Taking the Pulse of Specialty Tea:
Interview With Joe Simrany
By Steven Krolak
Photos by Aparna Datta

Joe Simrany is president of the Tea Association of the USA, the Tea Council of the USA and the Specialty Tea Institute. He tracks trends, disseminates information, represents the interests of the wholesale and retail tea industry, and leads the industry's educational and public relations efforts to communicate with consumers. He took time to speak with Fresh Cup editor Steven Krolak during the preparations for the new certification program.

   Q: How are the different U.S. tea industry organizations related?
   A: The Tea Association was founded in 1899 to set guidelines and level the playing field. Its mandate is also to answer questions no company will, or should, on behalf of the industry. These include touchy subjects like allegations about the use of child labor on tea plantations or unsanitary preparation of tea in the foodservice sector. We represent the American industry, and so are a point of contact for foreign tea entities on a variety of issues. For example, we function as an agent to the industry under the new bio-terror regulations.
   The Tea Council of the USA is a parallel organization that was formed in 1950 and recently merged with the Association. It still exists, and shares members with the Association. Its mandate is to promote the consumption of tea. For the past 15 years, it has striven to raise the profile of the health benefits of tea, and encouraged scientists to devote more attention to this issue. The Tea Council holds symposia that have a tremendous impact on research. By bringing together tea experts and scientists, the Tea Council “primes the pump” on this synergy.
   The Specialty Tea Institute (STI) was formed to help promote specialty tea by raising awareness and educating both consumers as well as the trade.
   We pursue strategic partnerships with other organizations where these can benefit us. We represent a global industry, so it is difficult—and far too expensive—to gather a lot of people in one spot. So we partner with industry associations like the Specialty Coffee Association of America and trade-show firms like Take Me 2 Tea and the Fancy Food Show; their exhibitions provide a framework for our educational efforts.
Our efforts are truly international. We work with tea associations in origin countries like India, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Malawi.

   Q: How have these groups evolved in the last decade?
   A: When I first joined the Tea Association in 1991, I recognized an unfulfilled need. We were getting a growing number of phone inquiries for information about specialty tea. At that time, the Tea Association of the USA served wholesalers. I suggested expanding the Association to include a new organization called the Specialty Tea Registry (STR), since it was clear that the industry was evolving in that direction. But the time was not yet ripe.
   In 1995, I made my second recommendation to the Board, to expand its efforts to include specialty tea. This was adopted, and STR joined the Tea Association.
   In the meantime, Mike Spillane had simultaneously organized the American Premium Tea Institute (APTI). STR and APTI worked parallel for a few years, promoting specialty tea. They merged in 2002 to form the Specialty Tea Institute.
   During my first 12 years, we were working with a very small staff while greatly expanding the work of the Tea Association and related organizations. Now we have a paid staff of three, with interns from NYU to help us deal with all the communication and technical issues that arise.
   Overall, we're starting to see impressive growth. We now have 250 members of STI. I'd like to see 500 in two or three years. Ultimately, I envision 600-800 members. But you have to build an infrastructure to service the needs of so many members.

   Q: What is the certification program, and why is it needed?
   A: At the moment, there are few standards for specialty tea. This is suppressing the ability of this industry to grow. So we are spearheading an effort to establish guidelines, and to certify individuals who have demonstrated a recognized level of expertise in specialty tea. This certification will enable those who attain it to speak knowledgeably and responsibly about tea, to teach others about tea and to build the credibility of tea. So you could say that certification is a marketing tool.
   The certification program will educate the specialty tea trade in standards. Many think they have information, but much of this is erroneous. Few others are qualified to offer reliable data and trustworthy information. To give you one example: at the moment, there are big claims being made about the health benefits of tea, especially green tea. Back in 1991, we put on our first scientific symposium on the effects of tea on health. One of our speakers held a press conference. He went on for 20 or 30 minutes, making big claims about tea's role in health. We were absolutely cringing on the sidelines, because we could see that nobody believed him. At the time, there were only six scientific studies per year on tea and health. Today, there are about 300 every year, and most of his claims have been proven in a laboratory setting by reputable scientists. But what if he had been wrong? When "professionals" talk in an erroneous fashion, the credibility of the entire industry suffers. Were we premature in putting the claims out there before we had the science to back it up? Maybe. We learned that you have to be very conservative, and probably understate what you say, because the public will suspect you are selling snake oil. The worst thing in the world is to have different stories circulating about issues that are at the core of your promotional efforts.
   
   Q: How will the certification work?
   A: We're just beginning to formulate the program. The kickoff was June 26 in New York. We envision this as a first stage in a much longer development. At the moment, we have more questions than answers: What are the standards to be? How does one attain certification? What should a general training session involve? Which aspects of tea should be tied to certification? How far should we take our standards?
   On the one hand, we can't assume people don't have knowledge about tea. But at the same time, we need to formulate pertinent questions and test people on their tea knowledge. One idea is to use the Internet, so that you could get certified anywhere in the world.
   The best kind of organization is one that really involves its members. So the certification program will be bringing together people like Jennifer Peterson, Mike Spillane, Shashank Goel, Pearl Dexter and many others. Richard Guzauskas will chair the committee in Foundations I and Foundations II.

   Q: What is the role of specialty tea in the bigger tea picture?
   A: Specialty is where the vitality, excitement and profitability in the tea industry are.
   Terms like organic and fair trade are important, but at the moment, the mere concept of specialty is enough to generate awareness and drive the market. Only within the last decade has specialty tea picked up speed. Just a few years ago, you couldn't give green tea away. Two years ago it made up perhaps three to four percent of the market. Today it's 10 or 11 percent.
   The growth in specialty tea has been nothing short of astounding. In 1990, the market was $270 million. In 2003, it was $750 million. This includes traditional recipes, single-origin black, green, oolong, or white tea, estate tea, as well as freestanding salons and Internet sales. One third of this is green tea.

   Q: Where is the United States market in the world context?
   A: Consumption in the United States is growing, but is still mainly concentrated on the coasts, the Southeast and the Southwest. In the Midwest, it's still a challenge to get people to switch to tea, period. Specialty is focused on the coasts. The South has its own culture of sweet and iced tea. Retail is booming. There are 12-1500 teahouses in the U.S. The largest concentration can be found in California. Ten years ago, they only existed in metropolitan areas. But I live in a very rural area near the Pennsylvania border, and there are five or six tearooms within a short drive. At one of them, you have to make a reservation!
   In terms of specialty, the U.S. is really leading the parade. Also, the whole tea and health initiative really started here. Canada is on a similar track. But in other countries, there are different issues. In the U.K., the market is more mature, and traditions more established, but there is no room for complacency. Tea is somewhat on the defensive against coffee and sodas. So they will take a different approach to marketing.

   Q: What are some of the challenges facing the tea industry?
   A: Importing and exporting countries have the same challenges and the same goals. There is a chronic oversupply of tea, and it is big enough to keep the price of tea down. This has been going on for decades, but it is worsening due to the emergence of substantial tea industries in places that were not factors before, such as Africa, or that were smaller players, such as Vietnam and Nepal. The poverty and lack of options associated with these low prices are similar to those we see in the coffee industry. I have heard stories of people in Darjeeling having to sell prime property. In some cases, farms have been run inefficiently, and simply can't compete. But it is a given fact that low pricing over a long period of time has made it difficult for many to make a go of it. So we need to increase the consumption of tea in order to help people in tea-growing regions make a living. Growers need to get a fair price. This will become more difficult, and more important, as production increases.
   One way to break out of the low price syndrome is for the tea-producing countries to move into specialty tea. I believe the onus is on them to refine their processing technologies so they are capable of producing teas that can be sold at higher prices. And this is happening. We are already seeing some estates sell directly to consumers over the Internet and to packers. This is making the distribution process more transparent, and showing that tea producers are taking steps to improve their own situation. But the key is raising the price paid to growers. The producers can't make improvements unless they charge more for the tea that they sell.

Steven Krolak is the editor of Fresh Cup. He can be reached at steven@freshcup.com.