Dan Bolton worked as a professional journalist in North America for fifty years, including thirty years as an editor and publisher of food and beverage magazines. In 2010, Dan and his wife Susan settled in Winnipeg, Canada, Susan’s hometown. In 2015, he formed a team based on his previous experience and network in publishing magazines, and obtained funding through an online crowdfunding platform. In June 2016, the magazine “Tea Journey” was officially released as a 150 page print publication and online format. Since its inception, the magazine has successfully transitioned from traditional paper printing to online reading. Dan encourages tea journalists and experts who write for the publication to create and provide personal suggestions for the internationalization strategy of tea brands.
Toronto Tea Festival 2017
The operation of the Tea Journey Magazine is very stable now, and the eight years of successful operation are inseparable from the team’s cooperation and Dan’s years of veteran experience in magazine execution. Dan worked as a newspaper journalist and editor in California, USA for 20 years. In 1995, he entered the food and beverage industry and began his career in magazines. He has served as an executive for multiple beverage publishing companies and led six related publishing companies, such as Tea Magazine and World Tea News; he was editor of Specialty Coffee Retailer in San Francisco and remotely edited STiR Coffee and Tea in Bangkok. So far, Dan has published countless articles in multiple beverage publications and is still active in international tea exhibitions and other activities. He mentioned visiting China on several occasions as well as India, Sri Lanka, Africa, South America, the Middle East, and Europe, where he toured tea farms and spoke at tea exhibitions and other activities.
Pu’er International Specialty Coffee Forum
The Kickstarter donors who financed Tea Journey Magazine come from 36 countries. There are various ways for sponsors to collaborate with the magazine, such as traditional advertising and sponsorships. Tea factories provided tea as an incentive to finance the publication and received advertising in return. Dan’s analysis shows that the readership of Tea Journey Magazine mainly consists of enterprises, practitioners, and enthusiasts in the tea related beverage industry. Most readers prefer high-quality tea. For this group of readers with tea needs, providing them with tea products can not only please loyal readers but also provide more opportunities for sponsors to cooperate with and support the magazine.
Tea Journey Magazine has approximately 80 active freelance writers from different countries, and together, the author group can proficiently use 12 languages for interviews and writing. Dan is willing to collaborate with them and encourages more young authors to join. The magazine’s selection of authors with different national backgrounds means that it can interview more people in their native tongue. Even if the interviewees are unable to express themselves in English, they can still tell their stories through the retelling of these interviewees, allowing readers to access more direct and in-depth information. Tea Journey also relies on content creativity in video, the Tea Biz Podcasts and multi-media to attract more readers and remain competitive.
Coonor, India December 2011
Tea Journey Magazine evolved from a traditional paper-based printing business model to provide an online reading experience with unlimited access for paying subscribers. The magazine’s readership is positioned worldwide, and due to the varying shipping costs in different countries, online magazines can avoid many unnecessary troubles and save printing and other costs. Of course, there are also common concerns from online book publishers regarding copyright issues. Dan emphasizes the importance of content creation. He says distributing accurate and authoritative information is more important than using his resources to defend copyright. He encourages sharing online articles published by the magazine to promote the magazine. Tea Journey magazine focuses more on information accuracy, articles with educational significance, tea culture, and the protection of historical heritage.
Sri Lanka Colombo
Tea Journey Magazine portal recommends tea related reading materials, sharing post reading feedback and introducing some English tea reading materials on the market. Dan found this page very popular among readers. Dan talked about his views on translating Chinese tea reading materials into English. He suggested that Chinese authors should proactively contact international book publishers and collaborate with professional editors, which is far better than directly translating them into English. He describes the process as “retelling” the story of tea. Dan believes that the readers are not interested in translated versions of ancient Chinese tea books, preferring authentic stories from modern times. Modern people tend to learn through their own practice and choose tea themes that are more creative or close to life to read.
COTECA Hamburg 2016
Regarding the internationalization of Chinese tea brands, Dan offered some personal suggestions. From the perspective of the beverage market, “there is a consumer market for every type of tea; tea makers should concentrate on finding a market where consumer demand is high,” he said. “Perfect your skills, define your brand, and explore where your tea is most appreciated. Once you discover receptive consumers, use the sales data from wholesalers and retailers to make corresponding adjustments based on different markets. For example, adjusting blended tea products according to the taste preferences of local consumers can be a shortcut to expanding into the international market.” Developing products that cater to local consumer market preferences often saves investment costs, energy, and time compared to educating the local market to accept unfamiliar Chinese taste preferences. Dan gave an example to illustrate that a Chinese tea merchant successfully established a brand in Morocco. In order to cater to the local people’s preference for mint tea, they set up a factory locally and blended high-quality round roasted green tea gunpowder tea and mint leaves produced in China, successfully opening up the local market and becoming a famous tea brand in Morocco.
Ethiopia, March 2016
Dan explains that tea should be introduced and promoted according to the preferences of local consumers, adapting to their drinking occasions and brewing methods. They are interested in health and wellness attributes and new ways of enjoying tea, such as blends, fusions, various milk teas, and ready-to-drink versions of seasonal tea. Traditional storytelling that explains famous Chinese tea is less compelling than authentic storytelling from origin, as consumers want to know where their tea originated and how it was processed. Using the exquisite brewing method of Gongfu tea is a way to enable consumers to “experience” tea, not just taste it. Chinese tea teams and associations can learn from the overseas model of the Japanese Tea Association, establish international offices, and provide suitable local market promotion strategies for domestic enterprises.
Global Dubai Tea Forum 2018