The American Specialty Tea Alliance (ASTA) registered in June in the US as a non-profit supporting the tea industry’s small business segment.
Its mission “is to grow interest in specialty tea, in both the tea industry and the public, through education and community, by facilitating collaboration between our members, by bolstering the quality and tenability of specialty tea through research and communication, and by promoting these goals worldwide.”
Founder Tony Gebely floated the idea last year and since then has quietly recruited leaders from well-established companies like G.S. Haly, Adagio, Seven Cups, Young Mountain, and Haelssen & Lyon to serve as the founding board of directors, representing an intersectional group of voices and sector stakeholders within specialty tea. Suzette Hammond of Being Tea is deputy executive director.
A still-growing cadre of both national and international experts, many of whom work as consultants and service providers, will serve on ASTA’s advisory board, including Nigel Melican at Teacraft, Kevin Gascoyne of Camellia Sinensis, Tony Tellin of Steven Smith Teamaker, and specialty importer Lydia Kung.
The organization does not yet intend to host an annual gathering, opting instead for a one-on-one biannual call for each business-level member with ASTA executives.
However, ASTA is assisting the Tea Masters Cup (TMC) in finding a suitable venue to hold the first Tea Masters Cup USA competition in 2019.
Learn more: specialtyteaalliance.org