Final month, I hit the highway to Las Vegas to attend the World Tea Expo!
I will be trustworthy. Traditionally, I’ve missed some years attending the WTE as a result of I felt that the trade nonetheless trailed behind by way of adopting new tea concepts and rituals. The tea world is hundreds of years outdated, and plenty of established tea manufacturers are lots of of years outdated and that was usually instances mirrored within the degree of innovation I might see on the present.
This 12 months was totally different. In some methods, I feel there’s a new world lens on the tea trade and a few hanging new developments which might be laborious to disregard. Boba/Bubble tea is lastly changing into mainstream and the tea trade is lastly recognizing this shift. This 12 months, change and a refreshed perspective on the trade was welcomed. A lot in order that a couple of of us have been invited to guide panels on constructing tea manufacturers for right this moment’s trendy client. I shared the stage with my new buddies Lisa (Founding father of Large Coronary heart Tea) and Jonathan (Beverage Director of Alred Tea) to debate how we every have approached constructing our tea manufacturers. We spoke in regards to the modifications all of us see happening, of how tea corporations (like Tea Drops and Alfred) at the moment are partnering with wonderful manufacturers like Good day Kitty and Disney, one thing that we’d not have seen 5-10 years in the past.
We obtained a gaggle of fantastic tea manufacturers collectively to host an improvements dinner at Momofuku on the Cosmopolitan. This was positively a spotlight of the week and one which I beloved to see. All of us tea corporations, with our personal distinctive takes and journeys, not taking a look at each other as competitors however relatively bonding collectively to guarantee that this sacred trade thrives. When certainly one of us modifications individuals’s receptivity to tea, all of us win.
And naturally it was wonderful sharing this expertise with my Mother. We walked the present ground collectively and have been excited to see so many new tea exhibitors. My Mother has been my #1 supporter since day certainly one of Tea Drops. She was really one of many first individuals I referred to as to assist me make Tea Drops in my house kitchen on the time once I was overwhelmed with orders. I feel she too will get invigorated by seeing the modifications occurring within the tea trade, and it appears extra exhibitors knew her than me 🙂 After 6 years of grinding on this enterprise it was actually particular to share this expertise along with her.
So, cheers to Mothers and cheers to constructive modifications occurring within the tea trade!
