Fresh Cup Magazine, providing specialty coffee and tea professionals with unique insight into the trends, ideas, products and people that shape their world.
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BSO BdS\Re continued from page 18 sent a handful of letters to spe- cialty tea companies and demand- ed those businesses alter the way they market their products' well- ness connection. For instance, in its late-April correspondence to Milwaukee-based Rishi Tea—the most well-known of the agen- cy's specialty targets—the FDA zeroed in on statements the company made on packaging and online about tea's "believed" abil- ity to prevent cancer and lower cholesterol. The FDA went on to state that teas. He also says his company has looked into buying more from South Korea. Bruce Richardson, owner of Elmwood Inn Fine Teas in Kentucky, says that companies looking to buy sencha, defined by the repeated rolling and drying during the manufacture process, have for several years been able to procure their stocks from China; now, worries about the safety and cost of Japanese product seem likely to push the Chinese version forward. "We're going to see a lot more sencha grown in China and then manufactured with Japanese technology," Richardson says. "Japanese packers are keeping their information close to the vest." Overall, the prevailing mood among tea professionals when it comes to Japan is watch-and-wait. While they have confidence in the safety of current stocks and trust the radiation testing, the situation is one they'll continue to monitor. The subject of radiation, after all, is rarely cut and dry. "Did it spill into the ocean or get released into the air?" asks Heiss. "Can it get into the soil just from being in the air? There might not be answers to all these questions." Adds Choice's Ring: "We're keeping an eye on it as much as pos- sible. Ultimately, everything is being tested for radiation, and if it comes up negative, we feel we're OK." THE LIMITS OF HEALTH MARKETING The notion that tea promotes good health has long been a mainstay in the mission statements and marketing plans of many industry players. This magazine, in fact, ran a two-part series this fall that looked into the history and science behind the leaf and its healing properties. However, the connection between tea and health—and the way tea companies promote the fact—was shaken up by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this year when the agency TEA ALMANAC 2012 in order to make such claims, Rishi or any other tea packer would have to go through the lengthy process of being approved as a "new drug." Rishi did not respond to an inter- view request from Fresh Cup, but in a comment on blog T Ching, a company representative stated that Rishi's marketing materials are now "compliant with the terms of the letter." Not surprisingly, the government action has spurred industry discussion about how to best articulate tea's wellness properties as the beverage reaches a compelling junction: On the one hand, with health care costs rising and the nation as a whole more interested than ever in the wholesome nature of various foods, specialty tea seems primed to play up its health side, and that's happening in many cases. "It seems to be more in the forefront," Choice's Ring concedes. "We're seeing a push in marketing toward tea as a healthy, quality-of-life choice." On the other side sits the FDA, actively monitoring and limiting how far tea businesses can go. Finding that balance, in fact, was the subject of a speech at this June's World Tea Expo from Joe Simrany, president of the Tea Association of the USA. Titled "Using the Health Message to Sell Tea," the talk focused on the notion that despite the FDA policies, tea companies can continue to bring up health—they just need to be sure to use wording that explains that the beverage supports a healthy life but doesn't claim that it can be used to battle diseases or ailments. At the retail level, tea purveyors are trying to discuss tea and health with customers in a way that is factually accurate but also respects customers. Suzette Hammond, director of train- ing and development at Chicago-based Adagio Teas, says that her staff regularly faces customers who want to know which tea will help them lose weight or fight illness. The best response, Hammond believes, is one that addresses the question and then moves the discussion into the realm of tea, not specula- tion or cure-alls: "You want a conversation that's not building false expectations but that also doesn't make them feel stupid for asking." Hammond says she responds to health-happy customers by