Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/491365
18 STiR tea & coffee industry international World Briefs North American Tea Conference The 5th Annual North American Tea Conference will take place from Sept.16-18 at the Hilton Fallsview Hotel & Suites Niagara Falls, Ont., Canada. The conference, SolidariTEA, brings all members of the North American tea industry together to share business ideas and issues and provides an excellent opportunity for networking with packers, producers, importers, distributors and retailers. This year's conference will feature the new Table Top Showcase – an opportunity for buyers and sellers to exhibit and meet with conference delegates to discuss their unique products. The Table Top Showcase will be featured at the following times: 3-6 pm, Tuesday, Sept. 16; 8:30 am – 9:30 pm Wednesday, Sept.17; and 11 am – 12:30 pm Sept. 18. The 3rd Annual Gold Medal Competition judges teas from the same origin regardless of production type or grade. The number of origins open for entrants is limitless and will be decided by participant's involvement. Participating producers decide what style of manufacture to enter; judging is not solely "Best Cup per Origin" and all origins entered will be judged. To register and learn more about sponsorship opportunities and download competition rules, contact Adi Baker at adi.baker@tea.ca or visit www. tea.ca/industry-info/news/5th-annual- north-american-tea-conference/ CHINA The Rising Price of Puerh Tea Juyan Webster, who owns The Chinese Tea Company Ltd. in London's Porto- bello Green Tea, says that tea prices have been increasing in almost every tea-growing region of China in the past few years. This is because more and more Chinese people are drawn to its healthy, natural qualities. "But the price for Puerh tea has almost gone insane," she says. "There are more and more people traveling to the tea mountains - both tea tourists, who drive to the mountains and bring back a few kilos of tea as a souvenir, and those in the tea business intent on making a lot of money. In particular, they are searching for ancient arbor tea from the famous areas such as Lao Ban Zhang, Yi Wu and Bu Lang mountains. One tea farmer in Lin Cang told Webster that, in her village, it is an increase in visitors from Guangdong that has pushed up prices. She remembered that only few years ago, tea from Lin Cang areas was still not well known and she found it difficult to promote her tea because people's focus was only on Ban Zhang or Bu Lang mountains. But now teas from her region will be the next Bang Zhang tea. In any case, the village has seen a 50% increase on the price of fresh leaves since last year." Webster, who travels regularly to China, explains further that, "The weather is also a factor: this spring was very dry in Yunnan, so there was not much tea at the beginning of the harvest season. And even when the rain arrives it takes a few days for the plants to start growing again, and the teas are not worth picking. Also labor costs have gone up, and farmers are finding it harder to get workers to work for the short period of time each year when the teas need to be plucked so they have to pay higher wages to attract the right workers." of very special Japanese green teas (including Kuicha, Sencha, Gyokuro, Kabusecha, Morimoto Shiraore, Tamaryokucha, Morimoto Go En, Uji Premium Matcha, Kagoshima (Keiko) Supreme Matcha, Genmaicha, and Hojicha) from the Morimoto tea factory in Miyazaki, Kyushu, Southern Japan. The availability of these teas in Europe is through Marimo GmbH, founded by Tobias Roesch and Dietmar Segl, who started buying small quantities of tea from Shigeru and Haruyo Morimoto 10 years ago and now import around four metric tons of tea a year from the Morimoto's family farm. There is a very close relationship between the German importers and the Morimotos. Dietmar and Tobias join the Japanese tea farmers and work alongside them during at least one harvest each year. The family-like connection allows the Morimotos to work on developing new teas, thus ensuring a sustainable supply of good Japanese tea for the increasingly sophisticated and growing European market. During the seminars from 2-5:30 pm at The English Tea- room, owners Lynn and Christian Hazle- wood will talk about the history of tea in Japan, explore the geography and terroir of the tea-growing regions and talk about the different types of tea produced there and serve a Japanese buffet to end the sessions. Learn more from Lynn & Christian Hazlewood at The English Tearoom. Email hello@the-english- tearoom.de or visit www.the-english- tearoom.de or www.TeaSnob.de Tobias Roesch, left and Ditmar Segl, right. Photo by Marimo Morimoto Germany Japanese Teas in Germany The English Tearoom in Stuttgart, Germany, on Sunday, July 20 and again on Sunday, Oct. 12, will feature a range INDIA Challenging Spring for India Ajay Kichlu at Chamong Tee Exports Pvt. Ltd. in Kolkata, says that the erratic spring weather in northeast India this year and limited production has presented some new challenges for tea producers. Production declined by 25% in April. "There has been some rainfall in Tea Report Jane Pettigrew