The World of Tea
May was a month of tradeshows….I ended the month at the World Tea Expo in Las Vegas. Not my favorite city, by a long shot, but the show on the other hand is truly one of my favorites. And I'm not saying that because we're one of the show's sponsors. All around, the World Tea Expo is well-organized from the show floor to the educational seminars.
Tea as an ingredient in snacks, a trend I reported in the December 2007 issue of Gourmet News, continues.
Sencha Naturals launched their Green Tea Bars in three flavors
Tzu The International Inc. Green Tea Bars
New to the scene --Tetulia: A line of organic, fairly traded teas from Bangladesh are being introduced to the U.S. market. Kazi Anis Ahmed’s family owns 1,000 acres in the northern mountainous called Tetulia, for which the tea is named. They’re trying both a cooperative and contract farming method, depending on the needs and desires of the 1,000+ member families. You may remember Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus? He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his bank that makes small microcredit loans…Anis’ family has taken this a step further…their farmers pay 1L daily in milk and cow dung. Each family is given a cow, and the payment in milk, rather than cold hard cash, encourages the family to take care of the cow. Traditional currency is something most people don’t have access to on a regular basis, so it can be stressful for the farmers to figure out how to turn their agricultural products to cash, especially in this rural area, Anis said. And what does he do with all that milk? Find out in an upcoming issue of Gourmet News.
Right up there with Bangladesh in the "world's lesser-known tea growing regions" category is Nepal. Adagio Tea now has a first flush from Nepal, grown in the Himalayas…
I attended the seminar “How to Conduct a Tea Tasting.” Last year, it sold out – 150 people. This year, I’d say the room was around 200. I’ll be writing up what I learned for the August issue.
Not surprising… so many attendees want to learn the ins-and-outs of tea tastings…. More than 150 people signed up for the Business Bootcamp, the two-day preshow educational seminars for people wanting to open a tea salon or tea store.
Maybe some of those wanna-be entreteaneurs will consider a franchise concept. If so, German tea purveyor Tea Gschwendner has three retail stores/ café concepts in the Chicagoland area. They’re working on a franchise concept for the U.S. market. Already, this tea merchant has stores worldwide.
Tea as an ingredient in snacks, a trend I reported in the December 2007 issue of Gourmet News, continues.
Sencha Naturals launched their Green Tea Bars in three flavors
- Delicate Pear
- Original
- Lively Lemongrass (my favorite.)
Tzu The International Inc. Green Tea Bars
- Goji beery
- Blueberry
- Lemon zest
New to the scene --Tetulia: A line of organic, fairly traded teas from Bangladesh are being introduced to the U.S. market. Kazi Anis Ahmed’s family owns 1,000 acres in the northern mountainous called Tetulia, for which the tea is named. They’re trying both a cooperative and contract farming method, depending on the needs and desires of the 1,000+ member families. You may remember Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus? He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his bank that makes small microcredit loans…Anis’ family has taken this a step further…their farmers pay 1L daily in milk and cow dung. Each family is given a cow, and the payment in milk, rather than cold hard cash, encourages the family to take care of the cow. Traditional currency is something most people don’t have access to on a regular basis, so it can be stressful for the farmers to figure out how to turn their agricultural products to cash, especially in this rural area, Anis said. And what does he do with all that milk? Find out in an upcoming issue of Gourmet News.
Right up there with Bangladesh in the "world's lesser-known tea growing regions" category is Nepal. Adagio Tea now has a first flush from Nepal, grown in the Himalayas…
I attended the seminar “How to Conduct a Tea Tasting.” Last year, it sold out – 150 people. This year, I’d say the room was around 200. I’ll be writing up what I learned for the August issue.
Not surprising… so many attendees want to learn the ins-and-outs of tea tastings…. More than 150 people signed up for the Business Bootcamp, the two-day preshow educational seminars for people wanting to open a tea salon or tea store.
Maybe some of those wanna-be entreteaneurs will consider a franchise concept. If so, German tea purveyor Tea Gschwendner has three retail stores/ café concepts in the Chicagoland area. They’re working on a franchise concept for the U.S. market. Already, this tea merchant has stores worldwide.
posted by Anna Wolfe at 12:57 PM
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