Tea Biz Dan Bolton

HEAR THE HEADLINES – TAZO Tea Embraces Regenerative Ag | Ingredients in Reformulations are Verified Regenerative | Tea Labor Unrest in Bangladesh | Canada Requires Front of Pack Nutrition Warning Labels
| GUEST – Quentin Vennie, co-founder of Equitea, Baltimore, Maryland USA
| FEATURE INTRO – Tea Biz this week travels to Baltimore, Maryland, to talk with Equitea co-founder Quentin Vennie about three new condition-specific canned, cold-brewed tea blends formulated to ease anxiety and depression, improve focus, and calm young people coping with ADHD.
Cold-Brewed Calm – Author and wellness expert Quentin Vennie, with his wife Erin, on the advice of their son’s neurologist, found that green tea helped their seven-year-old boy maintain calm and focus. Diagnosed with ADHD, a condition leading to impulsive, hyperactive behavior, tea’s unique combination of L-Theanine and Caffeine offered relief, but loose-leaf teas were challenging to brew and not that tasty to a pre-teen. Quentin and Erin added calming botanicals to make the tea palatable. Inspired by their success, they launched a tea venture that produced packaged teas that became a favorite of Gwyneth Paltrow, whose company goop sells the teas online.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – India Considers Tough New Import Restrictions for Nepal Tea | IMF Bailout Talks with Sri Lanka to Resume | Kenya’s Ag Minister Reverses the Government’s Position Favoring Mechanization
| NEWSMAKER – Aasha Bhandari, International Trade and Promotion Executive at HIMCOOP, the Himalaya Tea Producers Co-operative
| FEATURE INTRO – Tea Biz this week travels to Kathmandu, Nepal, where Aasha Bhandari describes how Asia’s enthusiasm for golden tips powered Nepalese tea producers through the pandemic. HIMCOOP, the Himalaya Tea Producers Co-operative, is a consortium of tea producers founded in 2003.
Nepal Opportunity – The Eastern Nepal region has led the country's tea trade. Today the landscape is changing as more entrepreneurs are exploring the tea industry. HIMCOOP trade and promotions executive Aasha Bhandari says, "One of the best advantages Nepal tea has is that they own their factory, they own their garden. So, they have the power to make whatever sort of tea they want to make. That's a good advantage. And I think they're doing it quite well. I'm really impressed with the small farmers compared to the big factories."

HEAR THE HEADLINES – | Generation Z and Leisurely Tea | Survey Shows Retail Frontline Workers Exhausted and Underappreciatedand | India’s Tea Employment Plateau | PLUS Tea Biz travels to Kansas City, Missouri to discuss with Emilie Jackson, founder of Emilie’s French Teas, the ongoing evolution of specialty retail at independent shops and tearooms.
| GUEST – Emilie (Potier) Jackson, co-founder Emilie's French Teas
| FEATURE INTRO – Tea Biz this week travels to Kansas City, Missouri, where we discuss with Emilie Jackson, founder of Emilie’s French Teas, the ongoing evolution of specialty retail at independent shops and tearooms.The French Finish – Emilie’s retail shop and tearoom, founded in 2015, spans 2,500 sq.ft., seats 10, and is co-located with The Centered Spirit, her husband Alex’s holistic medicine practice. Emilie was born in France and grew up in Paris. A graduate of the Sorbonne in business management with post-graduate degrees in marketing. Fluent in Spanish, Emilie was marketing manager for Lacoste in Mexico City. Emilie curates a selection of brands that share the “French Finish,” a blending style that showcases French expertise in wine, culinary, essential oils, and perfume for more subtle and smoother tasting blends.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Bypassing Sanctions is Benefitting India’s Tea Industry | Reinvention is Routine at Starbucks | South Africa's Rooibos Industry Makes First Payout to Indigenous Communities
| NEWSMAKER – Niraj de Mel, Chair Sri Lanka Tea Board
| FEATURE INTRO – Tea Biz travels to Sri Lanka this week, where newly appointed Tea Board Chair Niraj de Mel is rallying tea stakeholders – growers, manufacturers, producers, brokers, and exporters – in the face of formidable challenges. De Mel told Tea Biz correspondent Dananjaya Silva, “I am privileged to take on this role at such a crucial time.” 
Sri Lanka is Relying on its Resilient Tea Industry – Sri Lanka is in turmoil politically and financially; the country of 22 million is struggling as widespread demonstrations continue. Unrest is tied to food inflation exceeding 50%, with critical shortages of cooking gas, fuel, and reliable electricity. The country has defaulted on its foreign debt, and its currency devalues with a credit rating that discourages outside investment. Government bankers are at an impasse in negotiating a bailout from the International Monetary Fund that will depend on difficult reforms, including higher taxes and governance changes. Tea producers are confronting all the above challenges, yet the Ceylon tea brand remains resilient. Last year, the industry generated $1.3 billion in US foreign currency, exporting 300 million tons of tea, of which 270 million was high-value orthodox tea. Industry veteran Niraj De Mel was named Chairman of the Sri Lankan Tea Board in June 2022, his second appointment to a position he previously held in 2004. In this discussion with Dananjaya Silva, Managing Director at PMD Tea, De Mel explains the challenges and solutions facing Sri Lanka's tea industry.

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Sri Lankan Tea to the Rescue | India’s Monsoon Rainfall Exceeds 2021 Totals | Vancouver Hosts Bubble Tea Festival July 22-23
| GUEST – Ksenia Hleap, Director of Communications and Development at Agence pour la Valorisation des Produits Agricoles (AVPA) 
| FEATURE INTRO – The Fifth Edition of the annual Teas of the World International Contest is underway. Tea producers from around the world are invited to submit entries to AVPA, the Agency for the Valorization of Agricultural Products. Samples are due by the first of August. 
More than a Medal – AVPA’s annual tea competition offers more than a medal. The organization was founded to assist producers of various agricultural products, including edible oils, coffee roasted at origin, and chocolate elaborated at origin. During the past five years, AVPA has elevated the status of tea producers large and small, not only on the global stage but, most notably, in their local markets.

HEAR THE HEADLINES –  Ekaterra Names Nathalia Roos CEO and Pierre Laubies chair of the Board | Coca-Cola Launches an Herbal Tea Line in China | A Tea Scented Perfume Wins the Prestigious Art and Olfaction Award
| GUEST – Tea Book Club founder Kyle Whittington
| FEATURE INTRO – Kyle Whittington reviews The Teabowl: East and West, a book authored by Dr. Bonnie Kemske, a ceramic artist for the past 30 years, curator, and long-time student of the Japanese tea ceremony. 
The Teabowl: East and West – This wonderful book by Bonnie Kemske is a very personal, human look at an object and subject, the tea bowl, which can often be talked about in an all too esoteric or intensely academic way. What Bonnie succeeds so well in doing with her book is fusing the academic and esoteric contexts of the tea bowl with her personal experience as both a ceramicist and student of tea into a highly digestible book. Full to the brim with stunning images of all sorts of tea bowls. – Kyle Whittington.