STiR coffee and tea magazine

20 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 1, 2018 (February / March) Tea Report: Peter Keen Tea Species Threatened Despite hundreds of millions of culti- vated plants producing billions of kilos annually, researchers report two of the world's tea species could soon be extinct. A "Red List" of endangered Theace- ae trees, compiled by the Global Trees Campaign, reveals up to 45% of the camellia species are at risk of extinction in the wild. Trees are considered critically threatened when fewer than 50 individu- als are found in the wild. There are an estimated 10,000 tree species known to be threatened. The research, as reported by Phys. org, was financed as a joint initiative by Fauna & Flora International and Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). Fauna & Flora is the world's oldest international conservation organization. Camellia sinensis, the source of tea leaves on which the industry relies, was assessed as "data deficient, due to a lack of available information on the species wild population, despite its global cultivation," according to the report. Researchers identified 254 Theaceae species in the 2017 assessment, of which 32 are critically endangered. Among this group 85 (equivalent to 33%) are judged to be threatened with extinction. Learn more: globaltrees.org - By Dan Bolton CANADA DAVIDsTEA Considers Sale Disappointing earnings by DAVIDsTEA led executives to admit during a call with investors that they are exploring strategic alternatives including a possible sale of the company. Shares have lost more than half their value in the 12 months ending December 2017. Alternatives include a joint-venture partner, the sale of assets, a merger, divestiture, and possible restructuring and retrenchment from expansion into the US as sales at the company's mall-based locations slow. It is possible a private-equity firm would acquire or refinance the company. During the earnings call, c.e.o. Joel Silver said e-commerce sales grew by double digits. He said DAVIDsTEA will redesign its website at a cost of $4 million and emphasize product develop- ment, getting back to the core mission of selling tea. In the meantime, the com- pany's board of directors said it would seek advice from financial advisors. China Using DNA to Authenticate Tea Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group's Wanglaoji accounts for 42% of China's herbal tea exports. It also won the first ever China National Science Award in 2017 for its development of a DNA bar coding data base for identifying and authenticating raw materials and genetic ingredients. This established a quality standard for Chinese herbal teas. This is one milestone in what has been a strikingly successful area of genetic research that has been slower to reach commercial application. DNA bar coding uses a snippet of an organism's DNA as a genetic marker that uniquely identifies it as belonging to a variety within a species. For tea, it distinguishes right down to country of origin, regional differences, presence in databases of approved ingredients, and unlisted plant materials. Here are just a few instances: SNP – single nucleotide polymor- phisms, the most common genetic variation among living species. A "snip" represents a difference in a single DNA building block, of which there are 10 million in the human genome. It provides a genetic fingerprint which since it is in 0-1 digital coding, can literally be used as a barcode. Studies report a consistent 99%+ accuracy in classifying 40 or more teas, from just a leaf fragment. A Taiwanese study picked out domestic versus imported (and hence counterfeit) whole leaf teas out of a population of over 60 varieties. A 2017 US project created a DNA Verity Test for 32 commercial teas. It was able to reliably authenticate teabag ingredients, where the original leaf is "morphologi- cally unrecognizable" and not reliably categorized by chemical methods. This protocol is less expensive and requires simpler equipment than alternative tests, such as isotope ratio mass spectrometry. A group of high school students in New York published a widely-cited paper that used low cost "tabletop technolo- gies" to identify unlisted ingredients in teas from 33 manufacturers and 17 countries. They were picked up from 25 locations, including stores, college dining rooms, and workplaces. The cost per sample for gene sequencing by a commercial lab was $15. The markers were matched against the National Laboratory of Medicine's growing GenBank. The analysis showed traces of such weeds as white goosefoot, parsley, blackberry, and many others. It found clusters of what appeared to be deliber- ate adulteration. New York City's district attorney seems to have been the first to use DNA bar coding as evidence in issuing a cease-and-desist order to major retailers for substantial mismatches between the labels on tea supplements and the actual ingredients. The generic analysis was more accurate than their own high standards of quality control. RWANDA Consumption Per Capital At the end of 2017, Rwanda reported that for the first time for which figures are available, domestic consumption amounted to half of total production. In itself of little import, this is a reminder of the dynamics of demand at the domestic, rather than international level. The key indicator here is per capita tea consump- tion. It gives a very different perspective on tea markets than the more traditional aggregate figure of production and exports. For example, Kenya is a giant player at the international production and trade level, but a minnow in terms of consumption: just over half a cup per person a day. Here are figures for selected coun- tries, with comments on what they imply for market growth and innovation. They are derived from the UN FAO (Food and Agriculture Agency) and other regular publishers of such survey data. Figures are not consistent, especially for African nations. The world average per Theaceae species are experiencing population declines worldwide

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