Certified Fair Trade Label
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The Fair Trade organization was started to provide a fair alternative for small farmers by offering them a fair price for their products. It provides a partnership with individual farmers and cooperatives that is aimed at greater equality in international trade.
Often these farmers are connected to co-operations so [...]
The London Tea Auction, controlled by the East India Company until 1834, was first held in 1679 and for the last time in 1998. Tea was more and more auctioned by the container-load (sometimes when the ships were still at sea) and the tea-producing countries started their own auctions.
The expanded East India House, Leadenhall Street, [...]
What are the top tea-producing countries in the world? I looked at the reporting from the Food And Agriculture Organization Of The United Nations, and this is what I found:
Ranking 2006
Production
(2006 in tons)
Ranking 2003
Production
(2003 in tons)
1. China
1,049,500
2
788,815
2. India
892,730
1
838,000
3. Sri Lanka (Ceylon)
310,800
3
303,230
4. Kenya
310,580
4
293,670
5. Turkey
204,600
6
153,800
6. Indonesia
171,410
5
169,818
7. Viet Nam
142,300
7
104,300
8. Japan
91,800
8
91,900
9. Argentina
67,871
9
69,866
10. Iran
59,180
10
63,650
Source: FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE [...]
The Camellia Sinensis plant brings us five different categories of tea: black, oolong, green, white and pu’erh. The difference lies in the quality of leaf used, the type of plucking and subsequently processing of the leaves. Other ways to categorize teas are by country or region of origin, “singles estates” or blends (a categorization similar [...]
Camellia Sinensis - The Tea Bush
All teas, except for Herbal Teas, come from just one plant: Camellia Sinensis. Up to 1753 the tea plant was called Thea Sinensis. This shrub-like flowering evergreen plant is usually grown in tropical climates at high altitudes. The best teas are grown at altitudes between 3000 and 7000 feet. Some [...]