Tea is the 2nd most popular beverage in the world with ancient roots extending over 5 thousand years. Eventually spreading across the Asian continent, the earliest record of tea consumption in India spans back to the 1600s. India has cultivated one of the most important and authentic tea cultures in the world. Fine Tea is supposedly the healthiest drink for sustaining a strong immune system as well as curing ailments. According to Penn Medicine, teas can help with inflammation, sleep, stress, low energy, menstrual pain, muscle spasms, high cholesterol, heart disease, irritable bowel syndrome, organ function, and even cancer among others.
The tea industry is, unfortunately, awash in negative incentives and chemical-laden products. Tea is predominantly consumed by children, women, and elderly people who sadly are unaware of the negative impact of cheap tea. They drink what's available and are oblivious to the difference between good and cheap tea.
Looking at the history of tea industry, it was introduced in Asia & Europe by the Portuguese & British. Portuguese distributed the teas to the Netherlands-based Dutch East India Company. To strengthen ties between the two European empires Charles II married Catherine of Braganza (1638-1705). Catherine was the daughter of King John IV of Portugal. Charles II proposed a regular supply of teas to England as the only dowry. He was gifted the modest village of Mumbai with a population of 500 people which was handed over to the East India Company in 1667; they only had a trading license. From there, started the expansion of British Empire on the basis of divide & rule.
The Opium Wars between China and England in the 1740s impacted tea supply. As a result, the English Parliament increased the duty on the export of their tea to their American colonies. This 119% increase in tea duty led to the famous Boston Tea Party in 1772, an early factor in the American Revolution and the creation of the United States of America.
Today the interest of the tea industry is being compromised and is under threat by the greed of profit. In pursuit of high margins and growth, the overall integrity of the international tea trade has practically diminished and safety regulations have been ignored.
The F&B industry has essentially turned a blind eye to the increased levels of chemicals & fluoride in tea products. Some of the teas freely sold globally contain unlawful amounts of pesticides such as monocrotophos, quinalphos, and more. Though minimal amounts of fluoride have some health benefits, an excessive amount of fluoride is poisonous to humans as it is linked to illnesses such as osteoporosis, skeletal fluorosis, and dental fluorosis.
Due to the lack of awareness, most F&B buyers have minimum knowledge of tea, its history, and its culture. Hence, when committing to a brand, they don't even ask for any lab tests or certificates from highly reputed international agro labs nor do they check if the tea is packed in compliance with the EU food and safety standards. As a result, poor teas which could be termed unfit for human consumption, are selected and supplied for luxury hotels, restaurants, and cafes.
Recently, the government of India instructed the food safety monitoring authority, "FASSAI" (Food and Safety standards authority), to enforce stringent health standards. Another organization called FATTA (The Federation of All India Tea Traders Association) raised a call to enforce compliance and found that nearly 40% of the teas didn't adhere to FASSAI standards and were unfit for human consumption. Of course, this phenomenon is not limited to India only.
Sadly, there are only a handful of international brands that are committed to quality teas and health standards. Newby is a London-based luxury tea brand and has earned a name and reputation for its disciplined adherence to procurement, packing, and preservation norms. Newby's state of the art preservation and packaging facility is probably the only one of its kind in the world which is accredited by the top world's most stringent and reputed quality and food safety regulatory bodies. Additionally, Newby is totally dedicated to the health benefits of the ancient drink. Newby strives to be a voice to expose the hidden truth, the absence of which the consumers are suffering due to low-quality norms extensively present in the industry. Newby uses proprietary packaging which protects the product against the 3 major enemies of fine tea character i.e., Humidity, heat, and contamination.
Newby tea has won nearly 70 Global tea championship awards in the USA. Newby and Chitra Collection, both are fully committed to N Sethia Foundation. The Chitra Collection is known as the world's finest and most comprehensive collection of its kind boasting nearly 3000 objects.
To learn more about Newby Teas's award-winning tea collection and how the company is sparking a revolution centered around health and quality, please visit the Newby Teas website.
