matcha on the go.

3. Intelligent Data in the Retail Chain – Artificial Intelligence (AI) can now play a part in customising every online and in-store purchase. We’re seeing everything from chatbots to real-time prime adjustments and cashier-free checkout processes being used to keep pace with new consumer habits and zero in on efficiency in the shopping experience. What this means for tea is that both e-merchandising and in-store merchandising are now necessary. With less enthusiasm for in-store visits by consumers, brands need to be able to communicate a tea story as effectively online as they can in real life. This holds true for new products and incumbent brands alike. During the pandemic, consumers became more attuned to product health and ingredient claims. Packaging will contain more QR codes and blockchain information that can verify these claims, making both grocery and online shopping experiences better. Blenders notes, stories from origin, even videos of the producers and region the tea comes from, can now be made available to the customer while shopping.

4. Retaining Customer Loyalty – Retaining and cultivating customer loyalty has become more critical than ever. As the pandemic jolted consumers out of routine purchase behaviors, propelling online sales, home delivery and an unprecedented surge in consumer tea purchases, many shoppers tried new products and brands in 2020. The challenge for tea companies in 2021 is to encourage repeat purchases from these same customers. Cultivating customer satisfaction, whether in the form of loyalty programs and subscriptions, free samples or other perks, is critical for tea brands in this post-Covid shakeout. A McKinsey Periscope survey from August 2020 showed that although 40 percent of consumers tried new brands during the pandemic, just 12% of those shoppers planned to buy from the same brands in the future. Loyalty incentives, a strong core purpose, and social engagement that connects a brand with the consumer, are more important than ever. The global increase in online media usage over the past year, in turn drives the importance of social media in stimulating and cementing brand loyalty.

• Maria Uspenski is the founder and CEO of The Tea Spot, where her mission is to advance and empower healthy living through premium loose-leaf tea. Uspenski is also the author of Cancer Hates Tea and was recognized as a “Top Tea Health Advocate” by the World Tea Conference + Expo, where she is a frequent presenter. She’s been featured in leading media outlets for her success as a social entrepreneur and as a certified tea and fitness nutrition expert. To learn more, visit TheTeaSpot.com.

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Bigelow brings innovation to both Green and Black tea with 100% daily value of healthy antioxidant Vitamin C. Bigelow has included highly sought after ingredients long known for their beneficial properties, like Echinacea and the immensely popular super fruit, Elderberry. Citrus is also a natural way to support a healthy immune system. These two new Vitamin C teas join Bigelow’s I Love Lemon plus Vitamin C Herbal Tea already on grocery store shelves, a classic favourite among tea drinkers and lemon lovers, according to the company. 

The new Bigelow Green Tea with Elderberry Plus Vitamin C features smooth green tea with a slightly tart berry flavour and a smoky finish.

The new Bigelow Lemon Echinacea Black Tea Plus Vitamin C is a robust black tea with tart lemon and earthy Echinacea.

“We’ve seen the demand for products that support a healthy lifestyle expand tremendously over the past few years” says Cindi Bigelow, president and CEO of family-owned Bigelow Tea. “Tea has always been a source of comfort and well-being in the lives of our consumers. Expanding our line of Vitamin C teas recognises our consumers desire to sustain a healthy immune system while embracing that moment of calm in their everyday lives through a delicious cup of our Bigelow plus Vitamin C teas.”

Bigelow Tea offers over 150 varieties of tea, including top sellers like Lemon Ginger plus Probiotics. The new teas are now available for purchase in stores and online on the Bigelow Tea company website (www.bigelowtea.com) and other select online retailers. The average suggested SRP is $3.19.

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