Tea Biz

Dan Bolton

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. 16 hrs ago

    Spotlight | Behind the Cup

    Behind the Cup: Why Quality Tea Needs a Better Business Model | Social and environmental conditions behind tea production remain far less scrutinized than those of coffee or cocoa. In this Tea Biz Spotlight, I speak with Ecological Economist Pierre William Johnson, author of the French-language Thé: l’envers de la tasse — Tea: Behind the Cup. Pierre’s central argument is not that the tea trade should be made to feel guilty. Rather, it is that quality, economic viability, social justice, and environmental resilience are interconnected — and that a higher-priced tea is not necessarily more equitable. His research examines the structures that determine how tea is grown, processed, traded, and valued. We discuss why quality premiums do not necessarily reach workers or smallholders; what happens inside the processing “black box” between green leaf and finished tea; how plantation systems might evolve without abandoning workers; why monoculture creates both business and environmental risks; and what tea companies should change first to build stronger relationships with producers. BIO: Pierre William Johnson specializes in ecological economics and the sustainable development of agricultural and artisanal value chains. His research focuses on tea-producing regions in Asia and East Africa. His latest book examines labor relations, trade structures, producer organization, environmental pressures, and value distribution across the tea sector. | Podlink sign-up: https://pod.link/1549975153 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    Spotlight | Behind the Cup

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

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/