Tea News and Biz Insight - April 30, 2021

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Mombasa to Expand Tea Auctions to Five Days a Week | Spiking Prices Dismay Russian Tea Drinkers | A 6.4 Quake Shakes Assam – Tea Factory Damage is Minor | Vahdam Tea Mobilizes Emergency COVID Aid for India| GUEST – Rishi Saria is a third-generation planter, managing the Gopaldhara, and Rohini estates in Darjeeling, India. | FEATURES – This week Tea Biz visits the fabled Darjeeling tea growing region in the Himalayan foothills of northwestern India…. and we travel to Seattle for the launch of the Organic Marketing Association a group that conveys the complexities of organic cultivation with memorable memes, clever ditties, and illustrations that radiate the joy of farming in harmony with nature.Steadfast Darjeeling Continues to EvolveDarjeeling is the most famous of India’s tea growing regions. Revenue from its spring flush makes it the most lucrative, but the plants there are aging, wage inflation is high, and workers are restless. Innovation is overdue. Aravinda Anantharaman spoke with Rishi Saria a third generation planter, managing the Gopaldhara, and Rohini estates in Darjeeling. He discusses Darjeeling from the point of view of a planter, where things stand, what it needs, and the successful processing of . She filed this this report:Marketing Organics with HumorDennis Weaver is the co-founder and president of the Organic Marketing Association, a non-profit that growers CANNOT pay to join. The consumer-facing OMA celebrates the fun side of organics by building awareness with slogans, puns and Instagram-inspired illustrations of vegetables like celery with the headline “Stalking You” or lemons calling you to “Pucker Up Baby.”Weaver explains that organic food is delicious and nutritious, “So why is organic stuck at 5% market share with plantings on only 1% of US acreage?” he asks. One reason is that organic suppliers spend too much time talking about what’s not organic. They are in a defensive bubble, he says. Consumers are far more interested in how tasty, fun and easy it is to choose organics. “We won’t try to educate anyone. Instead, we’ll focus on making positive associations with the word organic and the things that make people happy. It’s a simple formula that works,” says Weaver.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy