Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/491377
20 STiR tea & coffee industry international / Issue 2, 2015 (April/May) Tarik', the sweet, frothy, milky 'pulled tea' popular throughout the country and served in all coffee and tea shops. The unusual portrait, measuring 10.5 by 7.4 feet (3.2 by 2.2meters) and weighing 441 lbs. (200 kg), was created as an homage to Malaysia for Malaysia Night at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January. Hong Yi took two months to complete the work and used 10 different shades of tea bags. "I wanted to create a piece that reflected an everyday scene in Malaysia that reminds me of home," she said. "Teh Tarik is a drink that brings people together and I hope that I get to share a bit of my country through this piece!" Learn more: www.redhongyi.com MYANMAR Myanmar Tea for Germany The Myanmar Tea Cluster and the Palaung Tea Association has announced that Germany is now an importer of its specialty black and oolong teas. Some tea producers in the country have already received organic accreditation from U.S. and EU certification bodies and other growers are also aiming to attain international organic certification. Teas from Myanmar are currently exported into American and European markets, and Myanmar hopes soon to also target buyers in Japan, Taiwan, and Sri Lanka. The country has 200,000 acres under tea and produces 40,000 metric tons of green, black and oolong teas annually. Growers are hoping for more government financing in order to increase technical support and develop skills in the manufacture of high quality specialty teas. The hope is that increased tea exports will benefit not just the tea industry but the entire country. activities were increased and widened, and as a result, sales have increased overall and in particular in new markets such as the U.S. and China. The new chairman graduated from the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka in economics and holds a masters degree from the University of Grenoble, France. He served in the Sri Lanka Administrative Service from 1974 to 2008, including as additional secretary to the Ministry of Plantations Industries which plays a key role in the economy, taking responsibility for the entire tea, rubber, coconut, cashew, sugarcane and Palmyra sectors. He previously was chairman at Chilaw, Kurunegala & Elkaduwa Plantation Companies, the Rubber Product Manu- facturing Corp., and the Land Reform Commission. Learn more: www. pureceylontea.com TAIWAN 85°C Bakery Café Wu Cheng-Hsueh's chain of 85°C Bakery Cafés was founded in Taichung and now has 800 stores in Taiwan, China, Austra- lia, Hong Kong, and the U.S. The stores are a fusion of modern coffee house and pastry shop and serve desserts, cakes and breads, coffee, and, tea beverages, including the increasingly popular bubble tea. Bubble tea was created in Taiwan and Cheng-Hsueh once owned a bubble tea store. The drink is part beverage, part 'dessert', thick with milk, sugar and large tapioca or fruity 'bubbles'; consumers need to not just sip but bite and chew too. All around the world, the trend for bubble tea is growing, so it's not surprising that Wu Cheng-Hsueh's stores are seeing the same interest amongst city professionals, office employees, and the younger generation. Other teas served include Jasmine green tea, milk tea, caramel milk tea, green milk tea, coffee milk tea, and chai Latte. Learn more: www.85cafe.com. RWANDA Rwanda Aims for Quality George William Kayonga, c.e.o. of the National Agriculture Export Board (NAEB) told tea farmers during a recent national forum that the industry needs to boost quality along the tea value chain of supply in 2015. He stressed the need to improve factory processing efficiency and enhance the value and volume of tea exports through value addition and product diversification. He said that the aim is to make the tea sector sustainable and competitive globally while enhancing its contribution to the national economy. Experts believe that plucking, leaf quality, transportation, and technology need to be improved, and the national tea policy aims to promote domestic tea consump- tion, promote industry performance, and enhance support systems. Rwanda's tea industry currently consists of 11 factories and six tea projects and produces 23,000 metric tons of tea annually. The plan is to build a further five factories, and upgrade the older ones. NAEB plans to distribute more than 43 million seedlings of tea by the end of 2017 and hopes that export earnings will double by 2017 to around $147million. SRI LANKA New Tea Board Chair Janaki Kuruppu, who became the first female to chair the Sri Lanka Tea Board in 2011, has been succeeded by Y.G. Wijeratne. During Kuruppu's time in office, Sri Lanka achieved record-break- ing export figures and in 2014 sales increased to $1.65 billion (SLRs 213.31 billion), up 6.6% on 2013 and the best ever figure in 147 years of tea growing history. During her leadership, struc- tures, facilities, computer systems, training at all levels, and tea quality have all been improved. Under her direction, in a drive to improve the quality of Ceylon tea, all blending and packing factories were inspected, rated and where necessary upgraded, promotional Y.G. Wijeratne, tea board chairman