WORLD TEA EXPO 2010 - SHOW COVERAGE
Friday, July 16th 2010 @ 12:45 PM
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(The recording cuts me off at 10 minutes and the end of this first portion of the report. Scroll down this post for more.)
WORLD TEA EXPO
Las Vegas, NV, June 11-13, 2010
SPECIAL REPORT
Prepared by Gail Gastelu, Publisher/Editor in Chief - The Tea House Times
Where to begin? If you have been reading my reports for several years now, you know why I call them “Special” Reports. And yes, they are normally quite -looong- to read, but hopefully you will read it all and appreciate the show coverage.
Where does one begin? How does one begin to share the excitement of such an extraordinary show? As I write this, the World Tea Expo’s website had just been updated with photos of the 2010 expo and so now I feel I should tell you to go there as soon as possible and view the photo presentation on the home page at http://www.worldteaexpo.com The presentation is Awe-Inspiring. It truly captures the passion we tea business owners have for the industry and the excitement shared with buyers on the show floor. I really cannot say it enough.--If you are not going to World Tea Expo to exhibit or attend, you are truly missing out. The networking is phenomenal - but YOU must also make an effort to make things happen. Go to the expo and experience all it has to offer and make the most of every minute you have there.
If you walk any trade show blindly - breezing up and down the aisles - and leave and say there was nothing of interest - you may be very wrong. What I have learned as an Editor is the need to ASK QUESTIONS. Sometimes the sales person at a show booth has instructions to do certain tasks. You should make it your business to ASK what is new. Ask to be shown what is special about a product or service. Speak with the booth staff. But - going even further than that - speak to the business owner.
At World Tea Expo you will find that many of the booths have staff members but most also have the business owner in the booth for a good part of the show hours. This is a perfect opportunity to meet the face behind the success of each business. It is especially nice to make a connection with someone who owns a business to which you have been investing money in their line of products. Take it one step further and email the company prior to the show and make an appointment to meet with the executives while at the show!
On Friday, June 11, World Tea Expo kicked off with an exciting and new Tea Infusion Challenge! The first ever tea brewing competition was held to determine the best infusionist or tea professional who has comprehensive knowledge, experience in brewing, and talent for expressing the characteristics of tea. There were five entrants to compete and properly brew three of the 2009 World Tea Championship teas (now re-named the North American Tea Championship). Entrants were judged on the following: Quality of infusion - including color, taste, smell, agony of the leaf; Technical Skills - timing, volume, and presentation; and Tea Knowledge - needing to answer two questions about the tea. And the winner was Suzette Hammond, Trainer with Peet’s Coffee and Tea (and recently seen - June 23 - on the Dinner Impossible - Caffeine Crash Episode - on Food Network). Jason Walker, Founder of WalkerTeaReview.com (someone to watch - a real go getter!) was VERY close behind and took second place. Read more about the event - Click Here for more of the excitement.
Throughout Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, several other events took place on or near the show floor including Vendor Presentations with Teas Etc, Sungarden Tea, The Tea House Times (if you missed my presentation - I had pre-recorded it for you - Click here to view ), Rishi Tea, Ito En, International Tea Importers - An Author’s Circle to meet and greet industry authors each day - The Art of Painting with Tea by Jeffrey Axelrod on Saturday - and an Oolong Rolling & Pouchong Wrapping Demonstration on Sunday. (hey that sentence was a tongue twister! The transcription is right - but in the audio I said Planning with tea - but meant Painting with Tea!! :)
Classes were varied, informative, and useful as always and included every level of expertise from New Business Boot Camp for the newbies, to Tea 101 for fresh faces, and all the way up to Executive and Technical series classes for experts and executives. Skill building workshops were much longer than the typical class and offered hands on skill building for creating tea blends, cupping, serving, etc. Some super workshops included Creative Finger Sandwiches, Tea and Chocolate Pairing, Tea and Cheese Pairing and more (some of my favorites since they are fun, informative, and almost a forced and very enjoyable break to the day).
A common thread running through many of the classes I personally attended was the importance of product labeling and legalities of what can be placed onto your label, how to go about organic certification, etc. No matter the topic of the class, this was an important mention in many of them. Focused tasting sessions were offered for green teas, black teas, blends, and tisanes. If you have not yet had the pleasure of really sitting down to a focused tasting or cupping session, I suggest you do it when you can. Until you have time to sit, compare, and appreciate a variety of teas and each unique quality, taste, and smell, using all of your senses, you cannot fully appreciate all that specialty tea offers.
Any trends this year? Well - last year’s trends are blending into this year. Across all shows I attend, with the way the economy has been, new product introductions at most shows are down. World Tea Expo had a lot of new introductions from various businesses, but many are following the same trends we have seen over the past year including adding tea as an ingredient to all types of products including baked goods, other foods, other types of beverages, and beauty products. In an effort to go green, many have updated packaging to be more eco-friendly and less wasteful. Let’s say everyone is being very creative and putting on their thinking caps. A good thing! Several awards were given for new products - Click here to read all about it.
The younger business owner is also on the scene. The tea industry is seeing many new, younger faces looking to go into business - all types of tea businesses - from traditional to trendy. Just sit back and watch - see who is around you - and what they are doing. Not only at shows, but in your own shops too. Watch and listen. As I walked the show floor one day, I approached a booth with a product I was interested in and while I was there, two young men came along who were also interested in the products. (I watched them.) They asked all the right questions, were eager and excited as they collected information for the new business they were about to launch. (They were watching me too!) After we all left this booth, they approached me. Having seen my name tag and wanting a little publicity for their new business, they stopped to chat. Very charming they were. And they impressed me. Not just young faces in the crowd, but people who were taking time to ask questions, take it all in, learn the right way to do things, all while appreciating every single bit of help people were giving them to help them reach their new business goals. Taking this one step further - they made me ecstatically happy when they also told me that they visit theteahousetimes.com to download each new issue for free. “Being a start up business,” they told me, “with limited funds right now,” they went on, they sincerely appreciated the ability to log in to www.theteahousetimes.com website and download the most recent issue - learn about new products that we review - learn about tea - stay on top of trends - and share the excitement of the tea industry! This made my day completely! Since I redesigned our website just a few months ago to accommodate every way a person could possibly get or read The Tea House Times publication - in print by subscription - or online - I was thrilled for the positive and rewarding feedback, not to mention speaking with a couple of young guys who “get it!” Work hard, ask questions, learn and keep seeking knowledge, stay on top of trends and follow the industry through the publications that work so very hard for you - and hopefully support us with subscriptions and advertising too! P.S. they will be sending something for me to review - more soon on that.
And - the excitement continues!
The World Tea Expo’s New Business Boot Camp had its own networking reception on Wed, June 9 and a graduation on Thursday, June 10. The World Tea Expo Opening Night Reception was on Friday, June 11 around the pool of the Las Vegas Hilton - windy night - but fun - the appetizers were a Mexican theme this year and there was a mariachi band and all! On Saturday, June 12, the North American Tea Championship - Iced Tea Class - Award Celebration was held by invitation only - it was a spectacular and fun award ceremony with so many well deserving winners. In our world - the tea industry world - Iced Tea is heavenly. Not the horrible stuff we grew up on. Iced Tea champions are teas you can truly, truly, taste. And I mean they taste like specialty teas should taste. Again, if you have not experienced a cupping session to discover each and every quality of tea, you will need to do that to be able to realize why some of these iced teas are so very special. A list of winners can be found at the World Tea Expo/World Tea News website - Click here to read more about it. Following World Tea Expo on June 14 and 15, STI (Specialty Tea Institute) held certification courses and professional cupping sessions - those sessions are truly spectacular - all day tasting and learning about tea.
Now, on to some of the products I discovered while making my rounds, chatting with business owners, etc. and my summary of this year’s World Tea Expo. . .to be continued. (This is where the recording cuts me off after 10 minutes - more when you log in.)
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