A new organization, the Asian Tea Alliance (ATA), launched in April with the goal of enhancing trade and promoting cultural exchange.
Five tea-growing countries - the Indian Tea Association, China Tea Marketing Association, Indonesian Tea Marketing Association, Sri Lanka Tea Board and Japan Tea Association - are represented in the alliance. The group took shape after a year of discussions and visits by trade delegations.
ATA is a formal group publicly committed to working together on a specific area where the collaborative gains outweigh individual advantage. Participants agreed to collaborate on global promotion of premium tea as well as an exchange of technology.
Cooperation is critical to the future of tea growing in an era of climate change, global overcapacity, disappearing operating profit margins, and labor and social turmoil.