South American tea producing regions – Argentine Blended Tea

Wenzhuo  Liu

Jorgelina Lezcano and her husband founded the blended tea brand Motivos in Argentina, using loose tea grown and processed in Argentina as the main ingredient, and its sales have continued to grow over the past five years. Yerba Mate tea is the national drink of Argentina, while afternoon tea customs and tea tree cultivation were only introduced to Argentina by European immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries. Argentine tea farmers have always sold fresh leaves to major producers and processed them into broken tea for export. Since 2010, some tea plantation owners have begun to experiment with independent processing and production of tea products, and have established an association to develop supporting industries such as tourism in tea gardens.

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North American Tea Plantation – Camellia Forest

Christine Parks and her family have jointly inherited and operated the Camellia Forest Tea Gardens for two generations. The tea plantation is located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA, and has been developed for over forty years, from camellia flowers to tea tree cultivation and processing. Christine collaborated with tea enthusiast Susan Walcott to publish the tea book “Growing Your Own Tea: The Complete Guide to Cultivating, Harvesting, and Preparing,” which became a must read for American family gardens and small-scale tea farmers.

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The Tea Recipe Book – Nicole Wilson

Wenzhuo Liu

Nicole Wilson is the pioneer of the first generation of tea internet influencer. As early as 2008, she began creating tea blogs, and with the updating of social media, she also became a tea influencer in line with the times. After winning multiple awards, in 2022, Nicole accepted an invitation from publishers to collaborate and release her own tea book, “The Tea Recipe Book,” sharing her exclusive recipes and replicating innovative tea recipes that are popular and of interest to readers. In recent years, Nicole has started to enter the tea education industry, providing targeted tea classes and more.

   

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New European Tea Festival Organizer

Wenzhuo Liu

Maria was born and raised in Montevideo, Uruguay. She is a descendant of a European family that immigrated to South America in the 19th century and has European ancestry from France, Spain, Italy, and England. Maria started drinking tea since she was young. Her grandmother came from England and was once a well-known tailor. Maria recalled that she often went to her grandmother’s studio after school, where there were always British porcelain teapots waiting for her. After reaching adulthood, Maria went to Bordeaux, France to study and work in digital communication, even establishing her own company. During this period, she was exposed to tea and tea utensils from China and Japan, initially as a hobby during her leisure time. At the age of 38, she decided to close her agency, leave Bordeaux, and return to South America to open a tea house.

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Add Value to Quality Tea – AVPA

Wenzhuo Liu

Ksenia Hleap has been working at the Agency for the Valorization of Agricultural Products (AVPA) in Paris, France for 7 years, mainly responsible for communication and development work. According to her introduction, the AVPA Association helps agricultural producers increase the value of their products and has a good international reputation. The “Tea from the World” tea competition has been held for eight times, and the winning products will be recognized by multiple partners and contribute to marketing. AVPA welcomes more high-quality tea and producers from China to participate in the future. 

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A new Attempt by Tea Industry Professional in Hamburg, Germany

Wenzhuo Liu

Marten Verch works for food related books and is currently employed by a publishing house in Hamburg, Germany. He has work experience in tea trading companies in Hamburg and the German Tea Association. In recent years, Marten has started planting tea trees and has plans to expand tea gardens in the future. He expressed his expectations for the development of Hamburg tea culture, while sharing his understanding of the significance of the German Tea Association in the industry, as well as the opportunities and challenges that tea brands need to face in expanding overseas markets.

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Entrepreneur in the Field of Tea Industry Consulting

Wenzhuo Liu

Lorela Lohan has a diverse cultural background and currently resides in Belgium. She runs a tea business consulting company called WanderlusTea. The company is committed to promoting high-quality tea and formulating influential business strategies, focusing on practice, developing customized sales channels for tea brands, increasing sales volume, and developing business. Lorela is also active in organizations such as the European Speciality Tea Association (ESTA) and is one of the organizers of the first Belgian Tea Festival in 2024. Lorela visited multiple tea producing countries and plans to travel to China for tea in 2025.

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Tea Pope from Vienna

Wenzhuo Liu

Thomas M. Grömer, from Vienna, Austria, is a successful European tea entrepreneur known as the “Tea Pope”. In the 1990s, Thomas went to Japan to study, majoring in tea at university and obtaining a Japanese tea taster certificate. In 2001, Thomas founded a tea company in Europe, which now has two tea brands and four office locations in Hamburg and Vienna. Its products are sold to 47 countries in Europe and West Africa. As a successful tea entrepreneur in Europe, Thomas has also provided business consulting services in the past two years, helping tea brands, stores, and practitioners.

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British Tea People in Denmark

Wenzhuo Liu

Alexis Kaae is from the UK and currently resides in Denmark. She used to be a mechanical technician and now runs a physical and online tea shop, Simply Tea, providing educational services. She is also developing a tea plantation. In 2007, Alexis traveled to tea regions in China to study tea. In 2014, she co founded the Danish Tea Association with several outstanding ladies from the Danish tea industry. In 2017, she became the Vice President of the European Specialty Tea Association, and in recent years, she has also joined the European Tea Association and other organizations. Alexis is active in the European tea industry, frequently invited to participate in tea events in China.

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Professional ‘Nose’ in the Tea Industry

Wenzhuo Liu

Carine Baudry is a professional nose from Paris, France, with years of experience in aroma creation that has given her a deep understanding of sensory evaluation. Currently working at the tea academy of the tea brand Nunshen, Carine has developed a tea evaluation system primarily based on olfactory perception of tea, utilizing sensory evaluation techniques and descriptive dialectics for teaching and training. The French non-profit organization Femmes de Culture has named Carine one of the 100 Women of Culture 2023. Traveling to the origins of the world’s magic fragrance products and cooperating with people from the famous French industries, such as red wine, perfume and food, Carine shared her personal understanding, how to introduce tea to the French in the right way.

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