The plantations of Darjeeling and the traditions of ancient China are being supplemented by a small corner of England, which is exporting tons of tea to Asia
By Anthea Gerrie 15 June, 2011
All the tea in China is not quite enough, it seems.
Chinese tea companies are starting to buy their tea from the very place that has historically bought it from them -- England, one of Europe’s great tea-drinking nations.
The small island whose cuppa has been the national beverage for hundreds of years has shown, against the odds, that it’s capable of growing the crop it has imported from Asia -- and in commercial quantities.
“We will exceed 10 tons this year,” says Jonathon Jones, garden and commercial director of the Tregothnan Estate, which lists more than a dozen distributors in China and Japan among its clients.
Nearly a ton of that will be headed to China, bought by distributors who see a major selling point in the quality of Tregothnan’s product and its brand.
It marks a shift, albeit slight, in China’s tea market.
“I’m starting to see branded teas and imports on China’s shelves for the first time after 10 years in the tea business,” says international brand consultant Erik Bruun Binslev, of Numi, which has already popularized "pu erh" –- a variety Tregothnan will soon start planting –- in Europe.
Japan, too, is finding it has a palate for the British brew.
Nobu Kitayama of N&K Trading, who has been distributing Tregothnan tea for five years to department stores and hotels, says his customers like it because they feel the English have captured the essence of fine black tea with their aromatic leaves.
“Nearly a third of our black tea consumption is Earl Grey, and we feel Tregothnan’s is outstanding compared with other brands.”
Money grows on teas
This foreign prestige factor allows vendors to charge a significant premium.
Kitayama adds that imported branded teas are very popular in Japan, and his customers are happy to pay ¥3,250 (US$40) for a 50-gram tin -- more than four times the price of other imported teas.
“The Japanese have such an appetite for English tea that they are happy to buy Tregothnan’s unblended single estate tea from us at US$1,500 per kilo,” says Darren Williams, tea buyer for top British grocer Fortnum & Mason.
“They are the keenest of any of our customers to pay an extra £20 (US$32) per person to have Tregothnan in their pot instead of imported China or Darjeeling when they take afternoon tea in our tea room.”
“We Japanese believe that Tregothnan is a miracle tea,” says Kitayama, alluding to the fact that Cornwall in southwest England, home to the estate, has neither the slopes nor tropical climate commonly perceived as essential for tea production.
Pundits say this recent trend is not yet significant, but could become so in a few years.
“China’s import of tea from other countries is small but has been growing at a rapid speed,” says research firm Mintel, which surveys the international tea market.
By contrast, exports from China have been static at 300,000 tons a year of the 1.45 million tons it produces annually.
“We grow dozens of varieties, not just Darjeeling and Assam but other black and green teas including China leaves -- we expect to make even greater inroads into China once we introduce new varieties like pu erh,” says Tregothnan’s Jones.
Cornwall in a cup
A minimal sprinkle of imported leaves are added to Tregothnan teas to help make their four blends, including an all-green tea and a classic Earl Grey enriched with bergamot, affordable and consistent.
But the tea still commands a 10-fold premium over the basic British tea bag.
It’s all grown outdoors on camellia bushes in a beautiful, remote part of Cornwall, the mystical county associated with King Arthur.
Here the original 10 hectares planted 11 years ago have been supplanted by a new international tea garden which will add a further 50 hectares.
The first plants were bedded in 12 years ago, and the owners waited an anxious six years to see how well they would establish.
Brilliantly, is the answer, with Britain’s top food emporium, Fortnum & Mason, buying the entire range, closely followed by other prestige outlets in Asia, which include the Hankyu department stores in Japan.
Individuals also import it directly online, including Joyce Cardew of Tokyo, who says: “Black tea is very popular here, but so little is grown in Japan.”
The University of Nottingham outpost in Ningbo is also buying from Tregothnan direct.
Worth the wait
So why did British tea growers (others are now trying to emulate Tregothnan) wait so long to grow the stuff?
“It was first mooted during World War II, when imports were threatened,” says Jones. “But it was discounted when it was realized there could be no harvest for at least six years.”
The Boscawen family, botany buffs who have lived at Tregothnan since 1335, decided to experiment in 2005, encouraged by the fact the micro-climate of Cornwall is strikingly similar to that of Darjeeling.
Cardew adds: “Tregothnan costs much more, but for me it’s worth supporting because they are nurturing and preserving wonderful old camellia plants originally raised in Japan. I love that feeling of bringing the tea back to its original home, which is my home too.”
All the skeptics who said tea leaves couldn’t be grown in a British climate at low altitude must now eat their words. And perhaps drink some homegrown British tea.
For details of where to buy in Asia –- or to buy online –- visit www.tregothnan.co.uk
Source: http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/life/english-tea-china-097297
By Anthea Gerrie 15 June, 2011
Chinese tea companies are starting to buy their tea from the very place that has historically bought it from them -- England, one of Europe’s great tea-drinking nations.
The small island whose cuppa has been the national beverage for hundreds of years has shown, against the odds, that it’s capable of growing the crop it has imported from Asia -- and in commercial quantities.
Nearly a ton of that will be headed to China, bought by distributors who see a major selling point in the quality of Tregothnan’s product and its brand.
It marks a shift, albeit slight, in China’s tea market.
“I’m starting to see branded teas and imports on China’s shelves for the first time after 10 years in the tea business,” says international brand consultant Erik Bruun Binslev, of Numi, which has already popularized "pu erh" –- a variety Tregothnan will soon start planting –- in Europe.
Japan, too, is finding it has a palate for the British brew.
Nobu Kitayama of N&K Trading, who has been distributing Tregothnan tea for five years to department stores and hotels, says his customers like it because they feel the English have captured the essence of fine black tea with their aromatic leaves.
“Nearly a third of our black tea consumption is Earl Grey, and we feel Tregothnan’s is outstanding compared with other brands.”
Money grows on teas
This foreign prestige factor allows vendors to charge a significant premium.
“The Japanese have such an appetite for English tea that they are happy to buy Tregothnan’s unblended single estate tea from us at US$1,500 per kilo,” says Darren Williams, tea buyer for top British grocer Fortnum & Mason.
“They are the keenest of any of our customers to pay an extra £20 (US$32) per person to have Tregothnan in their pot instead of imported China or Darjeeling when they take afternoon tea in our tea room.”
“We Japanese believe that Tregothnan is a miracle tea,” says Kitayama, alluding to the fact that Cornwall in southwest England, home to the estate, has neither the slopes nor tropical climate commonly perceived as essential for tea production.
Pundits say this recent trend is not yet significant, but could become so in a few years.
“China’s import of tea from other countries is small but has been growing at a rapid speed,” says research firm Mintel, which surveys the international tea market.
By contrast, exports from China have been static at 300,000 tons a year of the 1.45 million tons it produces annually.
“We grow dozens of varieties, not just Darjeeling and Assam but other black and green teas including China leaves -- we expect to make even greater inroads into China once we introduce new varieties like pu erh,” says Tregothnan’s Jones.
Cornwall in a cup
A minimal sprinkle of imported leaves are added to Tregothnan teas to help make their four blends, including an all-green tea and a classic Earl Grey enriched with bergamot, affordable and consistent.
It’s all grown outdoors on camellia bushes in a beautiful, remote part of Cornwall, the mystical county associated with King Arthur.
Here the original 10 hectares planted 11 years ago have been supplanted by a new international tea garden which will add a further 50 hectares.
The first plants were bedded in 12 years ago, and the owners waited an anxious six years to see how well they would establish.
Brilliantly, is the answer, with Britain’s top food emporium, Fortnum & Mason, buying the entire range, closely followed by other prestige outlets in Asia, which include the Hankyu department stores in Japan.
Individuals also import it directly online, including Joyce Cardew of Tokyo, who says: “Black tea is very popular here, but so little is grown in Japan.”
The University of Nottingham outpost in Ningbo is also buying from Tregothnan direct.
Worth the wait
So why did British tea growers (others are now trying to emulate Tregothnan) wait so long to grow the stuff?
“It was first mooted during World War II, when imports were threatened,” says Jones. “But it was discounted when it was realized there could be no harvest for at least six years.”
The Boscawen family, botany buffs who have lived at Tregothnan since 1335, decided to experiment in 2005, encouraged by the fact the micro-climate of Cornwall is strikingly similar to that of Darjeeling.
Cardew adds: “Tregothnan costs much more, but for me it’s worth supporting because they are nurturing and preserving wonderful old camellia plants originally raised in Japan. I love that feeling of bringing the tea back to its original home, which is my home too.”
All the skeptics who said tea leaves couldn’t be grown in a British climate at low altitude must now eat their words. And perhaps drink some homegrown British tea.
For details of where to buy in Asia –- or to buy online –- visit www.tregothnan.co.uk
Source: http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/life/english-tea-china-097297