Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/658240
18 STiR tea & coffee industry international / Issue 2, 2016 (April/May) Tea Report: Jane Pettigrew Bella Sabatina tea selection Colombia's Te Hindu tea garden CANADA Bella Sabatina Kosher Organic Tea Toronto-based Bella Sabatina Premium Tea debuted a line of kosher specialty teas at the Kosherfest trade show last November. It is the first luxury tea to be both kosher and organic certified. The range consists of 8 artisanal flavored black and green teas, and herbal and fruit infusions that include: blueberry flan, buckingham breakfast, cashmere rouge, ginger spice, masala chai, moroccan mint, peppermint, and raspberry green. The products are packed in silk sachets, each containing 2-3 grams of large leaf tea or herbals, and are retailed inside colorful caddies that are available in gourmet food emporiums, specialty food stores and fine gift shops in New York and in the Bella Sabatina Tea Shoppe in Toronto. The company ships worldwide. "We're dedicated to providing tea lovers with the ultimate tea experience," says company president, Raizy Sekula. "Filling the sachets with so much tea means they can be re-steeped without compromising on flavor," she explains. 'That's rare value for money on such a luxury product." Learn more: www. bellasabatinatea.com CHINA Ancient Tea Found Analysis carried out by scientists on leaf buds found in burial pits around two ancient tombs has proved that they are from the tea plant. One tomb in Xi'an in Shaanxi province was built for Jing Emperor Liu Qi, who died in 141 BC; the other is in the Ngari district of western Tibet and probably dates back to 200 AD. Archaeologists found the tea buds along with millet, rice, and spinach- like leaves and compared the chemistry of the buds to those of modern tea. They found caffeine and L-theanine (which only exists in the Bay Bolete mushroom and Amazonian Guyusa) thus proving that the old buds were indeed tea. The tea plant does not grow in the regions where the tombs were found and must have been imported from else- where. The fact that the tea was found mixed with other vegetables and grains suggest that it was probably being consumed as a food at that time rather than as a beverage. Flavor Company. Piramide's organic range includes black and green teas and herbal infusions, which are sold through health food stores across Holland. Wessenen, which sells spreads, honeys, marmalades, cereals, cookies, juices, sparkling lemonades, teas, coffees, crisps, and rice cakes in the UK, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxem- bourg, already owns herbal infusion company Zonnatura and Clipper Tea Company. Tea is a core category for the company and Christophe Barnouin, chief executive of Wessanen, said "The accretive acquisition of Piramide will strengthen our leadership of Organic teas in The Netherlands across both the Grocery Channel (with Zonnatura and Clipper) and now also Health Food Stores. Piramide will further extend our overall leadership of the Health Food Store channel." INDIA Solar Panels at Tea Estates Two tea companies, Goodricke and McLeod Russel, are preparing to install solar plants on uncultivated land at some of their tea estates in North India. West Bengal has removed the previous 5% VAT charge on solar cells and other solar equipment and this will bring down the cost of installing and running the plants to generate solar power. Local government estimates that the cost of generating solar power will drop by 4-5% per unit. McLeod Russel already has solar panels at its Atterakhat tea COLOMBIA Te Hindu Teas in Europe Colombia's only tea garden Te Hindu lies at altitudes of between 1,750 and 1,950 meters in the mountains of Valle del Cauca in western Colombia. In October 2015, the company participated for the first time in the Anuga Taste the Future food fair in Cologne, Germany, where it presented organic teas to the European market. As a result Te Hindu teas are now available in Europe from Ronnenfeldt, who sell Te Hindu's black tea and Cacao Kisses chocolate flavored black tea blend. The teas are also available in the US from Harney & Sons, who sell Te Hindu straight black and green teas, and from Capital Teas, who sell Andean Princess, Te Hindu's sophisticated blend of black tea with raspberries and the dried skin of Isabella grapes gives the tea an exotic natural honey sweetness. The company continues to increase the quality and hopes soon to be able to offer its straight black teas as TGFOP1, TGFOP, GFOP, and FBOP grades. Learn more www.tehindu.com/en/ HOLLAND Wessanen Buys Piramide Tea Royal Wessenen, European organics and natural food Company, has purchased Dutch Piramide Tea from the Organic Solar panels for tea gardens