Tea News and Biz Insights - December 17, 2021

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Bulk and Specialty Tea Prices Diverge, a TEAIN22 Forecast | France to Pay €1 Million to Certify Ceylon Tea | Bids total $8 Million HDK at Sotheby’s Inaugural Tea Auctions| NEWSMAKERS – Shekib Ahmed of Koliabur Tea Estate, Assam, India and Abhijeet Hazarika @TeaSigma | GUEST – Mary Cotterman, founder Mary Cotterman Pottery, Asheville, North Carolina, USA| FEATURES – This week, Tea Biz travels to Asheville, NC, to meet teaware potter and ceramist Mary Cotterman, who discusses the artisan spirit and state of mind of those embracing native clay and how COVID-19 lockdowns focused her attention like a monk.Then, to Assam, India, to hear Part 2 of the series Frugal Innovation. In this segment, Aravinda Anantharaman explores the application of Frugal Innovation in the tea garden and factories. Shekib Ahmed of Koliabur Tea Estate explains that "Objective data changes the conversation in the factory from vague concepts to thresholds and parameters. It makes operations scientific so that we can improve.”Born from Mud –In 2015 Mary moved to China to learn from the old masters how to make clay teapots in the style of Chaozhou Gongfu and to speak Mandarin. She spent two years there learning from a master in the Beijing school, becoming the first westerner to throw shou la hu teapots. She next studied at the Sanbao International Ceramics Village in Jingdezhen, the home of porcelain for 1700 years. She returned to the US in 2018 and makes her home in Asheville, North Carolina, where you will find her crafting water jars, pitchers, teacups, celadon gaiwans, and ash-glazed Japanese-style Kyusu teapots in a wood-fired kiln. - By Dan BoltonFrugal Innovation: In the Garden and Factories –Embracing Simple Technology with Scalable Impact | Frugal innovations utilize simple technology to address the most vexing challenges facing the tea industry. It's an umbrella term for innovations that do not require much capital, carry a low financial risk, and can be done safely with high reliability. For an industry that’s been grappling with multiple challenges, frugal innovation is a low-risk and impactful option, spearheaded by an industry veteran with an eye for innovation. For every successful experiment, many fail, but these are essential to the process that begins with the question, “What if…?" - By Aravinda Anantharaman

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