by Heidi Kyser

The conference program for World Tea East is ready for its debut this fall in Boston, with what organizers believe is a perfect combination of popular spinoff classes and new additions.

SFG Group announced earlier this month that it’s launching World Tea East, a regional conference and pavilion that will co-locate with Natural Products Expo East, Sept. 22-26 at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. World Tea East is not to be confused with World Tea Expo, SFG Group’s larger, well-established annual trade show in Las Vegas.

George Jage, president of SFG (and publisher of World Tea News), said the new event responds to frequent requests by members of the specialty tea industry for World Tea-quality education and buying opportunities in the northeastern U.S.

The educational component of the event has been finalized, SFG said this week. The World Tea East conference will consist of the New Business Boot Camp (NBBC) Sept. 22-24 and the Core Conference Sept. 23-24.

As the name suggests, the NBBC is for budding tea-industry entrepreneurs. It includes intensive workshops on topics related to running a new or recently opened tea business, from creating a business plan to procuring product.

“The NBBC is truly a unique program that has proven to be extremely popular since its inception in 2008,” said Stacie Woods, director of education for World Tea. “Historically most of our NBBC attendees have been from the western U.S. Our hope with World Tea East is to provide those considering opening a new tea business on the East Coast the opportunity to take part in the program.”

The 17 sessions in the Core Conference are designed for a more general population of business owners, with topics ranging from the basic Tea 101 to the more advanced Focused Tastings. The World Tea East program includes some modified or updated versions of session taught in the much larger World Tea Expo conference, as well as some new sessions designed with current and regional trends in mind. For instance, Bruce Richardson, owner of Elmwood Inn Fine Teas, will present a session called Boston’s Role in Shaping American Tea Culture.

Cynthia Gold, tea sommelier at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel, will teach a new focused tastings on tea and cheese. She said all tea professionals should be comfortable with pairing tea and food to help their customers to fully appreciate fine teas.

Pairing tea and cheese is “particularly interesting,” Gold said, “since it catches people by surprise. There is no real overlap between tea producing regions and cheese producing regions of the world, so the rule of thumb that people often follow in the wine world of pairing regionally, can’t come into play.  When you pay attention to the flavors, aromas and textures of cheese however, pairing becomes quite easy, and quite enjoyable.”