Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/491350
STiR tea & coffee industry international 15 tea venues, and other fun tea activities. Learn more at www.teatimemagazine. com/occasion2013.aspx or contact: events@hoffmanmedia.com Food Safety Achievements Metropolitan Tea Company, based in Ontario and New York State, has just been awarded the Gold Standard for both HACCP (the food safety Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point certification) and GMP (Good Manufac- turing Process) accreditation. The company was also designated with the Toronto Board of Trade's "Sustainability Award" at a recent Business Excellence Awards Event. Nearly three acres of rooftop solar panels has helped the company become carbon negative and has produced one million kilowatt hours of energy in the past 12 months. Metropolitan also operates a 200-acre tree farm on the Bruce Peninsula audited by the Ontario Forestry Association in conjunction with the Grey Bruce Sauble Conservation Authority. The company recently been planted 15,000 native species trees to contribute to the 50 Million Trees Ontario Program, part of the United Nations goal to reach one billion trees planted each year. Learn more: www.metrotea.com or contact: sales@metrotea.com Two New Tea Books Toronto-based tea entrepreneur and tea sommelier Carol Marks has just published two tea cookbooks. The Love of Tea Best of Drink & Food celebrates drink and food, from starters to mains to desserts to tea cocktails & afternoon teas with five teas that can be found in the pantry at home; Modern Afternoon Tea gives the reader everything required to host a 21st Century tea party in the Edwardian style. Marks sells blended teas and hosts tea-inspired dinners, tea and cookery workshops, and tea tasting events and has launched a blog on her website to explore and discover all things tea. Learn more at: www.theloveoftea.ca or www.teanow. blogspot.ca CZECH REPUBLIC Vodafone Award for Oxalis 2013 proved a very important mile- stone in the history of tea wholesaler and blender Oxalis. Not only did the company celebrate its 20th anniversary, but it has also come second in the competition 'Vodafone Company of the Year 2013 in the region of Zlin', as organized by a newspaper - Hospodarske Noviny. "Second place is a great success for us, and partly we take it as a chal- lenge for the future. We shall make every endeavor to win in 2014. We are celebrating 20 years from the inception of the company, when running the business was not very easy, and we are now very proud of its current standing and the stability of the company on the tea & coffee market," said Petr Zelik, owner of Oxalis. Learn more at: www. oxalis.eu or contact Petra Overall at: overall@oxalis.cz HAWAII Incubator Tea Nurseries The US Department of Agriculture and Kohala Center is seeking people willing to grow tea plants in incubators in Kaʻū, the southernmost district on Hawaii's Big Island. Program leader Eva Lee, of Tea Hawai`i & Co., gave a workshop in November 2013 at Pahala Plantation Managers House, which was attended by some 40 people who are interested in backyard and commercial tea produc- tion. Lee said that she is will help start incubator tea nurseries where area residents volunteer to care for the baby plants and obtain young tea plants for their own tea production. Locations have already been suggested in Wood Valley above Pahala, and in Wai`ohinu and Ocean View. Mature tea plants take years to become productive and Lee said she will help prospective farmers budget for the cost of preparing land, support- ing the tea plants with nutrients, the cost of water and marketing. Learn more at: www.teahawaii.com