Tea Biz News and Insight - November 4, 2022

HEAR THE HEADLINES – Pricing Tea in a Slogging Economy | Indicators suggest a recession is imminent | The International Tea Academy “Leafies” are Awarded | Sales of Herbal Infusions are Expected to Double this Decade

| NEWSMAKER – Professor Sylvain Charlebois, senior director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia

| FEATURE INTRO – Canadian Economist Sylvain Charlebois sees a lot of positives for the tea industry but cautioned that inflation is an economic disease that will linger. Supply chain challenges remain. The macro-dynamics around commodities are getting more complicated, he said, “The fall is not going to be an easy one."

High Inflation is an Economic Disease – "When you look at global issues. When you look at where the market is going, I see a lot of positives for your product in particular," Professor Sylvain Charlebois told attendees at the North American Tea Conference in September. Two immediate challenges confront the industry, inflation and the global supply chain. "So let's talk about inflation. Inflation is an economic disease. In this case, it's self-inflicted," he said. "Inflation is a big problem, but we have to deal with inflation. When people go to the grocery store, they are absolutely spooked because they know everything is more expensive everywhere. In the grocery store, it's even worse. Much worse. Consumers are trying to recalibrate their budgets just to make sure they have a roof on the top of their heads and to feed themselves, so that portion of their budget is increasing by the day. And we know the fed is going to increase its benchmark," he said. "So, in the tea business, I would ask myself, OK, are we going back to 3.5% inflation? The answer is: not in the near future."

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