Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/491350
16 STiR tea & coffee industry international INDIA Jardins de Gaia's Darjeeling Arlette Rohmer of the French organic tea company Jardins de Gaia recently won 3 stars at the UK Great Taste Award for her Mineral Spring Darjeel- ing. The tea, described as "fresh and flowery with hints of wild orchid, lychee and wild strawberry" is organic and Fairtrade Certified from the Mineral Spring, Sanukta Vikas Sanstha (MSSVS), a small farmer collective of 456 family members in the Darjeeling Hills. The MSSVS villages (Harassing, Dabaiani and Yangkhoo) are a part of what was once the Harrison's and Mineral Springs Tea Estate, which closed down in 1956. In 1996, the communities organized themselves into a small farmer coopera- tive that now runs a number of pro- grams including a savings and credit union, women's self-help groups, milk and drinking water initiatives, and consumer cooperatives. The tea is sold internationally as Mineral Springs Small Farmers Tea. Learn more at: www. jardinsdegaia.com/en and www. darjeelingprerna.org and www.equalex- change.coop/our-partners/farmer-part- ners/mineral-springs-cooperative ITALY Adopt a Tea Garden The mission of Italian luxury food company Nudo, founded 10 years ago, is to bring producers and consumers closer together. Through its Adopt a Tea Garden program, it has teamed up with local producers in Darjeeling to help them restore deserted tea gardens which have until now been unsustain- able. Using biodynamic and organic farming practices, local farmers can now reopen those tea gardens, creating more jobs for the local tea growers and pickers and creating the opportunity for the younger generation to learn the skills that their families have practiced for centuries. Customers who adopt their own tea garden receive a certificate and some of the superfine Fairtrade Certified, Organic and Bio-dynamic TGFOP first flush tea straight from that garden. Options include Spring Adoption, Spring Adoption plus additional deliveries through later seasons, or Annual Adopt For Myself. Learn more at: www.nudodarjeeling.com JAPAN World O-Cha Festival At the World Green Tea Conference in Shizuoka, Nov. 9-10, 2013, the theme was "A growth strategy for expanding the Japanese green tea market around the world". In front of a 300-strong audience, Chairperson Masahi Omori, Director of O-Cha College, discussed the health benefits of Japanese green tea; Peter Goggi, President of the Tea Association of the USA, detailed patterns of green tea consumption in the US and approaches to food safety; Limin Mao, of Zhejiang Tea Group, talked about the future of the Chinese tea industry; Takashi Fujita, President of Japan Fooding, discussed ways to successfully export Japanese tea; Barbara Dufrene, editor of La Nouvelle Presse de The, focused on trends in green tea consumption in Europe; and Dr. P. Jose David, of Tata Global Beverages Ltd, explained consumer trends in India. Experts in Japanese product develop- ment said afterwards that they had gained a useful insight into the export of Japanese teas and realized the impor- tance of making more information available throughout the world. Learn more at: www.ocha-festival.jp/english/ currently involved in a new initiative, Emerging Leaders, to deliver leadership training to workers, factory directors, pastors, priests, and teachers from 10 tea factories in the Mount Kenya region with the aim of helping participants identify ways to exert a positive influ- ence at work, in their communities and at home. The hope is that this will give women and young people more self confidence; that farmers will also be able to identify projects such as Fairtrade that impact positively on their communities; that younger people will be attracted into agriculture and other enterprising activities; that farmers will be better able to identify good farming practices, have a better understanding of financial management and record keeping and so increase prosperity; and that communi- ties and families will be strengthened by focusing on teamwork and collabora- tion. Learn more at: www.ethicalteapart- nership.org RWANDA Specialty Teas from Rwanda For the past six months, Rwanda has been making strides into the specialty tea market. In June 2013, the 2nd African Tea Competition took place in Mombasa with 74 companies submitting more than 300 different teas. The 12 awards for the various categories went to Kenya and Rwanda. In August 2013, the 2nd African Tea Convention and Exhibition was held in Kigali, Rwanda, and was attended by more than 300 delegates and featured 32 booths. This was a major event that showed clearly how African teas are going for higher profiles, with KENYA ETP & Emerging Leaders In Kenya and across East Africa, poverty, job insecurity, alcoholism, and low levels of education have a negative impact in rural communities. Ethical Tea Partnership staff in Kenya is