Tea Biz News and Insight - April 29, 2022

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Health Symposium Reveals a Plethora of Science-based Benefits of Tea | COVID-Influenced Consumer Behaviors Present New Opportunities for the Tea Industry | Sri Lanka Tea Exports Decline 10% | GUEST – Jagjeet Kandal, country head, IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative | FEATURE INTRO – This week, Tea Biz travels to Bengaluru, where South Asia Editor and Producer Aravinda Anantharaman begins a two-part series on Realigning the Marketing of Indian Tea. Realigning the Marketing of Indian Tea – India produces 20% of the world’s tea. Production, however, has stagnated for years. Costs are up prices flat. Professional tasters report sharp declines in quality. Marketing tea to domestic consumers is complicated -- but promising. Indians consume 90% of the tea grown there but mainly purchase lower grades. Per capita consumption is modest at 840 grams due to a preference for tea in blends, but tea is stocked in every household, and Indians drink two cups per day. Until recently, India exported virtually all its best teas. Tea discovery is discouraged as imports from China, Taiwan, and Japan are expensive due to high tariffs, but rising affluence is overcoming these obstacles. Indian legislators are currently considering a draft Tea (Promotion and Development) Bill to remove colonial-era provisions regulating tea and re-direct the Tea Board of India’s resources to expand existing markets and promote tea domestically.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy