-By Bridget Goldschmidt

As the annual trade show for a booming industry expected to hit the $10 billion mark by the close of this year, according to research by the Sage Group International, World Tea Expo is always a stimulating experience, but 2010 could be the event's biggest year ever. An agreement with Natural MarketPlace (NMP) means that the two shows will be co-located this year at the Las Vegas Convention Center from June 11 through June 13, and that registration
to World Tea Expo also includes admission to NMP.

Beyond even that, though, there’s more on tap at the premier gathering of retailers, tea room owners, food and beverage directors, spa managers, specialty grocers, mass merchandisers, and other business professionals involved with the tea category.

"This year, World Tea Expo focused on what our attendees want most — quality exhibitors
and education," notes Kim Jage, EVP of the Las Vegas-based show. "As of March, the expo has 36 brand-new exhibitors out of 200- plus. More than 50 percent of our exhibitors exhibit nowhere else in the United States; attending World Tea Expo is an exclusive opportunity
to visit these suppliers. As for our educational conference, it and our speaker panel were intensely vetted during development."

Continues Jage: "World Tea Expo has a strict no-commercialization policy to ensure that
our 55 sessions — all on specialty tea — are truly educational in nature. Due to the high
demand of hands-on workshops, we added more focused tastings, skill-building workshops
and executive/technical content."

It's all about providing what will best expand the category. "We drilled down on fulfilling the
essential needs of World Tea Expo attendees and left out the frills," she says. "These days,
we all need solutions — not hype."

This is particularly true of food retailers, who "know specialty tea is a growing category," observes Jage. "It is a healthy, inexpensive, feel-good beverage. Growth is cited in reports, such as one [from Chicago-based market research firm Mintel that] forecasts that the U.S. market will grow 28 percent in current prices and 18 percent in inflation-adjusted prices during 2008 to 2013. Food retailers can stay ahead of this curve and avoid offering too many tea products with little differentiation, promoted by a sales team with limited product knowledge."

The challenge, as Jage sees it, is that "many food retailers just don't know specialty tea. Meanwhile, like consumers of cheese, wine and chocolate, tea drinkers are becoming much more sophisticated and pride themselves on their fine taste and knowledge."

That's why attendance at the event should be a must for any retailers with an interest
in selling tea. "World Tea Expo is the specialty tea show," explains Jage. "The industry is following the evolution already experienced in specialty coffee and natural products. World
Tea Expo showcases the highest-quality tea that offers the same — if not better — margins
as other types of tea and provides the most robust education on the category. Attending the expo gives retailers the opportunity to differentiate quality tea from others through a comprehensive knowledge of specialty tea. This leads to better buying decisions, a competitive edge and unique product lines of a growing category."

In fact, to prove her point, Jage cites attendee demographic statistics from 2009 showing that 85.5 percent of World Tea Expo attendees are retailers.

As far as what's up and coming in the category, Jage provides a few signposts. "Tea ware
is a big trend at World Tea Expo this year," she says. “Manufacturers are continuing to improve products that make steeping loose-leaf tea easy, especially tea ware focused on tea
to go. Tea infusers today are smart, functional and environmentally friendly.

"Another trend you'll see at World Tea Expo this year is adding the origin of tea and year of harvest on packaging," adds Jage. "Tea manufacturers recognize that tea is now more aligned with wine among sophisticated consumers, and they are packaging it with this expected information."


EXCLUSIVE WEB CONTENT


Reading the Tea Leaves

What does the future hold for World Tea Expo, and the tea category as a whole? Kim Jage, EVP of the Las Vegas-based show, provides some of the answers.

According to Jage, the industry-leading annual event, which first began as Take Me 2 Tea in 2003, "will continue to deliver the only business-to-business dedicated market for tea and an unparalleled educational program for the community. World Tea Expo will continue to challenge itself to create exciting, innovative content each year. Notable past events were the first-ever tea auction on U.S. soil, in 2006, and the Top Tea Cocktail competition for delegates to concoct their best alcohol-infused tea creations, in 2009."

Continues Jage: "In addition to World Tea Expo, World Tea News and the North American Tea Championship, the World Tea brand will be releasing proprietary research data for the specialty market and small tea business owners in 2010. In 2011, World Tea East, a regionally focused event, will return to the northeast U.S."

These changes are in response to the beverage's evolution, she explains. "Tea overall remains hot, but major shifts within the category are emerging," says Jage. "The U.S. tea market is projected to expand by more than $7 billion by 2012, with nearly three-quarters of that growth from the specialty and premium markets (Packaged Facts, 2007). Despite the recent economic meltdown, the tea category has remained vibrant. A recent study showed ready-to-drink tea as one of only two liquid refreshment beverage categories that had positive growth in 2009 (Beverage Marketing Corp., U.S. Liquid Beverage Refreshment Market, March 2010)."

Further down the road, Jage believes that "[s]pecialty and premium tea will continue to show exponential sales growth in the U.S. for the next decade, and the World Tea brands will continue to meet the needs of the entrepreneurs and businesses capitalizing on this highly profitable category."


Coffee, Tea or … Orzo?

Although well-known for its organic, single-origin teas, two leaves and a bud tea Co.'s newest product is a beverage virtually unknown in the United States. Café Orzo, which the Basalt, Colo.-based company bills as "The Italian Caffeine-Free Alternative," is made from organic roasted barley. Although similar to coffee, the drink offers a uniquely rich, nutty flavor.

Two leaves and a bud tea co. founder and owner Richard Rosenfeld first tasted "caffé d'orzo," as it's called in its native land, in an Italian café. Some years later, he approached a cooperative of small organic farms along Italy's Adriatic Coast to bring the beverage to the U.S. market. The certified organic barley grown by these farmers is then artisan roasted in Italy.

"We love Café Orzo because it tastes great, with a great coffee texture, but has zero caffeine. It's ubiquitous in Italy — it is in every café, every kid drinks it, and after dinner it's a great caffeine-free alternative," notes Rosenfeld.

Café Orzo comes in a ground form like coffee or a liquid concentrate. In addition to being caffeine-free, it's high in antioxidants but low in sugar, sodium, cholesterol, carbohydrates and acid.

"We think Café Orzo is going to do well in the U.S.," says Rosenfeld. "We're taking a traditional Italian product and making it familiar to American baristas and consumers."

The company expects to have bags of Café Orzo available at grocery this fall.

For additional information, visit www.cafeorzo.com.


Nothing but the Best

It's not just premium tea that's steadily moving into the mainstream. Glastonbury, Conn.-based Brioni's Ultra Premium Coffee, which offers convection roast coffee, has begun expanding into the grocery and specialty retail segment, and now can be purchased throughout New England and New York.

According to CEO Brian Whitney: "We painstakingly slow-roast and air-cool our beans in small batches to ensure an ultra-premium product. Brioni's takes pride in using only the top 3 percent of Arabica coffee beans and translating them into some of the most consistent, complex-bodied brew that consumers will have the pleasure of sipping."

The suggested retail prices range from $9.95 for regular blend to $13.95 for all ultra-premium blends. Brioni's employs a trademarked method known as "droasting," a proprietary process that eliminates water cooling, which bloats beans, in favor of air-cooling in small batches. Additionally, the company supports Fair Trade principles and sustainable farming practices.

To learn more, call (860) 657-4404 or www.brionis.com.