STiR coffee and tea magazine

14 STiR coffee and tea | 2023 Issue 1 (February / March) Ekaterra Is Now 'Lipton Teas and Infusions' Ekaterra Tea CEO Nathalie Roos announced in January that the tea company would rebrand as Lipton Teas and Infusions in 2023. "Infusion is not a product description; it's our mindset, it's our modus operandi," Roos wrote in a public statement on LinkedIn. "Success comes through people collaborating and lifting each other up in the service of common goals. We know the power of blends, and we honor the role of diversity of thinking and ideas in building excellence." She said the rebranding would strengthen the company's position and affirm its approach as a sustainable, environmentally friendly, consumer- centric organization. Ekaterra, a division divested by Unilever in 2021, was acquired by CVC Capital for $5 billion in July 2022. The rebranded firm owns a portfolio of 32 brands. It markets tea and herbal infusions in more than 100 countries. Annual turnover in 2021 was $2.15 billion (€2 billion). The company, headquartered in Rotterdam, employs 15,000 at 11 processing and packaging factories and tea gardens in three countries. In February 2023, the company announced it would partner with Vietnam-based DKSH Consumer Goods to provide a full range of services to support the business across marketing, sales, logistics, and distribution services to support the entire product portfolio of Lipton Teas and Infusions. The Lipton Teas and Infusions brand mix includes legacy Lipton Yellow Label, the world's top-selling brand, and PG Tips, along with regional brands that include JOKO, Lyons, Brooke Bond Red Label, and Bushell's in Australia. During the past decade, Unilever acquired several non-traditional tea companies, including Pukka Herbs, Seattle-based Tazo, and Australia's T2 retail chain, a B-Corp certified benefit company. The portfolio excludes Pepsi Lipton ready-to-drink products and Unilever holdings in India, Nepal, Kenya, and Indonesia. Lipton was founded by Scottish grocery retailer Sir Thomas Lipton in 1890 and acquired by Unilever in several separate transactions between 1938 and 1972. The name change will take effect after the company completes its separation from Unilever, which is expected in 2023. — Dan Bolton Kenya Tea Exports Fall to Five-Year Low Extreme weather in 2022 and unusually soft demand from Kenya's major tea customers stymied efforts to stimulate exports, resulting in a 21% decline through the end of October to 370 million kilograms, a five-year low. Kenya exports virtually all of the black tea it produces. Egypt and Pakistan purchase 55% of Kenya's tea in a typical year, but 2022 was anything except typical. Extraordinary rainfall inundated Pakistan, and in June, the government urged consumers to stop buying foreign goods, including tea. Egypt ran short of foreign exchange revenue as the local currency declined 35% against the U.S. dollar. Tea is traded predominately in dollars. Sales to Egypt were down 42% to 4.4 million kg for the 10 months. These factors contributing to a 13% decline in volume at the Mombasa Auction for the period. Kazakhstan orders declined by 40%. The United Kingdom imported 29% less tea. Sudan bought 35% less. And orders from the Russian Federation fell by 37%. Russia's invasion of Ukraine disrupted the black tea supply chain, affecting trade with CIS countries. But economic doldrums in Europe and across Africa had an even more significant impact. In total, tea buyers purchased 98 million fewer kilograms in Mombasa compared to the same period in 2021. Regarding weather, the Tea Board of Kenya anticipated lower yields due to a short rainy season, as the worst drought in 40 years dragged on. Lack of rain brought production down by 5.8 million kg through October, a nominal 1.34% decline. Rainfall across the Horn of Africa declined for the fifth year. Rainfall totals in 2022 were the lowest in 70 years. The drought is the most pro- longed and severe on record, threatening 20 million of the 36 million people living there. More than 1.5 million people in Kenya received humanitarian assistance in 2022 to cope with the drought. But scarcity boosted prices, a positive change given several years of depressed foreign earnings from tea. The 10-month auction average was $2.49 per kg for bulk quantities from large plantations and $2.71 per kg for tea produced by smallholders. — Dan Bolton Tea Report

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