Imports in TEUs are approaching 550,000 per month at Los Angeles area ports, far exceeding totals for the same January through July period during the past four years. In August idled ships numbered a high of 44.

Timely Tea Delivery Faces Troubled Waters
By Dan Bolton

The disruption of global supply chains is getting worse. Container vessel reliability for tea shipments crossing the Pacific continued to decline this summer as prices reached new heights. The World Container Index for eight East-West routes rose to a composite cost of $9,613 for the week of August 19 – up 360% compared to the same period last year. Consignments of tea shipped from Shanghai to Rotterdam increased 659% to $13,698 for a 40-foot container last week. Port congestion, backlogs at container terminals locked down to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, and rapidly increased volume dashed hopes for a return to normalcy until next spring.  Read more...



Foxtrot is an upscale, hyper-convenient convenience chain

Tea is Thriving in the Convenience Channel
By Dan Bolton

Convenience outlets thrive at locations near where people live and in 2020 people stayed close to home. In-store sales at US grab-and-go outlets rose for the 18th year in a row to $255 billion in 2020. Beverage sales are a top category, accounting for 20% of all sales. Ready-to-drink iced tea makes up about 5% 4.7% of that total, trailing soda, juice, energy drinks, and bottled water, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS). In 2020 the dramatic decline in commuter trips, lockdowns and a consumer shift to grocery and home meals increased their spend but cut trips to convenience stores by more than 20%, according to NACS. The number of transactions declined 14% as basket sizes grew 18% compared to 2019. Read more…

Regenerative agriculture is focused on the soil and the enhancement of soil organic matter – SOM is a mix of plant and animal debris, soil microbes in an enriched environment of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.

 Regenerative Agriculture

By Dan Bolton

Can a world that has already eroded a third of the planet’s soils feed a population of 10 billion without intensive agricultural practices that rely on heavy inputs of fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides that sustain monoculture farming?

To answer this question, the Tea Biz Podcast and Blog is undertaking a series of interviews with thought-leaders in tea from organizations such as the Rainforest Alliance, growers in Sri Lanka, where a nationwide ban on the import and manufacture of plant chemicals was instituted in May; and with multinationals like Unilever, a company with extensive tea holdings that recently unveiled its basic principals of regenerative agriculture. Read more...

• Next in the series is a conversation with the Rainforest Alliance on how regenerative agriculture differs from sustainable farming.

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Tea Leaf Cuisine

By Aravinda Anantharaman

Pickled tea leaves may sound a bit out of the ordinary but not for Southeast Asian chefs. Burma, now known as Myanmar, is an ancient crossroads influenced by the cuisine of bordering Bangladesh, China, Thailand, and Laos. It is here that laphet has become a national dish that is now finding its way to US and European consumers as branded packaged goods. Read more...

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Reminder
The deadline to enter the AVPA’s 4th annual Teas of the World Contest is Sept. 15  Read more…