“What’s Brewing?” is a World Tea News round-up of recent happenings, news and factoids from the global tea industry.
Here’s what’s notable:
Bigelow Tea Introduces New Line of Cold Water Infusions: Bigelow Botanicals
Family-owned Bigelow Tea introduced a new way to enjoy water with its Bigelow Botanicals Cold Water Infusion – a new line of light and refreshing cold water herbal infusions. The infusions feature Watermelon Cucumber Mint, Blackberry Raspberry Hibiscus, Cranberry Lime Honeysuckle, Blueberry Citrus Basil and Strawberry Lemon Orange Blossom.
In their announcement, Bigelow Tea noted, “The refreshing taste of each unique, on-trend flavor is specially formulated using real fruit and herbal combinations that will inspire everyone to stay healthy and hydrated throughout the day. A healthy alternative to sugary drinks, Bigelow Botanicals Cold Water Infusion offers zero calories, is caffeine free, and contains no artificial anything.”
Cindi Bigelow, third generation president and CEO of Bigelow Tea, said, “With today’s growing awareness and need to live a healthy lifestyle, we created these beautiful cold water infusion blends to support your wellness choices. It’s truly unlike anything else and really does help you to drink more water throughout the day.”
The Bigelow Botanicals Cold Water Infusion range of flavors are gluten free and non-GMO. Boxes of 18 individually-wrapped bags are available on store shelves nationwide. The average suggested SRP is US$3.99.
To learn more, visit BigelowTea.com.
Tea Board India Undertakes a Slew of Virtual Promotional Activities
Tea Board India – a statutory body under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry – has been initiating a slew of virtual promotional activities through webinars, virtual B2B meets and video conferences, in order to facilitate tea business, both in the domestic sphere and the export sector, in light of the global pandemic.
A virtual B2B meet of Indian tea exporters, importers and other stakeholders of Egypt was organized jointly by the Embassy of India, Cairo and Tea Board India on Aug. 24, 2020. The underlying principle behind organizing this B2B meet was to develop networking opportunities and to generate the requisite business leads for Indian tea exporters to Egypt. About 60 delegates participated in the meet, which covered various possibilities for increasing Indian tea exports to Egypt.
On the domestic front, a virtual B2B meet was organized by Tea Board India on Aug.18, 2020, with the overall objective of making low-tea drinking states of India into promising markets, where the potential for consumption of tea is high. The webinar attracted wholesalers and retailers from Uttar Pradesh and the National Capital Region, so that they could engage in business with the sellers from the Northeast. This domestic B2B meeting was the first in a series to be organized in the four states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha, as part of an attempt by Tea Board India to aggressively promote Indian tea in the domestic and international markets.
Further, an interactive meeting was held via video conferencing with major exporters and associations on Aug. 10, 2020, on the issue of the “Way Forward for Indian Tea Exports in the Current Situation.” The meeting was chaired by Shri P.K. Sahoo, deputy chairman of Tea Board India.
These were the first of the series of virtual meetings organized by Tea Board India in the wake of the global pandemic, to facilitate tea trade. The Tea Board India plans to organize more of these meetings in the coming months to address the issues related to both domestic, international tea trade and other requirements of the Indian Tea Industry.
To learn more about Tea Board India, visit TeaBoard.gov.in.
The Tea Crane Opens Flagship Store in Kyoto
Besides the conventional sales of organic, natural and pesticide-free Japanese specialty tea - which is the brand’s core area of business - The Tea Crane store will offer tea tasting activities, lectures and courses about tea and Japanese culture. The venue will also function as a studio for Sōsen, where he will host online demonstrations and lectures.
To learn more, visit The-Tea-Crane.com.
-Aaron Kiel, World Tea News