Silver Tips Tea Blog » Fair Trade

October on-line Tea Sales

Anupa — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 12:00:22 +0000

Our teas on sale this month online are a great collection – something for everyone. The crisp cool air of Fall inspired us for our image of the teas as well as the colors and taste. Here’s what we chose:

Genmaicha – Japanese Bancha green, popped corn, roasted rice kernels – nutty!
North Point - our House Organic, Fair Trade Darjeeling blend of spring and late-season Makaibari estate.
Cranberry Orange - the perfect tea for this season – Cranberries, orange, rooibos, hibiscus and citrus flavor.
Earl Grey Jasmine - Jasmine green tea scented with oil of bergamot.

1st Feedback on 2010 Makaibari 2nd flush

Anupa — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 17:17:04 +0000

We have customers who eagerly wait for each new flush. Here’s our first feedback received a few minutes ago via e-mail:

Everything arrived in great order and the new 2nd Flush is wonderful. Always such a joy to taste a new tea and revive the taste buds. Thanks!! ~ Walter

It’s true. You get used to the tea all year long but when the new season’s offering arrives, it hits your taste buds with an intensity that you had forgotten. Thanks for the message, Walter. This is Makaibari 2nd flush, China Muscatel, lot 134, Certified Organic, Biodynamic & Fair Trade. Note the copper color to the infused leaves – a must-have characteristic for a good 2nd flush – and the nice, deep golden hue of the cup. Nice leaf color with a few silver tips.

Makaibari 2010 Silver Tips

Anupa — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:44:24 +0000

This is just beautiful! Makaibari 2010 Silver Tips with a gorgeous leaf style, variegated colors, long curl to the leaf – really nice. And the cup is smooth, mellow and with a sweet finish that catches you off-guard. Not a bit of astringency. We cupped it yesterday at 2 minutes, water slightly under boiling and the result was perfection. We’ve added it to the site with a one-ounce minimum to allow everyone access to this astonishing tea. This is DJ 182/2010. It’s a limited edition and not too much available. Not one bit of pesticides or additives, certified Organic, Biodynamic and Fair Trade. Get it while it lasts.

First Flush In Demand Today

Anupa — Tue, 18 May 2010 20:35:12 +0000

We filled a lot of first flush orders today. I guess our customers are keeping up with our news! We have just put it on the web, will take it to the Tea Room tomorrow and I guess we’re in business. We had several back orders for customers in the U.S. and overseas and we are tending to our backlog first. We noticed the nice, green hue to the infused leaf which was entirely missing last year when we lost virtually the whole crop because of prolonged drought. Although this year also began with a drought, the harvest was salvaged with some very timely rain. This is the 3rd lot manufactued this year – pleasant pungency, the characteristic astringency associated with a spring crop and the light golden color to the cup. You should also look for the naturally sweet aroma as the cup cools. As with all Makaibari tea, this is certified Organic, Biodynamic and Fair trade. A tea with a conscience.

Where do my Fair Trade dollars go?

Anupa — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:06:41 +0000

Last week, two of our large wholesale customers asked us to provide some detail on what happened to their Fair Trade dollars. Yesterday was the 3rd quarter 2009 reporting date for Fair Trade and that may have triggered this question. One company was planning to share the information at their annual company meeting starting tomorrow. When you purchase Fair Trade teas, a portion of the purchasing price is sent back to the workers of that estate to spend on projects of their choosing. Here’s one year’s statistics from Makaibari Tea Estate:

$1200 – Library, computers, day care (picture shown)
$3200 – Purchase of livestock and construction of biogas units
$1500 – Training of villagers on health and hygiene as well as pre and post natal care
$1500 – Hospitality training for Homestay Programme (visitors stay with villagers at their homes)
$500 – Stipends for University education
$3000 – Afforestation, mulching, rain water harvesting and vermi composting

Today’s Specialty Food Consumer

Anupa — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:31:20 +0000

In the October issue of Specialty Food Magazine, 2009 survey results were published on today’s specialty food consumer. Tea – the kind we offer- is considered a specialty food. Here were some interesting findings:

General findings:

56% of all specialty food consumers purchased Coffee
50% purchased Cheese. Same percentage for Chocolate.
33% purchased Tea
77% of all consumers cited Taste as the reason to buy
50% cited Quality as the 2nd most important reason

Online purchases:

Coffee was purchased online by 47% of consumers
Tea was purchased online by 25% of consumers
Chocolate was 31%

Organic/Fair Trade

57% of all specialty food consumers look for Organic
11% look for Fair Trade products

Chocolates

Anupa — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:42:55 +0000

No question, we love chocolates. But not any chocolates. For the Tea Room, we look for smaller bars, organic if possible, fair trade when available and a lower fat or calorie content in at least some of the selections. For taste, we look for depth, purity and smoothness. Over the years, we have perfected our tasting. Those that others consider excellent, we discard without a thought! We are fortunate in being able to taste a great many from the best available in the country. We find them at Trade Shows, specialty trade magazines and, of course, samples.

A new entant this year is Chocolove. We found them at the Fancy Food Show and were immediately captivated by their simple, colorful packaging, stated cocoa content and extensive product line. We narrowed it down to Raspberry, Cherry with Almonds, Toffee & Almonds and Orange Peel in Dark Chocolate. The Toffee was excellent but we couldn’t taste a bit of almond so that was out. The Cherry/Almond was a real disappointment, the tastes were barely discernible . Our final selections were Raspberry and Orange. These are 1.3 oz. bars made with Belgian chocolate. Now we’re exploring a concoction from another company called Funky Chunky. Don’t you love it.

Makaibari 2009 now available

Silver Tips — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:39:10 +0000

How auspicious that the first chests we will open at our new office & warehouse today will be the 2009 Makaibari 1st and 2nd flush. We will be opening the season with lot DJ 14/09 which is the first flush and DJ 110/09 which will be the second flush.

In Darjeeling, each day’s manufacture is given a sequential lot number, so DJ 14 is the 14th lot manufactured this year. On the wholesale level, seasoned buyers always know to ask for lot numbers to assure themselves they are getting the right product and for purposes of traceability. Organic and Fair Trade certification require that lot numbers be on every label, when sold on a wholesale basis. For our retail customers, although we may not put the lot # on the label, we do note it in our records and if you ever need to know, please ask. Enjoy the tea and let us have your feedback. This was a long time coming!

Fair Trade

Silver Tips — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:53:04 +0000

Today we make our 2nd quarter 2009 payments to each estate from which we purchase Fair Trade teas. The way it works is that we tally all Fair Trade activities during a quarter and then send in the Fair Trade contributions to a specially-established account for each estate. I often hear derogatory comments about Fair Trade and similar concepts. The arguments are many – the money never gets to the workers, how do we know how it is spent, it’s all a game, it’s too complicated, it’s too arduous, it’s yet another ploy to separate us from our money. The part I agree with wholeheartedly is that yes, it’s complicated and arduous. Whoever thought of this construct should have a plaque on their wall that says, “Simplify”. But until then, this is what we have.

I’ve seen Fair Trade at work and I can attest to the fact that when I transfer the premiums to each estate, it goes into a bank account operated by a NGO (non-governmental organization) and not to the estate. Workers, by and large, do get to decide how this money is spent. Fair Trade is not the only way to advance the well-being of workers. Sometimes, companies sponsor individual projects and there are other programs such as Ethical Tea Partnership. Here is one example of these funds at work – a hand-made paper cottage industry where previously unemployed women now make cartons, business cards, book marks, notebooks and shopping bags. (When you buy Fair Trade, a portion of your purchase price – social premium – goes back to the workers of that tea estate).

More from the Fancy Food Show

Silver Tips — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:09:02 +0000

For some reasons, sweet items do better for us than savory. We are ourselves partial to savory items and think they are a fine counterpoint to tea but our customers think otherwise. This is especially true of small, impulse items placed near the register or a small item to finish off a meal in lieu of a full dessert. So we’re always on the lookout for a good chocolate product, preferably organic and fair trade.

Over the years, we’ve carried Theo from 360 Labs, Dagoba, Skinny Bars from Tom & Sally and others. This year, we found one right in our backyard in New York – Travel Chocolate. They have an appealing business model, offer both regular and mini bars and have eco-friendly packaging. We met John Rossini and his colleagues at the Show and we definitely plan to do business with him. As an added bonus, his company donates to charitable organizations which seals the deal for us.