Middle East Unrest Heightens Tea Logistics Concerns | Just Ice Tea Raises $14 Million to Expand Distribution

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Middle East Unrest Heightens Tea Logistics Concerns | Iran Running Short of Tea | Just Ice Tea Raises $14 Million to Expand Distribution | Wagh Bakri Executive Director Parag Desai, 49, Dies Fleeing Stray Dogs| GUEST – Tahira Nizari, co-founder and CEO of the Kazi Yetu Tea Collection| FEATURE INTRO – Tea Biz traveled to Tanzania last week to explore the tropical Usambara tea-growing region. There, I met with smallholder farmers, tea makers, traders, tea sellers, members of the Tea Board of Tanzania, and a tiny cooperative of 14 families deep in the jungle who invited me to watch as they hand-rolled and wood-fired organic black tea that always sells out on “market day” in the local village. I recount my adventure beginning today with Tahira Nizari, a savvy business school graduate and humanitarian who 2018 founded Kazi Yetu. This specialty tea brand advances the role of women in Tanzania’s tea industry.Value Addition at Origin Enhances the Lives of Tea Workers – Kazi Yetu sources much of its tea from the Sakare farmer’s cooperative in the Usambara Mountains, a range in northeastern Tanzania that is 90 kilometers long and about half that wide. Usambara is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, with a virgin rainforest that rises to more than 7,500 feet (about 2,289 meters above the Indian Ocean). Teas are finished and transported to the port at Dar es Salaam, where 35 women are employed in blending, packaging, and distributing tins and canisters of specialty tea available globally.  Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy