Tea Biz

Dan Bolton
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The Voice of Tea Lands | Tea Journey Magazine, founded in 2015, and the Tea Biz Blog | Podcast are favorites of tea enthusiasts and professionals worldwide. Content is authentic, timely, and exclusive, a collaborative effort that enlists 40 voices skilled in 12 languages to tell the story of tea. Coverage spans tea discovery and preparation to tea tourism, lifestyles, health and wellness, meditation, culinary tea with recipes, and terroir. Our business coverage offers insights for commercial producers supported by rich market data and scientifically backed research. Transparency is rooted in authentic storytelling, featuring nuanced articles about the places and people who passionately live a life in tea. As a niche publication, Tea Journey relies on reader contributions for most of its income. Please consider donating to support the writers and staff who bring you our unique tea content from around the globe. We appreciate your support. In 2025, we teamed up with our good friends at OverSubscribe, a platform that lets our fans make real financial investments in our future. By contributing as little as $25 to Tea Journey, you’re not just supporting our publication—you’re joining a lively global community and earning a return on your investment. | https://teajourney.oversub.me/

  1. Tea Price Report | Week 11 | Ending 13 March 2026

    5 DAYS AGO

    Tea Price Report | Week 11 | Ending 13 March 2026

    Tea markets closed ISO Week 11 with price discovery still driven more by quality and execution than by broad demand expansion.  In Colombo, the latest broker-published weekly comparison available during the week showed sales averaged $3.68 per kilo for the 4 March sale, down from $3.85 per kilo for the prior 25 February sale. So Colombo softened on that measure, even as better-made teas continued to attract support. In India, the weekly benchmark picture was incomplete. Disruptions in market demand are apparent due to widespread conflict in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Tea Board India published a North India average for the week ending 14 March, but the prior week was marked as not sold, so there is no clean week-over-week comparison. In East Africa, Mombasa remained active with fair general demand and selective absorption. Indonesia’s market remained selective and quality-sensitive. Across origins, the key signal remains the widening gap between dependable manufacture and ordinary teas. Better-made teas continue to clear with disciplined competition, while plainer descriptions require price adjustment. | Podlink signup: https://pod.link/1549975153 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    2 min
  2. Spotlight | Tea Discovery Drives Retail Growth

    5 DAYS AGO

    Spotlight | Tea Discovery Drives Retail Growth

    Few specialty retailers have expanded as successfully—or as thoughtfully—as The Spice & Tea Exchange https://www.spiceandtea.com/. Founded during the depths of the 2008 financial crisis, the brand has grown from a single shop in St. Augustine, Florida, into a nationwide franchise with more than 90 locations. | At the heart of that growth is CEO and co-founder Amy Freeman, whose approach combines entrepreneurial discipline with a strong belief in hospitality, storytelling, and sensory retail. Instead of standardizing stores into uniform outlets, Freeman has created a model that promotes local experimentation, community engagement, and hands-on exploration of spices, loose-leaf teas, and culinary ingredients. The company offers over 600 exclusive products, curated by both in-house spice masters and spice masters at franchise locations.| In this Tea Biz Spotlight interview, Amy discusses expanding a franchise network while maintaining authenticity, lessons learned from the pandemic, and why immersive retail and education remain vital for the future of specialty loose-leaf tea.| BIO: Amy Freeman, CEO and Co-Founder of The Spice & Tea Exchange, leads with a philosophy rooted in servant leadership, community connection, and empowering franchisees to create locally relevant offerings while maintaining brand standards. Under her guidance, the company has expanded its loose-leaf tea portfolio to over 85 varieties and continues to innovate across culinary teas, regional blends, and immersive retail experiences. | This distinction reflects Amy’s deep expertise in franchise development, operations, and brand growth, as well as her unwavering commitment to upholding the highest standards and best practices within the franchise community. | Podlink signup: https://pod.link/1549975153 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    15 min
  3. Tea News Recap | Hormuz Shock, India-U.S. Pact Reshape Tea Trade

    5 DAYS AGO

    Tea News Recap | Hormuz Shock, India-U.S. Pact Reshape Tea Trade

    Hormuz Shockwaves Reshape Global Tea Trade and Freight Risk | India-U.S. Trade Pact Could Reopen U.S. Market Access for Indian Tea | DMCC Reveals New Details on 600-Metre Uptown Dubai Megatall Tower | Podlink signup: https://pod.link/1549975153 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    9 min
  4. Ep 236 | Hormuz Shock, India-U.S. Pact Reshape Tea Trade

    5 DAYS AGO

    Ep 236 | Hormuz Shock, India-U.S. Pact Reshape Tea Trade

    Hormuz Shockwaves Reshape Global Tea Trade and Freight Risk | India-U.S. Trade Pact Could Reopen U.S. Market Access for Indian Tea | DMCC Reveals New Details on 600-Metre Uptown Dubai Megatall Tower NEWSMAKER – Amy Freeman, CEO and Co-Founder Spice & Tea Exchange PLUS | Tea Discovery Drives Retail Growth | Few specialty retailers have expanded as successfully—or as thoughtfully—as The Spice & Tea Exchange. Founded during the depths of the 2008 financial crisis, the brand has grown from a single shop in St. Augustine, Florida, into a nationwide franchise with more than 90 locations. At the heart of that growth is CEO and co-founder Amy Freeman, whose approach combines entrepreneurial discipline with a strong belief in hospitality, storytelling, and sensory retail. Instead of standardizing stores into uniform outlets, Freeman has created a model that promotes local experimentation, community engagement, and hands-on exploration of spices, loose-leaf teas, and culinary ingredients. In our conversation this week, Amy discusses expanding a franchise network while maintaining authenticity, lessons learned from the pandemic, and why immersive retail and education remain vital for the future of specialty loose-leaf tea. | Podlink signup: https://pod.link/1549975153 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    31 min
  5. Tea Price Report | Week 9 | Ending 06 March 2026

    6 MAR

    Tea Price Report | Week 9 | Ending 06 March 2026

    Tea auctions closed Week 9 broadly steady across Colombo, North India, Mombasa, and Indonesia, but dispersion inside catalogues continued to widen. Benchmark averages remain range-bound, yet price realization is increasingly determined on an invoice-by-invoice basis. Premium, well-made teas cleared competitively, particularly brighter liquoring high-grown and consistent liquidity grades, while secondary and mixed descriptions met selective demand or discounted outcomes.| Colombo: USD 4.17/kg (Week 9) | USD 4.18/kg (prior week) | North India: Prices averaged approximately USD 2.93/kg (Week 9) | USD 2.94/kg (prior week) | East Africa: Prices averaged USD 2.27/kg (Week 9) | USD 2.18/kg (prior week) | Indonesia: Prices averaged approximately USD 1.18/kg (Week 9) | USD 1.19/kg (prior week) | Podlink signup: https://pod.link/1549975153 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    3 min
  6. Spotlight | Data Integrity at Scale

    6 MAR

    Spotlight | Data Integrity at Scale

    Traceability is quickly becoming one of the defining challenges in the global tea trade. Consumers want to know where their tea comes from, how it was produced, and whether environmental and labor standards are being met. At the same time, governments are tightening regulations, brands are facing new compliance requirements, and importers are seeking better visibility into sourcing risks. | The Tea Biz State of the Industry 2026 report describes Sustainability Compliance as the transition from voluntary sustainability claims to verifiable supply-chain data. What used to be marketing is now infrastructure. Companies are being asked not simply to say where tea comes from, but to prove it. | BIO: Samuel Lambert is a supply-chain technology entrepreneur and co-founder of ZenGate Global, the builders behind the Palmyra Platform, a digital infrastructure designed to capture and verify agricultural supply-chain data. His work focuses on building traceability systems that integrate farmers, cooperatives, exporters, and brands into a single structured data environment. Lambert’s projects span multiple commodities—including coffee, cocoa, honey, and tea—and frequently involve mapping farms, verifying production data, and integrating satellite, geospatial, and blockchain technologies into existing trade systems. His work has focused heavily on emerging markets in Africa and Southeast Asia, where fragmented supply chains make reliable data capture difficult but increasingly essential. Lambert advocates a pragmatic approach to transparency—one that strengthens existing trade architecture while enabling new forms of decision intelligence built on structured supply-chain data. He is a graduate of the Australian National University with degrees in finance, economics and statistics. | Podlink signup: https://pod.link/1549975153 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    18 min
  7. Tea News Recap | Hormuz Crisis | Tariff Refunds | China Tea Export Surge

    6 MAR

    Tea News Recap | Hormuz Crisis | Tariff Refunds | China Tea Export Surge

    Hormuz Crisis Threatens Global Tea Trade | Kenya Faces a Sudden Market Shock as Gulf Shipping Routes Collapse | Billions in Duties May be Returned to Importers, Including Tea Buyers | China’s Tea Exports Surge in 2025 | Green Tea Dominance Continues as Shipments Reach 419,000 Metric Tons || Podlink signup: https://pod.link/1549975153 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    13 min
  8. Ep 235 | Hormuz Crisis | Tariff Refunds | China Tea Export Surge

    6 MAR

    Ep 235 | Hormuz Crisis | Tariff Refunds | China Tea Export Surge

    Hormuz Crisis Threatens Global Tea Trade | Kenya Faces a Sudden Market Shock as Gulf Shipping Routes Collapse | Billions in Duties May be Returned to Importers, Including Tea Buyers | China’s Tea Exports Surge in 2025 | Green Tea Dominance Continues as Shipments Reach 419,000 Metric Tons | NEWSMAKER – Samuel Lambert, co-founder of zenGate Global PLUS | Data Integrity at Scale Traceability is quickly becoming one of the defining challenges in the global tea trade. Consumers want to know where their tea comes from, how it was produced, and whether environmental and labor standards are being met. At the same time, governments are tightening regulations, brands are facing new compliance requirements, and importers are seeking better visibility into sourcing risks. Today’s guest, Samuel Lambert, co-founder of ZenGate and architect of the Palmyra supply-chain platform, works at the intersection of blockchain, geospatial verification, and agricultural supply chains. In this Spotlight conversation, we explore how structured data—from farm mapping to chain-of-custody records—can transform traceability from a compliance burden into a far more powerful form of decision intelligence for global tea markets.| Podlink signup: https://pod.link/1549975153 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    42 min
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About

The Voice of Tea Lands | Tea Journey Magazine, founded in 2015, and the Tea Biz Blog | Podcast are favorites of tea enthusiasts and professionals worldwide. Content is authentic, timely, and exclusive, a collaborative effort that enlists 40 voices skilled in 12 languages to tell the story of tea. Coverage spans tea discovery and preparation to tea tourism, lifestyles, health and wellness, meditation, culinary tea with recipes, and terroir. Our business coverage offers insights for commercial producers supported by rich market data and scientifically backed research. Transparency is rooted in authentic storytelling, featuring nuanced articles about the places and people who passionately live a life in tea. As a niche publication, Tea Journey relies on reader contributions for most of its income. Please consider donating to support the writers and staff who bring you our unique tea content from around the globe. We appreciate your support. In 2025, we teamed up with our good friends at OverSubscribe, a platform that lets our fans make real financial investments in our future. By contributing as little as $25 to Tea Journey, you’re not just supporting our publication—you’re joining a lively global community and earning a return on your investment. | https://teajourney.oversub.me/

Information

  • Creator
    Dan Bolton
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    454
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2022 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Tea Biz