In recent years, corporate scandals and blatant atrocities in the name of capitalism have been uncovered and publicized.  (More to me it seems than ever before but maybe I’m just more aware.)  The word “profits” elicits a defensive posture from those of us that have a spine and we simply fear that if we engage in business to make money we are aligning ourselves with those who exploit and damage others, our soil and our world.

The tea industry, specifically those with a passion for specialty tea, find itself in a constant struggle between upholding integrity of the leaf, where it came from and the people who picked it while also making money in doing so.  The struggle is understandable since specialty tea has a way seeping into souls and sticking.  Tea becomes personal.  We fell in love, believe we discovered the Holy Grail and invite others to agree.  To do so, some professionals open a tea room or online store while others become purveyors that travel to remote gardens where no credit card is accepted, a path is not paved and a gun is needed for protection to obtain tea.  Others yet keep it simpler and become merchants the traditional way. Last, some become educators and consultants with the leaf as a core and business secondary.  Regardless of the chosen path, all specialty tea professionals have one thing in common- they are passionate.  It’s this passion that has fueled specialty tea’s popularity.  Ironically, it’s the same attribute that threatens its popularity; thus, its profitability.

Passion breads adamancy.  I have witnessed and participated in this conundrum at the World Tea Expo where all the players have a part.  Traditionalists believe specialty tea has become a marketing ploy.  Highly experienced professionals selling tea disagree on everything from what makes an oolong an oolong to whether or not a white tea can be called such if not manufactured in China.  They disagree on Fair-Trade, Organic, Steeping Times, Manufacturing Processes, Health Benefits… The hottest topic at the Expo, fueled much by the World Tea Championship, centered on standardizing specialty tea to solve part of the dilemma.  But even that caused controversy among the commodity professionals since they feel specialty tea is already standardized and they are the ones with the money.  Since this last show, the concept of community has never been more fore-front in my mind and profit never a more important necessity.

Profits will affect the growers where Fair Trade will be less of an issue since specialty tea has higher margins and the workers can naturally be paid more.  Profits will help organic farming become a reality for so many more gardens than exist today.  Profits will lead to more research done on tea’s health benefits hopefully proving we did in fact find the Holy Grail.  Profits will help guarantee that there are tea pickers in a few years and just as importantly, they will keep the tea masters and artisans from leaving the trade.  Profits will keep our kids healthy.  Profits will help keep food on the table for families worldwide.

The word Profit comes from Latin meaning “to make progress”.  It is in this context that I hope the specialty tea industry embraces business.  As it stands, the divisions within our own industry threaten to confuse the marketplace even more now that specialty tea stands center stage.  To make progress, at least to me, means that we must make a conscious effort to unite our entire industry.  We need to step up to the plate instead of sitting on the sidelines and criticizing the game.  We need to stop trying to create our own individual teams and new games with different rules.  We must recognize the power of one community, with one voice that embraces all tea.  For our industry to become truly profitable we need to focus on our commonality, decide where we can be of use and act now.  That’s passion leading to profits honorably.

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