It has been announced that the first World Tea Championship will be held at the World Tea Expo this year in Las Vegas, Nevada. The expo is being held from May 30 through June 1.
Just like we now have with wines, they will give the competing teas a World Tea Rating. Since, like wine, so much of the quality of a tea depends upon growing conditions such as the weather and soil and the skill of the tea masters and blenders, it is hoped that this rating system will bring “increased awareness and consumer understanding”. The lucky industry and media participants will receive a World Tea Buyers Guide which will list the ratings of all the entries into the new World Tea Championship.
The hot tea class will have 24 categories with three super categories while the iced tea class will be divided into three categories which are set by how they are marketed or sold. These categories are ready-to-drink, food service and freestyle. If you happen to be a member of the industry that attends the expo, please consider writing a small report for us here.
Source: http://www.bevnet.com/news/2008/2-28-2008-World_Tea_Championship.asp
Filed under Tea Events by on Mar 1st, 2008. 
For the first time, in 2007, the Sri Lankan Tea Export Trade moved past the $1billion in value mark. This despite what some would say was a trying year. First there was a strike (work stoppage) on plantations by labor unions at the beginning of the year which happened about the same time as a severe drought. Of course, the drought impacted the production of tea leaves.
However, even with the drought and strike, there was only a 2% drop in the amount of tea produced which is amazing given the state of affairs. Tea exports were also down 5.5% over the previous year which just goes to show that the price of tea must be going up for the value to have gone up.
What I think is more interesting than the value of tea exports going over the one billion dollar mark is that Kenya beat out Sri Lanka as the third larest producer and became the largest exporter of tea over Sri Lanka as well in 2007. However, Sri Lanka made more money than Kenya did which the source put down to the “eminence of the Colombo Tea Auction as the largest single origin tea auction in the world.”
Source: http://www.island.lk/2008/03/01/business3.html
Filed under Tea by on Mar 3rd, 2008.
The winning tea videos to be used for marketing its product, POM Tea, were announced on February 29 by POM Wonderful. These will be shown in theaters in New York and LA throughout March.
The top four were chosen from over 100 videos submitted which ranged from a rapping grandmother to animated clips. The grand prize winner was “Wonderful Movie Trailer” set as a romantic comedy between POM Wonderful’s 100% Pomegranate Juice and its POM Tea. The three runner-ups were “Free Radical Hunter”, “Graceful Sip”, and “Office POM”.
If you love to buy prepared teas to take along on your excursions and prefer those that have been “fortified” with additional antioxidants, you might want to consider the POM Tea line. They combine their POM Wonderful pomegranate juice and POMx, which is a blend of antioxidants taken from their pomegranates in a patent pending process, and mix them with tea. Apparently you can get green, black, white or red flavored teas.
To view the videos, check out http://www.pomvideo.com/. You will also see the category winners as well.
Source: http://sev.prnewswire.com/food-beverages/20080229/LAF02729022008-1.html
Filed under Tea Events by on Mar 4th, 2008.