Tea Biz

When Tea Becomes More Than a Product: Building Ritual, Community, and Trust Without Losing Authenticity

Tea is often described in terms of origin, cultivar, elevation, and craft—but another dimension is harder to quantify and increasingly central to how people engage with tea today: presence.

Across the specialty market, we are seeing a shift. Not just toward better tea, but toward more intentional ways of experiencing it - spa...

Assam Enters Commercial Matcha Production | Caffeine Labels Could Work in Tea’s Favor | Floods Threaten the World’s Largest Jasmine Harvest | Newsmaker - Luong “Flowing River” Shen, Co-founder of Drishti House

PLUS | When Tea Becomes More Than a Product: Building Ritual, Community, and Trust Without Losing Authenticity

Tea is often described in terms of origin, cultivar, elevation, and craft—but another ...

Tea markets closed Week 25 with a firmer but still highly selective tone. Demand was present across the major auctions, but buyers remained disciplined, concentrating on clean, useful teas rather than bidding broadly across the catalog.| In Colombo, prices averaged $3.95/kg this week, ↓ -$0.05/kg vs the previous week, Sale 22. In North India, prices averaged $2.59/kg this week, ↑ +$0.06/kg vs last available official average, Week 2...

Vietnam has long been a volume player in tea—but that's changing.

As demand shifts toward origin, clarity, and craft, a new generation is redefining what Vietnamese tea can be—and how it's valued. | Today's guest is Tri Nguyen, CEO of Tea Cusp.

BIO: Tree Tri represents a new generation of Vietnamese tea makers—one rooted in heritage but intent on redefining how the world understands Vietnam as an origin. | A second-...

Heatwave Warning: El Niño and Tea’s Climate Stress Test | Nepal Tea Factories Reopen, But Export Risk Remains | Availability Is Not Deliverability

NEWSMAKER – Tri Nguyen, CEO of Tea Cusp

PLUS | Vietnam: Changing Perceptions | Vietnam has long been a major force in the global tea trade, but rarely the center of the conversation. As demand grows for specialty tea, matcha, and origin-driven products, Vietnamese producers are...

Quality Holds, Averages Ease | Tea markets closed ISO Week 21 with functional demand but a wider separation between quality teas and secondary descriptions. The market is not distressed, but it is more selective.

Colombo saw fair demand, though the total sales average eased from the previous week. North India remained active, especially for improved teas and dusts, but Sale 21 averages moved lower from Sales 20. M...

Can Anonymous Worker Feedback Become a Market Signal in Tea? | Glassmarks founder Guy Chambers believes the tea industry is approaching a structural turning point. For decades, ethical sourcing systems relied heavily on audits, certifications, and private compliance reports. But consumers increasingly want transparency, while producers who invest in better working conditions often receive little recognition or commercial adva...

Middle East Conflict Dramatically Lowers Sri Lanka Tea Exports | Assam Unrest Reveals Deeper Industry Strains | Turkish Tea Finds a Bigger Export Market - Guy Chambers, Founder, Executive Chairman, Glassmarks

PLUS | The Power of Feedback | What if anonymous worker feedback became reliable and pervasive? Could feedback be powerful enough to reshape tea sourcing?

For decades, ethical tea relied on audits and certifications. But what if...

In Sri Lanka, stronger competition persisted for cleaner, high-grown, well-manufactured teas, while secondary descriptions continued to encounter resistance. | In Colombo, prices averaged $3.24/kg this week, ↑ +$0.03/kg vs the previous week (Week 18), supported by continued supply tightness and stronger competition for select high-grown and well-manufactured leafy teas.

In North India, prices averaged $1.93/kg thi...

Regenerative agriculture has become one of the tea industry’s most discussed concepts, but definitions often remain vague. Producers, traders, and brand owners generally agree that healthier soils and more resilient ecosystems matter. The harder question is what regenerative farming actually looks like in practice on a working tea farm.

For Michael D. Ham, the answer begins with restraint. On Jeju Island in ...

Fertilizer Shock Threatens Tea Quality, Yields, and Costs | International Tea Day Events Expand Across Global Markets | India Pushes Ahead with Contested Tea Auction Mandate

NEWSMAKER – Michael D. Ham, CEO of Wild Orchard Tea

PLUS | Regenerative Farming Begins by Doing Less

Regenerative agriculture has become one of the tea industry’s most discussed concepts, but definitions often remain vag...

Tea markets closed WEEK 17 with prices edging firmer across the major auction centers, but the underlying signal remains quality, not volume. | Across Colombo, North India, Mombasa, and Indonesia, buyers continued to participate, but with discipline. Competition focused on clean, well-manufactured teas needed for immediate blending and export commitments. Secondary grades remained more difficult to secure, requiring price adj...

On Earth Day, it’s easy to talk about sustainability in broad terms—but much harder to connect those ideas to what’s actually happening on the ground. | For tea producers, climate pressure is no longer abstract. It’s showing up in yield, cost, and long-term viability. | What we’re exploring today is a different approach—one that attempts to measure soil health, biodiversity, and resilience, and l...

Middle East Instability Threatens Blending Hubs | A Refund Rush is Underway in US Trade | China’s US Ambassador Praises Tea Harmony

NEWSMAKER – Tea Rebellion Founder Annabel Kalmer, and a RegenTea Trustee

PLUS | Regenerative Tea Moves from Sustainability Claims to Farm-Level Economics | Tea Rebellion Founder Annabel Kalmar explains how RegenTea is testing whether soil health can translate into measurabl...