Ready-to-drink rooibos tea manufacturer Rooibee Red Tea announced a major branding revamp that includes a redesigned website, reworked packaging and a tweaked logo. The packaging design...

Starbucks announced a major pivot towards Asia by introducing Teavana tea beverages in 6,200 stores across the Asia-Pacific region. The coffee behemoth hopes this will lift global tea sales to $3 billion...

Workers at Lipton's Virginia facility, which produces all the tea bags sold in North America, decided to unionize due to declining working conditions. According to data from the United Food and...

Adagio Teas, a New Jersey-based gourmet tea supplier, has tapped into a local financing program to fund the expansion of operational capacity. The company secured a loan to purchase...

The share price of Hain Celestial, the parent company of Celestial Seasonings tea, has dropped precipitously in recent days due to a delay in publishing quarterly and annual results. The move...

Steaz, a manufacturer of green tea-based iced teas, has been acquired by an unidentified privately-held strategic buyer. The company, predominantly owned by an investment arm of Swiss food giant Nestlé...

Starbucks faces a declining tea market and increased scrutiny from health conscious consumers and regulators as it aims to bring a young and modern vision of tea to the UK. Especially black tea...

Please provide the article you want summarized. Without the source text, I cannot accurately capture its key points, tone, structure, or style. Once you share the article, I can produce a concise fifty-word summary that mirrors its voice and includes only the essential information, as requested, with no extra commentary.

Tea production heavyweight Goodricke Group is in the process of acquiring two tea plantations in upper Assam to increase output in the region. The deal represents about 2 million kilograms of...

Menno Tea, a bottled tea manufacturer, recently opened a farming cafe in Pennsylvania aimed at showcasing new mint drinks and mint farming practices. Menno Tea Mint Farming Cafe is inspired...

No article was provided to summarize. Please supply the text or a link, and I will condense its main points into exactly fifty words, matching the article’s tone and style while preserving key details, context, and emphasis. Without the source material, any summary would be incomplete, inaccurate, or entirely fabricated.

Teaspressa, a startup manufacturing ground teas, has revealed skyrocketing demand following its appearance on the TV show Shark Tank. Despite not clinching an investment on the show...

Chinese confectionary manufacturer Zhaolong Foods has secured a patent to manufacture chewing gum enriched with antioxidants found in tea and has set its sights on the US market...

Please provide the article text or a link to it, and I’ll summarize it in exactly fifty words, matching its style as closely as possible. Without the source material, I can’t produce an accurate summary or mirror the article’s tone, structure, and vocabulary. Paste the article whenever you’re ready here.

Steep Echo is pioneering a new type of tea experience with a range of herbal teas made with dried leaves from the olive tree. The new tea company, backed by Bel Lavoro olive plantation in...

Following a revised schedule from a brokerage firm and an amended filing from the company, the timing for the initial public offering of Long Island Iced Tea shares looks uncertain. The company was...

No article was provided, so I cannot produce a fifty-word summary or mirror its style. Please supply the text or a link, and I will condense its main points, preserve its tone, and return only the requested summary in exactly fifty words, without additional commentary or formatting of any kind.

Canadian specialty tea retailer Davids Tea reported a healthy jump in revenue and earnings when announcing the first quarterly results of 2016. During the period, sales were up by 24.3% overall...

No article was provided, so I cannot summarize its arguments, evidence, tone, or style. Please supply the text or a link to the article, and I will produce an exactly fifty-word summary that mirrors its voice, structure, and emphasis while preserving the central points accurately and concisely for you promptly.

No article was included, so I can’t summarize its argument, tone, evidence, or style. Please paste the article text or provide a link, and I’ll return a concise, faithful summary in exactly fifty words, matching the article’s voice as closely as possible while preserving its main points and emphasis accurately.

Bell Publishing, a UK-based publishing house, announced the acquisition of Tea & Coffee Trade Journal from Lockwood Publications. The deal involves not only the trade magazine, but also...

Tregothnan, England's first tea plantation, reported biggest yield ever due to unusually warm weather this past winter. December 2015 was the warmest on record and exceeded seasonal averages by...

No article was provided, so a faithful summary in the article’s style cannot be produced. Please share the text or a link to the article, and I will condense its main points into exactly fifty words while preserving its tone, structure, and key emphasis as closely as possible for you.

Please provide the article text or a link with content. I can then summarize it in exactly fifty words, matching its style and returning only the summary. Without the article, I cannot accurately identify its claims, tone, evidence, or structure, and I should not invent details that may be false.

Unilever has earmarked $50 million to set up a tea processing facility and develop two tea estates in Rwanda. Acting via its Rwandan subsidiary, the owner of the Lipton tea brand plans to...

In lieu of the usual tea room concept, JoJo Tea, a boutique specialty tea company, is opening a tasting room to offer a complete tea service experience. JoJo Tasting Room will advocate a more...

Please provide the article text or a link to it so I can produce an exactly 50-word summary in the article’s style and output only the summary. Without the source material, I can’t accurately identify its substance, tone, structure, or key claims to condense faithfully into the requested format properly.

Unilever's purchase of the Australian specialty tea chain T2 turned out to cost less than expected to due lower performance-based payouts to previous owners. According to the company, T2's recent...

Stash Tea has begun legal proceedings against cannabis vendor Stash Cannabis for "concerted and systemic infringement of trademarks" owned by the company. Previously, Stash Tea sent...

Please provide the article you want summarized. I need the source text to capture its substance and match its style accurately. Once you share it, I can produce a summary of exactly fifty words, with no extra commentary, formatted as the summary only, as requested for your task here promptly.

Davids Tea, the Canadian specialty tea chain, is facing questions about its labor practices in the US over the alleged use of on-call shifts. The company was officially contacted by New York Attorney...

Long Island Iced Tea Corp., a manufacturer of ready-to-drink iced teas, submitted a registration for a proposed public offering of common stock. The company is looking to raise $11.5 million...

Starbucks is planning a major marketing push to accompany the introduction of its Teavana brand in Starbucks locations across the UK. First product to launch will be the Shaken Iced Tea, a range...

No article was provided, so I can’t summarize its argument, tone, or style. Please paste the article text or share its main contents, and I’ll return a precise, exactly fifty-word summary that mirrors the article’s voice while preserving its central claims, details, and emphasis without adding unsupported information or distortion.

French specialty tea retailer Le Palais des Thés is shutting down both of its Manhattan locations, highlighting the challenges of operating a profitable tea store in New York City. The company...

David Segal, the co-founder and namesake of David's Tea, resigned from his role as brand ambassador of the Canadian specialty tea chain. According to a filing with the US Securities and...

I can’t summarize the article because no article was provided. Please paste the text or share a link, and I’ll return a 50-word summary that matches its style, with no extra commentary. Once I have the article, I can condense its main points accurately and preserve the original tone faithfully.

ChugaChaga, a startup from Albany, NY, successfully completed a Kickstarter campaign in a bid to raise awareness about their project of making iced tea from a fungus. The company raised well over...

Ron Rubin, executive chairman of The Republic of Tea, is more concerned about positioning the company for the decades ahead than offloading it for a profit. Despite an estimated valuation as high...

The Dutch food group Wessanen announced a deal to acquire Piramide Thee, a local tea company, to expand its portfolio of organic beverage brands. Piramide is a well established brand in the...

A consumer documentary in the UK suggests that some of the most beloved artisan brands may not be as small-scale as they appear and may actually be backed by large corporations. Teapigs is one...

Please provide the article text or a link to it, and I will summarize it in exactly fifty words, matching its style and providing only the summary, as requested. Without the article, I cannot identify its subject, tone, arguments, evidence, or conclusions, and I do not want to invent details.

Teabox, the Indian specialty tea retailer, has secured angel investment funding from Ratan Tata, the former CEO of Tata Group. Ratan Tata, who oversaw the acquisition of Tetley Group by Tata Tea...

Starbucks announced plans to drop the stagnating experiment of Teavana tea bars meant to emulate the success of their coffee houses. The company, which planned hundreds of such locations just...

No article was provided, so I can’t produce a faithful fifty-word summary or mirror its style. Please share the article text or a link, and I’ll condense it into exactly fifty words, preserving the article’s tone, structure, and emphasis while avoiding invention or unsupported detail completely for you here now.

Starbucks and Tata Global Beverages have teamed up to bring the Teavana brand to India. The joint venture, called Tata Starbucks, is looking to introduce the tea chain to a massive number of...

Some of the UK's leading tea brands announced a halt in purchases from the Assam Company, which was implicated in last year's BBC report about dangerous working conditions. Twinings, Taylors of...

Shrugging off talk of a Chinese slowdown, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz remained upbeat about the country's long-term prospects and announced plans to open thousands of new locations. While...

Please provide the article you want summarized. I can then condense it into exactly fifty words and mirror its tone, style, and emphasis. Without the source text, I cannot accurately identify its argument, details, or voice, and I should not invent a summary for material I have not seen yet.

Following a host of acquisitions in 2015, including JAB's marquee deal for Keurig, financial experts predict that Dunkin Brands may be ready to make a splurge in 2016. According to The Street...

I can’t summarize the article because no article text, link, or excerpt was provided. Please share the content you want summarized, and I’ll condense it into exactly fifty words while matching its tone and style, as requested, with no extra commentary or formatting beyond the summary when you send it.

PepsiCo recently unveiled a new line of vending machines focusing on healthy, or healthier, food and beverage options with its tea brands playing a prominent role. The company aims to station...

Davids Tea raised annual projections after a successful third quarter that saw the Canadian tea retailer post solid sales growth despite widening losses. The company continued to expand ...

JAB Holding announced the acquisition of domestic beverage system manufacturer Keurig Green Mountain yesterday, creating one of the biggest players in the international hot beverage...

No article was provided, so I can’t summarize its content or match its style. Please paste the article text or share a link, and I’ll produce a summary that is exactly fifty words, preserving the article’s tone, structure, and emphasis while omitting unnecessary details and speculation, as requested by you.

Teforia, a startup that recently unveiled an innovative domestic tea brewer, has raised just over $5 million in seed funding from several venture capital firms. This follows a successful pre-order...

Hakkasan Group, an international operator of upscale Chinese restaurants, announced plans to open two luxury dim sum tea houses under its Yauatcha brand in the US. Yauatcha restaurants...

Please provide the article you want summarized. I can then condense it into exactly fifty words, matching its tone and style, and return only the summary as requested. Without the article’s text, I cannot identify its claims, structure, voice, or key details accurately enough to produce a faithful summary yet.

Whittard of Chelsea, a UK tea retail chain, is looking at establishing a physical and online presence in China following growing interest from Chinese tourists and online shoppers. The company...

David Bromwich has set his sight on the ambitious goal of developing a unique flavor profile for teas grown in the US. Similarly to teas hailing from India, China or Japan, which all have distinctive...

Village Tea Co. has been acquired by Affinity Beverage Group almost exactly a year after a majority interest in the company was purchased by Accel Brands, a beverage holding company...

Capital Teas recently opened its 15th and most expensive retail location in Annapolis, MA that reflects the company's growing ambitions in tea retail. Thanks to private equity funding...

Seth Goldman, the co-founder and "TeaEO" of Honest Tea, is transitioning out of his active role in the company to become executive chairman of a food startup. As Coca-Cola integrates Honest Tea...

Please provide the article you want summarized. I can then condense its central argument, key evidence, and concluding implications into exactly fifty words, matching the article’s tone and style as closely as possible. Without the source text, any summary would be invented rather than faithful to the article you intended.

Bethenny Frankel, star on Real Housewives of New York and creator of Skinnygirl drinks, has filed a lawsuit against the operators of SkinnyGirl Tea over the use of the term. Frankel's company...

Bridge Over Troubled Waters, a nonprofit organization, is suing the tea chain Argo Tea over breach of contract and refusal to pay rent on a real estate property in Boston, MA. According to the...

Kinnettles Farm in Angus, Scotland's first single estate tea farm, introduced its first commercial tea harvest. Despite a very low yield of just a few pounds, the owner is proud of years of...

World Tea Media, the organizer of the World Tea Expo, has been acquired by information services company Penton. World Tea Media accompanied the rise of specialty tea in the US and has become...

Teavana abruptly closed one of its first tea bars after less than 2 years in business. The bar, located on N. Southport Avenue in Chicago, was heralded as a new concept in 2013 more akin to a bar than a...

No article was provided, so I cannot summarize its arguments, evidence, tone, or style. Please share the full text or a link to the article, and I will produce an exact fifty-word summary that mirrors its voice and structure while preserving the central ideas and most important details accurately thereafter.

Please provide the article text or a link to it.

Please provide the article you want summarized. I can’t create an accurate fifty-word summary or match its style without the source text. Once you share it, I will condense the key points faithfully, preserve tone and emphasis, and return only the requested exactly fifty-word summary, with no added commentary.

Please provide the article you want summarized. I don't have any source text to condense, so I can't produce a faithful fifty-word summary or match its style yet. Once you paste the article, I'll return only the summary, exactly fifty words long, mirroring the article's tone, structure, and language closely.

Stir Drinks, a UK tea startup, aims to combine the everyday ritual of tea with improved digestive health. The new tea brand, launched by several veterans of the beverage trade, hopes that...

Following years of litigation between owners, Arizona Beverage Corp. is regaining lost ground with a wealth of new products and initiatives. The manufacturer of iconic AriZona iced teas...

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, a specialty coffee and tea chain with over 1,000 locations worldwide, announced major expansion plans in China. The company signed an exclusive development...

Teatulia was named one of 25 Most Innovative Consumer Brands for 2015 by CircleUp in collaboration with Forbes. The Denver-based company was singled out for its socially and...

T2, an Australian specialty tea retailer, is looking beyond London as it prepares to open its first store outside of the British capital. In line with previously announced plans to open hundreds...

I can’t summarize the article because no article text or link was provided. Please send the article you want summarized, and I’ll produce a summary in exactly fifty words, matching its style as closely as possible and outputting only the summary, with no extra commentary or explanation, as requested thereafter.

In pursuit of a new level of direct trade, Verdant Tea, a specialty tea retailer from Minneapolis, will relocate its operations to China starting this summer. The owners plan to massively expand...

Please provide the article text or a link to it. Once I have the source, I can produce a summary in exactly fifty words, matching the article’s style and tone, and output only the summary as requested. Without the article, I cannot accurately summarize its content or imitate its style.

The status of Chicago as the hotbed of the US tea industry gained further credibility with Dunkin Donuts announcing plans to test a selection of higher quality teas in the Windy City. As a response...

Please provide the article you want summarized. I don’t have the source text, so I can’t produce an accurate fifty-word summary in its style. Once you share the article, I’ll condense its main points, preserve its tone, and return only the summary, exactly as requested, without extra commentary or framing.

East West Tea, the company behind Yogi Tea, is planning a new storage and production facility in Eugene, OR, which would double its footprint and consolidate several locations into one...

Peet's Coffee introduced a range of iced teas under the Mighty Leaf brand, which is to become the umbrella brand for all of its tea products. Mighty Leaf iced teas are freshly brewed in small...

Royal Cup, a coffee importer, roaster and distributor, announced the acquisition of Teasy Teas, a specialty tea retailer. The move is aimed at diversifying the company's premium tea...

While London is famous for thousands of traditional pubs, it may also host the first ever pub solely dedicated to tea. Brew, which is currently in crowdfunding stage and has already raised...

Fuze iced tea is hoping an 80's movie star will help revive lackluster sales. Mr. T, star of "The A-Team" series and "Rocky III", will feature prominently in a series of short videos with a fun, light...

Starbucks announced strategic changes for its Teavana brand, which include shifting focus to expand the brand in Starbucks stores, as opposed to growing the number of tea outlets in malls. When...

In its first quarter as a public company, Davids Tea posted an operating loss of over $75 million, with the costs of the IPO and the weakness in the Canadian dollar cited as main driving factors...

Zealong Tea, New Zealand's only commercial tea company, has found a receptive audience in China thanks to the pristine environment where it is cultivated. Specializing in green and oolong...

Please provide the article text or a link to it so I can summarize it in exactly 50 words in the article’s style.

No article was provided, so a faithful fifty-word summary in the article’s own style cannot be produced. Please supply the text or a link, and I will condense its central argument, key evidence, tone, and conclusion into exactly fifty words, preserving the original voice and emphasis precisely for you here.

Dr Pepper Snapple Group is giving the Snapple brand a makeover in time for the iced tea season, with a new logo and look, as well as an ad campaign highlighting its New York heritage. The brand...

The manufacturers of Inko's iced tea are being sued over allegations that it is mislabeled as "all natural" since it contains ascorbic acid. The lawsuit, filed in US District Court in New York, claims that ascorbic acid...

In the first day of trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange last Friday, shares of Davids Tea surged as much as 43%. Trading under the ticker symbol DTEA, the shares were initially priced at $19, just...

Inca Tea, a startup launched just over a year ago, has found a new niche in the tea industry in the form of purple corn-based tea. The founder, Ryan Florio, discovered the beverage during a...

Following public outrage and declining sales, Keurig Green Mountain announced plans to scale back its controversial DRM strategy. Using exclusive Keurig-approved coffee pods is a key feature of...

Please provide the article text or a link to it, and I will summarize it in exactly fifty words, matching its style and outputting only the summary as requested. Without the article, I cannot capture its arguments, tone, structure, evidence, or intended emphasis in a faithful condensed form for you.

No article was provided for review, so a faithful summary in the article’s style cannot be produced. Please supply the text or a link, and I can condense its central arguments, evidence, tone, and implications into exactly fifty words, preserving the original voice as closely as possible for you accurately.

Wendy's, the third largest burger chain in the US, is set to add an organic iced tea made by Coca-Cola's Honest Tea to its permanent menu. With organic ingredients being pricier and harder to source...

Adagio Teas recently expanded its Latin American operations by establishing a retail presence in Chile. Mirroring its US activities, where the artisan tea company operates an e-commerce platform...

Mighty Leaf Tea announced the appointment a former PepsiCo and Diageo executive Sheila Stanziale as chief executive officer. It's a major leadership change orchestrated by the new...

No article was provided, so a faithful summary in the article’s style cannot be produced. Please supply the full text or a link to the article, and I can condense its main argument, evidence, tone, and conclusion into exactly fifty words while preserving its voice and structure as requested here.

Founders of AriZona iced tea brand have finally reached an out of court settlement in the ongoing ownership saga of the billion-dollar brand. The terms of the settlement between Domenick...

In a heavyweight battle of bottled iced teas, PepsiCo's Pure Leaf is dominating Coca-Cola's Golden Peak and Honest Tea on the US market. With consumers turning away from carbonated sodas...

For this year's Earth Day on April 22, Bigelow Tea focuses on its green track record and sustainability credentials. With a turnover of roughly $150 million and an annual production capacity...

No article was provided to summarize so I cannot produce an article-styled fifty-word summary. Please share the full text excerpt or link and I will condense its central claims evidence tone and narrative manner into exactly fifty words preserving the original’s voice and emphasis without adding unsupported details or interpretation.

Ajiri Tea has carved out a niche market its products thanks to a novel approach to social sustainability. The company offers Kenyan coffee and tea packaged in bespoke packaging material and hand...

Canada's DavidsTea filed a registration with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for an IPO with an initial estimate of $75 million. The company operates almost 160 stores in Canada and the US...

Cool Japan Fund, a public-private fund supporting Japanese business and culture overseas, announced plans to invest more than $2 million to develop upmarket green tea cafes in California...

Raizana Tea is looking to expand online and brick-and-mortar operations as sales of herbal blends take off. The company, run by a married couple out of Fresno, CA, has been selling locally-blended...

Rooibee Tea, a manufacturer of rooibos-based bottled teas, wrapped up raising $2 million intended to expand and improve its product lineup. The initiative, which took almost a year to achieve...

Teabox, an India-based online tea company, completed a fresh round of funding worth $6 million to grow its e-commerce platform and expand operations in new markets. Teabox offers Indian...

No article was provided, so its argument, evidence, tone, and conclusions cannot be summarized faithfully. Please supply the text or a link, and I can condense its central points into exactly fifty words while preserving its style, emphasis, and rhythm without adding unsupported details or inventing claims absent from source.

Please provide the article text or a link to it so I can summarize it accurately in exactly fifty words and match its style. Without the source material, I cannot identify the main points, tone, or structure needed to produce the requested summary only, as specified by you here today.

Please provide the article text or a link to it, and I will summarize it in exactly fifty words, matching its style and tone. Without the source material, I cannot produce an accurate summary or preserve the article’s voice, structure, emphasis, or key details as requested by you here today.

South Africa, known for its rooibos herb and wines, is home to a new winemaking technique that combines both. It is hailed as a revolutionary method to brew wine, beer and cider, eliminating...

Please provide the article you want summarized.

A young tea startup has set its sights on the lucrative tea pod market thanks to the hands-on approach of its owner. Chris Savage, a former Northrup Grumman engineer, started the company...

The Dubai unit of Lipton, operated by Unilever, is set to become the biggest tea production facility in the world. Benefiting from Dubai's tax free zone and strategic location between tea producing...

Canadian specialty tea retailer DavidsTea is eyeing a stock market floatation later this year, according to people familiar with the matter. The company assigned lead roles to Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan...

Fuze Tea and Gold Peak are the two latest additions to Coca-Cola's portfolio of billion-dollar brands, reflecting increased consumer health awareness and growing preference for iced teas over...

No article was provided, so I cannot summarize its argument, evidence, tone, or style. Please share the text or a link, and I will produce a precise fifty-word summary that mirrors the article’s voice, structure, and emphasis while preserving its central claims and most important details for you faithfully thereafter.

I cannot summarize the article because no article was provided. Please paste the text or share the article’s content, and I’ll produce a 50-word summary in its style, with no extra commentary, as requested, matching tone, pacing, and emphasis as closely as the source allows, once it is received here.

Japanese ready-to-drink tea manufacturer Ito En is pivoting towards coffee with the recent announcement to purchase the US coffee manufacturer Distant Lands Coffee. Based in Tyler...

Chinook USA, manufacturers and marketers of Uncle Si's iced tea, are suing the stars of Duck Dynasty for failing to appropriately promote the brand. The complaint, brought forward after Chinook USA...

Starbucks is phasing out Tazo teas from its outlets and will only sell them in third-party stores from now on. The world's biggest coffee chain will replace mass-market quality Tazo products with...

Two tea companies with similar nomenclature will settle their differences in court over the use of the word "queen". Queen Mary Tea, which operates the Queen Mary Tea Room in Seattle, filed...

Long Island Brand Beverages, the manufacturer of Long Island Iced Tea, and Cullen Agricultural Holding jointly announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement. The merger was...

Ringtons tea, a British company specializing in doorstep delivery service, has signed two distribution agreements as part of its foray into the US tea market. The deal will see the 107-year-old...

Please provide the article you’d like summarized.

Lemon City Tea, a start-up tea company hailing from Miami, FL, aims to infuse tea time with the flair of South Beach. Each tea variety features a creative name, story and playlist associated with...

Portola Coffee Lab, the operator of Seventh Tea Bar in Costa Mesa, CA, announced plans to close the location by year's end. Seventh Tea Bar, which serves loose leaf tea and a variety of sweet...

Capital Teas plans to double the number of outlets in 2015, using the $5 million cash injection from a private investment firm for aggressive expansion. The Annapolis-based tea retailer received...

Verdant Tea, a specialty tea retailer, decided to concentrate efforts on its core business of sourcing small farm teas by opening a new tea house and brewery in Minneapolis and getting rid of...

London's high-end grocery store Fortnum & Mason reported record revenue and profits on the back of double-digit growth in tea sales and store expansion. Sales jumped by 14% to £74.4 million...

London's luxury department store Fortnum & Mason is about to launch the world's first tea produced in the Scottish Highlands. Dalreoch tea comes from a small plantation in the Strathbraan Valley...

No article was provided, so a summary in the article’s own style cannot be produced. Share the text or a link, and I can condense its central argument, key evidence, and concluding implications into exactly fifty words while preserving its tone, rhythm, emphasis, and rhetorical character as closely as possible.

Please provide the article you want summarized; I don’t have the source text needed to write an accurate, style-matched fifty-word summary. Once you share it, I’ll condense the piece into exactly fifty words, preserving its tone, rhythm, emphasis, and essential argument without adding unsupported details or outside context at all

Please provide the article text or a link to it, and I will summarize it in exactly fifty words, matching its style and outputting only the summary as requested. Without the article, I cannot identify its content, tone, key claims, evidence, or conclusions accurately for a faithful summary here now.

AccelPath, a beverage holding company, announced the acquisition of a 70% stake in Village Tea Company Distribution, the parent company of the Village Tea Company brand. Headquartered in...

This week, Capital Teas celebrated the grand openings of two micro-shops in mall locations in Towson and Columbia, MD. The kiosks offer a full-service tea bar with hot and cold beverages...

Please provide the article to summarize.

A new smartphone application allows customers of Argo Tea to pre-order and pay for any item on the menu. The app was created to speed up existing customer experience and to bypass the queues...

Tealet, an online specialty tea company, is one of the first tea companies to accept payments by Bitcoin, a popular cryptocurrency. Tealet seeks to bridge the gap between tea growers and tea consumers...

I can’t summarize the article because no article text, link, or excerpt was provided. Please share the article or its contents, and I’ll condense it into exactly fifty words while matching its tone, structure, and style as closely as possible, returning only the finished summary as requested, promptly and accurately.

Runa Tea, a manufacturer of guayusa-based drinks, secured a $5.75 million investment from Meta Brand Capital, a private equity fund. Runa Tea specializes in loose leaves and bottled beverages...

No article was provided to summarize, and no style could be inferred from the prompt. Please supply the article text or a link, and I can produce an exact fifty-word summary matching its tone, structure, and vocabulary while keeping the output limited to the summary alone, as requested by you.

In a long-running dispute over the value of AriZona iced tea brand, a New York state judge ruled that the privately held company behind it was worth about $2 billion when the lawsuit to dissolve the company...

Tavalon Tea, a specialty tea supplier from South Hackensack, NJ, is teaming up with a couple of local chefs to find novel ways of pairing food with tea. The company is joining forces with chefs to...

The East India Company, a trading company associated with colonial Britain and revived in 2005 as a specialty tea and fine food brand, announced aggressive expansion plans in the Middle East...

Capital Teas is developing a mobile-based payment and loyalty program in the form of an app intended to streamline payments and enhance customer rewards. The company teamed up with LevelUp to...

Tea Guys, a specialty tea importer, blender and wholesaler, opened a new facility in Whately, MA to increase production and storage capacity. The new 10,000-square-foot facility, about three times...

Please provide the article you want summarized. I can then produce an exactly fifty-word summary that follows its style and contains only the summary, without extra commentary, headings, or explanation. Paste the text, link, or excerpt, and I will condense its main points while preserving tone, emphasis, and phrasing closely.

Whittard of Chelsea, one of UK's largest tea retailers, posted a healthy rise in annual sales and profits, as the franchise continues its turnaround following a major restructuring six years ago. Annual...

Please provide the article you want summarized. Without the source text, I cannot accurately capture its content, tone, or style. Once you share it, I can produce a concise, exactly fifty-word summary that mirrors the article’s voice and focuses on its central ideas, key evidence, and overall argument for you.

Since last week, Williamsburg is home to a bar serving drinks made with matcha powdered green tea, which is a first for New York and the entire country. MatchaBar offers drinks made with....

Snapple, one of the leading iced tea brands in the US, will now be available Down Under thanks to an agreement signed between Dr Pepper Snapple Group and Stuart Alexander. Stuart Alexander...

Please provide the article you want summarized. I can then produce a concise, exactly 50-word summary that mirrors its style, tone, and emphasis. Without the source text, I cannot accurately identify the article’s argument, details, or voice, and any attempted summary would risk inventing information not present in it there.

A New York court heard final arguments in a case that will decide the fate of AriZona iced tea, the country's biggest iced tea brand. The dispute centers on the price of a 50 percent stake...

Honest Tea will become the first brand in Coca-Cola's portfolio to be available in K-Cups for existing Keurig hot-brewing machines. This follows Coke's acquisition of a 10 percent stake in Keurig...

I can’t summarize the article because no article text or link was provided. Please send the article, and I’ll return a summary in exactly fifty words, matching its style and outputting only the summary as requested, with no additional commentary, framing, headings, caveats, or explanation included in the final response.

The first commercial tea plantation in Canada is getting ready for its first harvest and Canada's first locally-grown tea. Teafarm, located in Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, British Columbia...

DavidsTea, a specialty tea retail chain originating from Toronto, Canada, opened its sixth Bay Area location in downtown Palo Alto, CA, a few blocks away from the Stanford University complex...

Coca-Cola purchased a sizeable 17% stake in Monster Beverage, an energy drink manufacturer, and is expected to take control of its non-energy brands, including the iced tea brand Peace Tea...

The Two Leaves Tea Company, formerly known as Two Leaves and a Bud, is changing its name back following customer complaints and confusion. The original name was changed a couple...

The CEO of Nestlé Waters USA blamed Coca-Cola for mismanaging the Nestea brand and treating it like a line extension of soft drinks. Speaking at a recent investor seminar, Tim Brown...

Unilever unveiled plans to study the environmental and economic feasibility of applying biological or non-pesticide methods for the protection of tea crops in India. As part of the company's...

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Peet's Coffee & Tea plans to close several underperforming locations in Michigan and Ohio, some of which opened less than a year ago. The company reported that five of its seven...

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Peet's Coffee & Tea announced the acquisition of the specialty tea manufacturer Mighty Leaf Tea in partnership with Next World Group, a private investment firm. Mighty Leaf distributes...

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Latest quarterly numbers from Starbucks showcased its ability to draw in customers for things other than coffee, namely tea. Quarterly like-for-like sales rose by 6% thanks to a...

Starbucks decided to move the headquarters of Teavana from Atlanta, GA to its hometown of Seattle, WA. The relocation will affect 99 employees, who will either move to the...

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Forever Brands unveiled plans for a new chain of bubble tea bars. The parent company of Forever Yogurt, a chain of frozen yogurt franchises, is set to open the first store of the new chain...

Brooklyn Bagel, a company specializing in freshly made bagels, is turning its focus towards the coffee and tea market with a new store called 60 Beans. The new location, inspired by the...

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Panda Express, a restaurant chain serving American Chinese cuisine, opened a new type of concept restaurant in California last week, featuring customizable food options and a tea...

Kusmi Tea, a specialty tea manufacturer from Paris, opened its first standalone store in Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. The shop, opened in partnership with airport retailer...

Venture For America, an organization that connects college graduates with tech companies, invested $45,000 in Zest Tea, a startup tea company specializing in caffeine-enriched...

Despite the cold winter and excess rainfall, tea bushes in Mississippi's first tea farm are thriving this summer and thousands more are being planted in order to bring back the American tea...

Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea is to invest $1.1 million into a second facility in Ohio over the next three years. The specialty coffee and tea retailer is looking to build a larger...

Milo's Tea announced plans to invest over $13 million in its operations in Bessemer, AL. The iced tea manufacturer will expand and improve the current manufacturing facility, as well as...

John Harney, founder of Harney & Sons Fine Teas, passed away last week at the age of 83. Harney started the company, which recently celebrated its 30th birthday, in 1983 at age 53. According...

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English Tealeaves, a specialty tea retailer, is now offering consulting services for new and existing tea rooms and cafés. Tealeaves Consultant Services provides a complete plan...

A California federal court dismissed a majority of claims in a proposed class action accusing Honest Tea of dishonesty in marketing its Honey Green Tea. The lawsuit alleges that Honey Green...

Please provide the article you want summarized. I can then condense it into exactly fifty words while matching its style and returning only the summary. Without the source text or a link, I cannot accurately summarize the article or imitate its tone, structure, and distinctive wording as requested faithfully here.

India's Luxmi tea group has acquired Darjeeling's only remaining family owned estate. The owner of the estate, Rajah Banerjee, who's great-grandfather founded the plantation and set up...

Samovar Tea will open a new store in San Francisco later this week, with a stripped down tea menu and high tech brewing devices as the main highlights. The company's fourth outlet, located...

Unilever teamed up with a genetics research firm to look into ways of improving tea crops using genomic selection. The owner of Lipton, PG Tips and Brooke Bond tea brands recently...

Please provide the article text or a link with accessible content. I can then summarize it in exactly fifty words and match the article’s style. Without the source material, I can’t produce an accurate summary or preserve its tone, structure, emphasis, terminology, or intended meaning reliably, as requested by you.

Davids Tea recently hired a coffee veteran in a bid to retaliate against Starbucks-owned Teavana on its home turf in Canada. Sylvain Toutant, who previously was president of coffee...

Owners of AriZona iced tea are looking for a court to determine the valuation of the company, with very different estimates presented by both sides. John Ferolito's camp says AriZona...

No article was provided, so I cannot summarize its argument, tone, or style. Please paste the text or share a link, and I will condense it into exactly fifty words, preserving the article’s voice and focus while outputting only the requested summary, with no extra explanation or formatting at all.

I can’t summarize the article because no article text or link was provided. Please send the article, and I’ll produce a summary in exactly fifty words, matching its style as closely as possible, with no extra commentary or formatting beyond the summary. I’m ready whenever you share the source material.

The American Tea Room, a specialty tea retailer based in Los Angeles, CA, announced plans to open a second retail outlet in downtown Los Angeles' Arts District. The space will feature...

Since taking a 10% stake in Keurig Green Mountain back in February, Coco-Cola has been carving out a new market for its products thanks to Keurig Cold, a cold beverage maker. Keurig Cold...

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The Makaibari Tea Estate struck a deal with the organizers of the football World Cup in Brazil to serve its tea during the tournament this summer. Players, guests and VIPs will be offered...

Unilever has big plans for the T2 brand, an Australian premium tea retail chain purchased last year. T2, based in Melbourne, opened its first international location in London just...

Herbert Hyman, who founded The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf company with his wife more than 40 years ago, passed away recently at the age of 82. Hyman was instrumental in broadening...

The third Teavana Fine Teas + Tea Bar opens for business this week in Chicago, IL. Teavana, owned and operated by Starbucks, is admittedly taking its time perfecting the concept of a high-end tea...

I don’t have the article you want summarized. Please send the text, link, or excerpt, and I’ll condense its main argument, key details, and tone into exactly fifty words, matching the article’s style as closely as possible and providing only the finished summary, with no extra explanation or commentary afterward.

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Rainy weather across parts of Britain turned out to benefit the Tregothnan Estate, UK's only tea plantation located on the Atlantic coast in Cornwall, which expects record output this year...

Honest Tea, a premium iced tea brand owned by Coca-Cola, racked up $112 million in sales last year, taking advantage of a wide distribution network and product diversification. Sales...

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Peet's Coffee & Tea set its sights on DC in 2014 with a store opening this week in Washington. The 1,380-square-foot store, which used to house Caribou Coffee, will serve as the brand's...

Cooper Tea, a Louisville-based iced tea manufacturer, is reportedly raising investment funds towards a range of ready-to-drink teas and lemonades. These would be sold under the Third...

Capital Teas, a specialty tea retailer based in Annapolis, MD, secured a $5 million investment from Pear Tree Partners. The funds will be used to expand the number of retail locations, grow...

Keurig Green Mountain, formerly known as Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, is undergoing important changes to stay ahead of the rapidly expanding single-cup category. Beyond name change...

Harney & Sons Fine Teas marks 30 years and celebrates three generations in the specialty tea industry. The company went from a small operation in John Harney's basement to a fully-fledged...

I can’t summarize the article because no article text or link was provided. Please send the article you want summarized, and I’ll produce a summary in exactly fifty words, matching its style as closely as possible and outputting only the summary, with no extra commentary, headings, or explanation whatsoever included.

McLeod Russel, the world's largest black tea producer, is set to enter the green tea market by acquiring a tea processing factory in Vietnam. This marks an important strategic shift for the tea...

Please provide the article you want summarized. I can then condense its main argument, evidence, and tone into exactly fifty words, matching its style as closely as possible. Without the source text, I cannot produce an accurate summary or reflect the article’s voice, structure, emphasis, or distinctive language reliably yet.

Please provide the article text or a link, and I will summarize it in exactly fifty words, matching its style and tone. Without the source material, I cannot produce an accurate summary or preserve the article’s voice, structure, emphasis, and key details as requested. Paste the article here for completion.

Keurig maker Green Mountain Coffee Roasters plans to make its new range of single-serve machines work exclusively with own licensed pods. Court documents reveal that Keurig is seeking...

Tata Global Beverages, owners of Tetley supermarket tea brand, responded to allegations that one of its Assam plantations pays workers below minimum wage. A documentary by...

The new advertising campaign for Lipton tea, launched during the Academy Awards ceremony, combines hot and iced categories under a single global positioning. For the first time, Unilever's...

Fourth quarter results from Coca-Cola confirm the continuing decline of its core soft drinks market and highlight a solid performance by its portfolio of ready-to-drink tea brands. Subdued...

No article was provided, so a faithful summary in its style cannot be written. Please share the text or link, and I will condense the main ideas into exactly fifty words, preserving tone, emphasis, and wording patterns closely while keeping the response to the summary only once it is provided.

Peet's Coffee & Tea announced the opening of its new flagship store in San Francisco. The 2,500-square-foot store features plenty of natural materials and a bar designed to highlight...

The Specialty Food Association selected Ron Rubin of The Republic of Tea as the winner of 2014 Leadership Award. Rubin was chosen from 66 nominees for going "above and beyond"...

Reily Foods announced the acquisition of the New England Tea & Coffee, one of the country's largest independent coffee roasters. New England Tea & Coffee, based in Malden, MA, is New England's...

ITO EN, the manufacturer of TEA'S TEA iced teas, started the New Year with a promotion that helps consumers keep their New Year's resolutions by giving away physical activity trackers. The...

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The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, a California-based coffee chain, appointed former Dunkin' Brands and McDonald's executive John Dawson as president and chief executive. Dawson replaces...

ITO EN's latest innovation is a line of ready-to-drink coffee drinks sold under the Jay Street Coffee brand. The bottled drinks are fresh brewed from Arabica coffee beans and contain milk...

Typhoo Tea, a supermarket tea brand from the UK, reportedly planned to rely on fake customer complaints to lobby retailers that did not stock their teas. The tea company contracted...

No article was provided to summarize, so I cannot capture its facts, tone, argument, or style. Please supply the article text or a link, and I will return a fifty-word summary that follows the article’s voice while preserving its central claims, evidence, and emphasis without adding outside information or interpretation.

Last week, Starbucks premiered the new concept of Teavana tea bar and store on the West Coast, in its hometown of Seattle. Teavana Fine Teas + Tea Bar, located in University Village, is...

A Japanese green tea manufacturer with a history stretching back 300 years opened its first overseas outlet in New York City. Hailing from Kyoto, the former capital of Japan, Ippodo...

Honest Tea is facing a class action lawsuit in California over antioxidant content claims on product packaging. The lawsuit alleges that Honey Green Tea iced tea contains a quarter less...

No article was provided, so I cannot summarize its arguments, tone, or style. Please supply the article text or a link, and I will return a precise fifty-word summary that mirrors its voice, structure, emphasis, and essential findings without adding outside information or commentary of any kind at all whatsoever.

Dilmah Tea, founded 25 years ago, has become one of the biggest names in the tea business, especially in Sri Lanka. It is currently ranked among the world's top 10 tea brands and is the...

I can’t summarize the article because no article text or link was provided. Please send the article you want summarized, and I’ll produce a 50-word summary matching its style, with no extra commentary, explanation, or formatting beyond the summary itself. I need the source material before I can condense it.

As Teavana opened the first tea bar in New York City last week and announced nationwide expansion plans, lost in the headlines were its ambitions for Canada, a country whose tea...

Celestial Seasonings announced a new promotional sampling campaign allowing tea drinkers to send a tea sample to a friend or relative. The "From Me To You" promotion offers 25,000...

Please provide the article text or a link to it, and I will summarize it in exactly fifty words, matching its style and tone while preserving the main argument, key details, and conclusion. Without the source material, I cannot produce an accurate summary of the article you want condensed here.

David Ziegert is to become the new president of Celestial Seasonings, as the company tries to maintain a leadership position in the herbal tea market, while continuing to develop the...

Starbucks picked New York City for its first Teavana tea bar, as the coffee behemoth seeks to transpose its success onto the tea market after acquiring Teavana for $620 million last year...

Tea2Go, a Texas-based startup tea supplier, is looking to diversify into tea retail thanks to a network of company-owned stores and franchises. Founded just a year ago, Tea2Go started out...

Please provide the article text or a link, and I will summarize it in exactly fifty words, matching its style and outputting only the summary as requested. Without the source article, I cannot accurately capture its content, tone, structure, emphasis, or distinctive language in a faithful summary for you yet.

Please provide the article you want summarized. I don’t have the source text, so I can’t produce an accurate fifty-word summary or match its style. Once you share the article, I’ll condense it to exactly fifty words and keep the tone aligned with the original piece as requested by you.

Hilton Garden Inn announced a deal to have all rooms in the US and Canada equipped with Keurig single-serve machines. In partnership with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters...

TEAloe, a start-up iced tea manufacturer, scooped this year's top prize in the Best Ready-To-Drink Tea category at the international Beverage Innovation Awards. It was the third award...

Caribou Coffee locations in Pittsburgh, PA are the latest example of the ongoing transition from Caribou to Peet's Coffee and Tea brands. Four Caribou stores will imminently close and reopen...

I can’t summarize the article because no article was provided. Please paste the article text or share its contents, and I’ll produce a concise, exactly fifty-word summary that matches its style, tone, and structure, with no extra commentary, formatting, or explanation beyond the requested summary itself. Once provided, I’ll proceed.

Three private-equity firms acquired a significant equity stake in The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, a premium coffee and tea retailer. Investors include US-based Advent International, as well as...

New Zealand's oolong tea manufacturer Zealong Tea recently sold its original tea farm in order to distance itself from a feud with the neighbors. The complaints stem from Zealong's...

Unilever has signed an agreement to purchase T2, a specialty tea retailer in Australia. The deal is seen as a means for Unilever, which operates Lipton and Bushells brands down under...

Tempest in a Teapot, a small tea company from Stonington, ME, will feature its products in celebrity gift bags at the Emmys next month. The company's blends were discovered through an online...

A federal judge in California dismissed a class action lawsuit claiming that Tetley misled consumers about the health benefits of tea. The lawsuit against Tetley USA, part of Tata Global...

Please share the article you want summarized. Once provided, I can condense its main points into a 50-word summary that mirrors its tone, structure, and style. Without the source text, I cannot capture the article’s argument, details, or voice, and any summary would be invented rather than faithful to it.

Coca-Cola abandoned a significant legal challenge against an Australian tea company that sells its products under Honest Tea trademark. The brand was trademarked in Australia in 2005...

Some of UK's biggest tea companies hope to reverse decreasing sales by focusing on young drinkers and niche growth markets. The explosion of coffee chains and the emergence of...

Please provide the article you want summarized. I don’t have the source text, so I can’t produce an accurate fifty-word summary or match its style. Once you share the article, I’ll condense its main points faithfully, preserving tone, structure, and emphasis while keeping the output to exactly fifty words total.

Following strong quarterly results, Starbucks reaffirmed its commitment to expand aggressively in tea-drinking countries like China. Despite tea being deeply embedded in many Asian...

Peet's Coffee & Tea, a specialty tea and coffee company from California, announced its biggest retail expansion in the company's 47-year history. With the opening of a store in Solon, OH...

The Republic of Tea was named to Outside Magazine's "Best Places to Work" 2013 list for a second year. The company came in at number 70 and was the only specialty tea company...

Please provide the article you want summarized. Once you share the text or a link with accessible content, I can produce a summary in exactly fifty words, matching the article’s style and outputting only the summary, as requested. Without the article, I can’t accurately capture its substance, tone, or details.

No article was provided, so I cannot summarize its content, tone, or style. Please paste the article text or share a link with the relevant passage, and I will return a summary in exactly fifty words, matching the article’s voice and formatting while keeping the output to the summary only.

Argo Tea recently opened a cafe in a newly restored park in its hometown of Chicago. The greenhouse-inspired cafe features sustainable elements, including recyclable packaging...

Rishi Tea plans to tap several funding sources to help finance its proposed new headquarters in Milwaukee, WI. The company, which blends, packages and distributes specialty teas...

I can’t summarize the article because no article text or link was provided. Please send the article, and I’ll produce a summary in exactly fifty words, matching its style, and output only the summary as requested. Once you share it, I can condense the main argument, evidence, and conclusion faithfully.

UK tea and confectionary business Bettys and Taylors Group, owner of Taylors of Harrogate tea and coffee brand and six Betty's Café tea rooms, announced profits equaling £10 million...

According to an internal report by Coca-Cola's main bottler in Europe, the company is looking for ways to get people to swap tea and coffee for soft drinks at the breakfast table. One of the five...

Please provide the article you want summarized. I don’t have the source text, so I can’t accurately condense it, match its style, or produce a faithful fifty-word summary. Once you share the article, I’ll return only the requested summary, exactly fifty words long, with no extra commentary or formatting included.

Speaking at the Jeffries Global Consumer Conference in Nantucket, Troy Alstead, chief financial officer and chief administrative officer for Starbucks, set out the company's vision for the...

VMG Partners, a private equity investment firm specializing in branded consumer products, is looking to sells its stake in Mighty Leaf Tea Co. William Blair & Co, an investment bank, was...

The CEO of Honest Tea expects sales to exceed $100 million this year thanks to wide distribution network of The Coca-Cola Co, its parent company. Seth Goldman also attributes growing...

No article was provided, so I cannot accurately summarize its argument, evidence, tone, or style. Please paste the article text or share its content, and I will return a summary of exactly fifty words, matching the article’s voice as closely as possible, with no extra explanation or formatting afterward promptly.

A federal court in California allowed a class action lawsuit against Twinings to proceed, albeit partially. The lawsuit, filed just over a year ago, alleges that Twinings, owned...

No article was provided to summarize. Please send the full text or a link, and I will condense it into exactly fifty words, matching its tone, structure, and style, while keeping only the essential facts, claims, context, and conclusions, without adding unsupported details or outside information, promptly and accurately here.

Steeped Tea, a direct sales tea company from Canada, is looking to replicate its success story in the US. Launched six years ago, Steeped Tea grew five-fold since appearing on a...

Despite an arduous litigation process that resulted in ownership and management changes at its parent company, Yogi Tea has manged to sustain growth. The ownership of the company, founded...

Leonard Marsh, one of the three founders of Snapple, recently passed away on Long Island, NY. Marsh started his career as a window washer and founded Unadulterated Food Products...

Tregothnan Estate is seeing its efforts to grow tea in an unexpected place pay off, as Britain's only tea plantation makes inroads in the UK and abroad. The idea to grow tea was born...

In a bid to consolidate pricing and product strategies across 26 stores, Argo Tea now relies on network-enabled digital signage boards. The company installed 78 digital menu boards...

The Queens' Tea, a Utah-based manufacturer of specialty teas, created a crowdsourced fundraising campaign in an effort to support the opening of its first retail location. The company...

Teatulia Organic Teas announced that its tea garden in Bangladesh achieved Rainforest Alliance certification. The Rainforest Alliance is an international nonprofit organization that...

No article was provided, so its claims, evidence, tone, and style cannot be summarized. Please share the text or a link to the article, and I will condense its central argument and key details into exactly fifty words, matching its voice as closely as possible while preserving accuracy and clarity.

In response to sluggish sales in Europe and the US, Unilever announced plans to increase the stake in its Indian subsidiary by $5.4 billion. The Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant and...

Unilever, owner of Lipton tea brand, has filed an international patent for a system to extract juice from tealeaves. The company claims that tea juice benefits from improved taste and color...

According to a report by a security expert, Teavana may have suffered a severe data breach that compromised clients' credit and debit card information. Multiple sources in law...

I can’t summarize the article because no article text or link was provided. Please send the article, and I’ll produce a summary in exactly fifty words, matching its style and outputting only the summary as requested, with no extra commentary, headings, caveats, or formatting beyond the summary itself in final.

Caribou Coffee announced plans to shed a significant part of its underperforming locations and rebrand many others. The Minneapolis-based coffee company will effectively pull out of...

Please provide the article text you want summarized, and I will return exactly fifty words matching its tone, rhythm, and style, with no extra commentary. Without the article, I cannot determine its central claims, evidence, context, voice, or conclusions, or produce a faithful summary that reflects the original piece accurately.

A young entrepreneur, who graduated from the university just a couple of years ago, is celebrating the opening of her tea company's first in-store concession. The Teashed, a design-led tea...

Please provide the article text or a link, and I will summarize it in exactly fifty words, matching its style and outputting only the summary. Without the article, I cannot identify its subject, tone, argument, evidence, or conclusion, and any summary would be invented rather than faithful to the source.

JAB, a group led by Joh. A. Benckiser is in talks to acquire coffee and tea manufacturer DE Master Blenders for $9.7 billion. The Amsterdam-based DE Master Blenders is the coffee and...

Please provide the article text or a link to it. Without the source material, I cannot summarize its content or mirror its style accurately. Once you share it, I will return a summary of exactly fifty words, matching the article’s tone and structure, with no extra commentary or formatting included.

Please provide the article you want summarized. I can then condense its central argument, key details, and tone into exactly fifty words, matching the article’s style as closely as possible. Without the source text, I cannot accurately summarize its content or preserve its voice, structure, emphasis, or intended meaning faithfully.

Teasenz, a new online venture, enables direct trade between farmers and consumers. Based in Hong Kong, Teasenz hopes to capitalize on consumers' pursuit of fresh premium teas at...

Unilever, the parent company of Lipton Tea, unveiled plans to invest $96 million in upgrading its manufacturing operations in Suffolk, VA. The facility, which was set up 58 years ago...

Two young entrepreneurs have launched a brand of kava tea drinks thanks to a food business incubator in Long Island City, NY. The beverage line is based on the kava root, a plant found in...

Chicago-based tea cafe chain Argo Tea is pulled in different directions by the core cafe business and the growing potential of its retail products. The company currently operates over 20 locations...

The Tea Spot, a tea and teaware manufacturer from Boulder, CO., struck a deal with Germany's Finum to distribute its tea accessories in Europe and Russia. Finum, a company based in Hamburg...

Please provide the article you’d like summarized, and I’ll return a 50-word summary in its style.

Following the trend of beer microbreweries and premium coffee, interest in superior tea is growing steadily. According to the director of tea at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, customers across its...

Tea Cuvée is a start-up iced tea manufacturer from Boston, MA, seeking to redefine how iced tea should taste. The founder points out that bottled tea beverages are often made with inferior...

Tealet, a startup based in Hawaii, puts a new spin on the tea business by connecting tea farmers and tea drinkers via an online platform. Teas are sourced directly from growers in China...

Townshend's Tea Company, a chain of teahouses in Portland, Oregon, is looking to continue its expansion beyond city borders. After opening several locations in Portland and one in Bend...

Amanzi Tea, a gourmet tea retailer from South Carolina, will open its first international location in the UK this month. The company currently operates an e-commerce website...

Tregothnan, a tea estate in England, relies on the country's reputation as a nation of tea-lovers to promote locally grown tea abroad. The tea garden, located in southwest England, is the...

Minto Island Growers, a small-scale farm cultivating and selling vegetables and plants, is ready to take on a rather unconventional challenge: tea production. The first step was to...

No article was provided, so I cannot summarize its argument, evidence, tone, or style. Please share the text or a link to the article, and I will return a concise, exactly fifty-word summary that mirrors the article’s voice, structure, and emphasis while keeping the output limited to the summary only.

Please provide the article you want summarized.

French premium tea purveyor Le Palais des Thés hopes that tea can join the ranks of products associated with France, such as wine and cheese. The new flagship store, which opened last week...

After years of promoting green, white and iced tea, Lipton's latest advertising campaign is devoted the core business of the company, namely black tea. The national campaign is the first...

In response to rising demand for quality iced tea in restaurants across the US, China Mist Tea Company announces the launch of two additional tea brands for the foodservice sector...

In the latest corporate social responsibility report, Honest Tea sheds light on major initiatives that it is currently implementing. The iced tea manufacturer that was purchased by Coca-Cola...

Please provide the article you want summarized. I can then produce a concise, exactly fifty word summary that mirrors its style, tone, and emphasis. Without the source text, I cannot accurately identify the argument, evidence, or voice, and any summary would risk inventing details not present in the original article.

An affiliate of Joh. A. Benckiser Group agreed to purchase Caribou Coffee for about $340 million. The German investment company offered stockholders $16 per share, a premium of...

No article was provided, so I cannot summarize its argument, tone, evidence, or conclusion in the requested style. Please supply the article text or a link, and I will return a polished, exactly fifty-word summary that mirrors the original voice while preserving its central facts, themes, and emphasis clearly faithfully.

The CEO of D E Master Blenders, the coffee and tea company spun off by Sara Lee Corp, will depart at the end of 2012, after just 12 months in charge. According to D E Master Blenders, the...

Starbucks Corp. announced plans to significantly expand its operations at home and abroad. The coffee chain, which operates over 18,000 shops around the world, expects to open 3,000 new...

Argo Tea recently unveiled a new location at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. The tea café, also called "teaosk", has an area of only 500 square feet, but is already the company's...

Stash Tea, a purveyor of specialty teas, opened its second retail outlet in Portland, OR. The 1,500-square-foot space also houses the company's first tea bar with seating for seven people...

No article was provided to summarize. Please paste the article text or share its content, and I will condense it into exactly fifty words, preserving its tone, structure, and style as closely as possible while returning only the summary you requested, without commentary, headings, or additional explanation of any kind.

The Shareholders Foundation, an investment portfolio-monitoring firm, announced a lawsuit that seeks to block Starbucks' takeover of specialty tea retailer Teavana. The lawsuit is filed by an...

A team of social entrepreneurs has launched a tea company specializing in premium and rare teas exclusively from Nepal. Nepali Tea Traders is the first company in America to offer over twenty...

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, the second-largest coffee chain in the US, recently opened its first two outlets in Thailand in a bid to increase exposure to Asia. With 300 stores in the US...

In a landmark deal for the US tea industry, Starbucks agreed to buy Teavana for $620 million in cash. The purchase of Teavana's 300 shopping mall locations mostly in the US...

As a result of focus on growth and expansion, Teavana reached three important milestones in recent days in terms of bolstering operations in the US and abroad. The largest specialty tea retailer...

One of the most famous tea brands in the world, Tetley Tea is getting ready to celebrate its 175th anniversary this year. Launched in 1837, the company has developed into the world's second...

I’m unable to summarize the article because no article text or link was provided. Please send the article, and I can produce an exact fifty-word summary in its style. Without the source material, any summary would be invented rather than faithful to the original, which would not meet your request.

QTrade Herbs & Spices, the largest organic tea supplier in North America, has announced plans to acquire Kopius Teas. The move comes as QTrade tries to consolidate its wholesale services and...

Please provide the article text or a link to it. I can then produce an exactly 50-word summary that matches its style and contains only the summary, as requested. Without the article, I cannot accurately identify its subject, tone, structure, or key points, and should not invent a summary here.

I can’t summarize the article because no article text or link was provided. Please send the article, and I’ll produce a 50-word summary matching its style, with no extra commentary. Once I have the source, I can accurately capture its main argument, tone, key details, and overall emphasis for you.

Unilever's business unit that includes tea has seen volumes decrease in three of the past four quarters, while its tea brands continue to suffer from a lack of innovation and fierce competition...

Please provide the article you want summarized. Once the text is available, I can condense its main argument, key details, and tone into exactly fifty words while preserving the article’s style. Without the source material, any summary would be invented rather than accurate, useful, or faithful to the original piece.

The Coca-Cola Company, the world's largest beverage manufacturer, is expanding its contract-farming portfolio to tea, coffee and other ingredients. Contract-farming consists of a...

Please provide the article you’d like summarized, and I will return a summary in exactly fifty words, matching its style and tone. Without the source text, I cannot accurately capture its content, voice, structure, or emphasis while satisfying your requested constraints. Share it here, and I’ll proceed immediately for you.

I can’t summarize an article that wasn’t included. Please paste the full text or share a link, and I’ll return a concise, exactly fifty-word summary matching its style, with no extra commentary. Once the article is available, I can capture its main argument, tone, key details, and conclusion for you.

One year after The Coca-Cola Company exercised its option to purchase the remaining stock of Honest Tea, the company's CEO claims the process was beneficial for the organic tea...

In a bid to emulate the success of Starbucks, Argo Tea has started to expand internationally by opening its first tea store outside the US. The specialty tea chain that currently operates almost...

Billy Corgan, the frontman of alternative rock band Smashing Pumpkins, has opened a tea shop in Chicago. Located in Chicago's north shore suburbs, Madame ZuZu's is designed to serve as a social...

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf has partnered with Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia to offer wireless mobile phone charging in select cafes across the US. Nokia will introduce...

Specialty tea retailer Teavana has reported better-than-expected adjusted quarterly profit and has forecast higher full-year revenue. Excluding expenses related to mid-quarter acquisition of...

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Anglo-Dutch food and beverage giant Unilever, owner of brands such as Lipton and PG Tips, may be on the verge of entering the tea retail sector. According to a job specification issued by the...

No article was provided, so I cannot produce a faithful summary in its style. Please supply the text, link, or excerpt you want condensed, and I will summarize it in exactly fifty words while preserving its tone, structure, and emphasis as closely as possible for your intended use today successfully.

Please provide the article text or a link to it, and I’ll summarize it in exactly fifty words, matching its style and tone as closely as possible. Without the source material, I can’t produce an accurate, article-specific summary or preserve the author’s voice. Please paste the article when ready here.

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Le Palais des Thés, a Paris-based specialty tea retailer, plans to set foot in the US tea retail market later on this year. First stores are expected to be located in Manhattan, on the Upper...

The Coca-Cola Company is gearing up for a massive marketing push to support Fuze ready-to-drink iced tea brand in early 2013. This comes as the company is set to lose its distribution deal...

Please provide the article text or link, and I will summarize it in exactly fifty words, matching its style and outputting only the summary. Without the source, I cannot accurately capture its key points, tone, structure, or distinctive phrasing; any summary would be invented rather than faithful to the article.

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DavidsTea, the Canadian specialty tea retailer, is set to open three new retail stores in the Bay Area over the next couple of months. Having opened its first two US locations in New York in 2011...

Complex Beverage, a Florida-based independent start-up company, has announced the launch of its new brand of beverages containing lettuce extracts. Lettuce Tea brand offers functional...

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The share price of Peet's Coffee & Tea continues to edge higher, despite last week's announcement of a one billion dollar acquisition agreement with Germany's Joh. A. Benckiser, making it the most...

A New York appeals court has ruled that the company behind AriZona Iced Tea can buy out its co-founder's stake. The ruling allows Domenick Vultaggio, the company's de facto manager...

Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc has announced plans to be acquired by Joh. A. Benckiser for almost $1 billion. The specialty coffee and tea retailer has over 190 retail locations, mostly in California,...

I can’t produce a faithful summary because no article text or link was provided. Please send the article you want summarized, and I’ll condense it into exactly fifty words while matching its style and returning only the summary, as requested. Include any headline, excerpt, or full text you want considered.

Unable to summarize: no article was provided for review. Please share the text or a link, and I can produce a concise, article-styled summary in exactly fifty words, preserving its tone, key points, and emphasis while avoiding unsupported details or assumptions about content that is not currently available here today.

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf has opened its second spot in Huntington Beach, California. The company-owned café is positioned in the heart of downtown, close to the beach. Designed...

Bigelow Tea may be looking to add a Chief Information Officer to its executive ranks, according to company CFO and Executive Vice President. The move would allow Bigelow to...

Honest Tea, an organic bottled iced tea manufacturer, has launched its first integrated advertising campaign. The ads aim to expand the consumer base by highlighting products'...

Austrian glassmaker Riedel has announced plans to develop a line of tea glasses together with Lalani & Co, a UK-based gourmet tea company. The partnership, still in its early stages...

A New York appeals court has recently dismissed key legal claims in the $287 million dispute between the estranged co-founders of Arizona Iced Tea. The court dismissed accusations by...

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Starbucks, the world's largest coffee-shop operator, has announced plans to open its first Tazo tea store in October. The tea-only Tazo store, which will be located near the company's...

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Honest Tea, the largest organic bottled tea company in the US, has announced its commitment to Fair Trade USA and the organization's new vision. Fair Trade USA's "Fair Trade for All"...

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Teavana has launched a series of videos introducing Japanese matcha green tea. Matcha is a fine green tea powder made from leaves grown partially in the shade. The reduced exposure...

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Please provide the article you want summarized. I can then condense its central argument, key details, and tone into exactly fifty words, matching the article’s style as closely as possible. Without the source text, I can’t produce an accurate summary or imitate its voice faithfully. Send it whenever you’re ready.

Please provide the article text or a link to it, and I’ll summarize it in exactly fifty words while matching its style. Without the source material, I can’t accurately capture its facts, tone, argument, or emphasis. Send the article, and I’ll return only the summary, with no extra commentary included.

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Unilever, the company behind PG Tips and Lipton tea brands, is launching an advertising campaign to promote tea bag recycling. It is estimated that tea bags are the largest form of unavoidable...

Associated Brands, a supplier of private-label and co-manufactured packaged foods and beverage products, has completed a merger with North American Tea & Coffee, a Canada-based...

Pure Leaf Iced Tea has announced a marketing campaign to highlight its freshly brewed taste. The brand, managed by Pepsi Lipton Tea Partnership, aims to communicate that its iced teas are...

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Famous British tea manufacturer Twinings has set its sights on conquering the tea market in India by means of teabags. Twinings hopes that evolving tastes and increasing sophistication among...

Honest Tea is planning to air its first national ad campaign, a year after being bought out by the Coca-Cola Company. The acquisition gave Honest Tea a significant boost in distribution across...

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Atlanta-based Teavana, a gourmet tea retailer currently operating more than 200 stores, has purchased one of its main Canadian counterparts Teaopia. The company was bought for...

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Kusmi, a gourmet tea manufacturer from France, has unveiled plans to expand rapidly beyond the local market thanks to the tea bar concept. The company anticipates revenues to reach...

David's Tea, a specialty tea retailer from Canada, has received a $14 million minority investment led by Highland Consumer Fund. David's Tea, founded in 2008, has rapidly established...

Honest Tea has announced a national recycling initiative that will be launched in New York City later on this month. "The Great Recycle" seeks to increase recycling rates across the US...

Compassion Tea Company, a premium tea company that donates all after-tax profits to projects in Africa, has launched an online store in a bid to expand operations. The emerging tea...

Intercontinental Hotels Group is set to introduce a new luxury hotel brand aimed at the massive market in China. Hualuxe Hotels & Resorts hopes to build a presence in over 100 Chinese...

No article was provided to summarize, so I cannot produce an accurate fifty-word summary in the article’s own style. Please supply the text or a link, and I will condense its argument, key details, tone, and conclusion into exactly fifty words, matching its voice as closely as possible for you.

No article was provided, so I cannot produce a faithful summary in its style. Please supply the text or a link, and I will condense its central argument, key details, tone, and conclusion into exactly fifty words, preserving the article’s voice while avoiding invention, distortion, or unsupported claims for accuracy.

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Clipper Teas, a tea, coffee and chocolate manufacturer from the UK, has been snapped up by Wessanen, a Dutch food group. The tea company, founded in 1984, employs about 90 people and was first sold to a private equity...

Sara Lee, a global consumer-goods company based in Illinois, has announced that it will spin-off its coffee and tea business by June. This means that the company will be split into two divisions: an international coffee...

Stephen Twining, the tenth-generation descendant of founder Thomas Twining, has revealed how the homonymous tea company goes about blending its teas. Twinings, part of Assiciated British Foods...

Jamba Juice Company, a restaurant retailer with 750 locations in the US, has announced the purchase of Talbott Teas. The specialty tea retailer, founded in 2003 and based in Chicago...

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Tata Global Beverages, the world's second-largest tea company, is looking to buy tea companies and brands in Russia and the US in order to strengthen its presence in two of the world's largest...

Please provide the article text or a link to it. I can then summarize it in exactly fifty words, matching the article’s style and outputting only the summary. Without the source material, I cannot capture its substance, tone, emphasis, or structure, and any summary would be invented rather than faithful.

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No article was provided, so a faithful summary cannot be produced. Please supply the text or a link to the article, and I will condense its main claims, evidence, and tone into exactly fifty words, matching its style as closely as the provided material allows, without adding assumptions or commentary.

The World Tea Expo will be held for the 10th time this year on June 1-3 in Las Vegas, NV. The trade show, which started a decade ago, has become the largest event for the tea industry, with more...

Lion Heart Kombucha, a small manufacturer of kombucha tea, has opened its first storefront in Northwest Portland. The company was founded 3 years ago, when a couple started brewing...

Please provide the article text or a link to it. I can then produce a concise, exactly fifty-word summary that matches the article’s style and contains only the summary, with no extra commentary, labels, or explanation. Without the source material, I cannot accurately summarize its argument, tone, details, or faithfully.

Runa is a small tea company selling guayusa tea from South America that has a unique approach to business and funding. The company was founded in 2008 by two Brown University...

F+W Media, a publishing company from Ohio, has purchased World Tea Media, organizers of largest tea trade show in the US. F+W Media is active in approximately 20 special-interest categories...

Two of the biggest names in the food and beverage sector, Coca-Cola and Nestlé, are throwing in the towel on their US Nestea joint venture at the end of this year. The 50-50 partnership was established...

Sara Lee Corp, a giant of food and drink industry, has purchased Tea Forté, a gourmet tea manufacturer, for an undisclosed amount. The Massachusetts-based premium tea company...

The Wenham Tea House, the oldest continuously operating tea house in the US, is looking for a new owner. According to the president of the Wenham Village Improvement Society, which owns the...

Dilmah, the world's largest purveyor of single origin Ceylon tea, is moving forward with plans to expand its leisure brand. Ceylon Tea Trails, Dilmah's most lucrative sector, will see the addition of a...

Rooibee Red Tea, a manufacturer of bottled rooibos tea based in Louisville, KY, has announced that it has issued $1 million in stock. The company hopes the capital will accelerate market...

Zealong Tea, New Zealand's only oolong tea grower and exporter, is looking at new ways to create awareness and promote the brand. Zealong Tea relies on tourism to spread the message...

Adagio Teas, a manufacturer of gourmet teas, has opened its third location in the Chicago area. A year after launching its brick-and-mortar tea business with two stores in Naperville...

I can’t summarize the article because no article text or link was provided. Please send the article, and I’ll return a 50-word summary that mirrors its style and contains only the summary, as requested. If you share a URL, include any necessary context or accessible text so I can summarize.

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A Netherlands-based non-governmental group claims that Unilever has not stopped abuses of tea workers, despite committing to source its teas sustainably. Center for Research...

No article was provided, so I cannot summarize its argument, evidence, tone, or style. Please share the text or a link, and I will return a concise, exactly fifty-word summary that mirrors the article’s voice and focuses on its central claims, key details, and overall significance for readers accurately thereafter.

I can’t summarize the article because no article text, link, or excerpt was provided. Please share the article, and I will produce a summary in exactly fifty words, matching its style and limiting the output to the summary alone, as requested, with no additional commentary or formatting included afterward whatsoever today.

No article was provided, so I cannot produce a faithful summary in its style. Please supply the article text or a link, and I will condense its central argument, key details, tone, and emphasis into exactly fifty words, matching the original voice as closely and accurately as possible for you.

I don’t have the article to summarize. Please send the text or a link, and I’ll provide a 50-word summary in the article’s style, with no added commentary. Once supplied, I can match its tone, structure, and emphasis while keeping the output to exactly the requested length for you.

Teavana, a gourmet tea retail chain, launched its Perfect Tea Touch App for Android phones and tablets. The app contains information on company's selection of teas and offers...

Atlanta Bread, a Georgia-based bakery and sandwich shop chain, has chosen Mighty Leaf to supply its hot and iced teas. The company will...

Food and beverage giant Sara Lee Corp. sold a large part of its foodservice coffee and tea operations to J.M. Smucker Co. for $350 million. The acquisition will put J.M.Smucker, owner of...

This week witnessed the launch of a new tea company that aims to cater to true tea connoisseurs. Rare Tea Republic sources all of its teas directly from artisan producers from...

Steeped Tea is a Canadian direct-sales tea company that relies on a unique business model to drive sales. The idea was born accidentally after a suggestion to organize a tea party led...

The Republic of Tea has announced that it has donated over $1 million to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer...

The Tea Spot, a specialty tea company, was recently awarded a $460,000 Small Business Innovation Research Grant by the US Department of Agriculture for market research...

Two heavyweights of the ready-to-drink iced tea category are locked in a marketing war over the number one spot in the US market. According to first-half figures, AriZona and Lipton are neck...

Peet's Coffee & Tea, one of the largest coffee and tea retail chains in the US, is opening its ninth store in Berkeley, CA. This is about 45 years after the company's first store was launched by...

No article was provided to summarize. Please supply the text or a link, and I will produce a concise, exactly fifty-word summary that mirrors the article’s style and includes only the summary, without additional explanation, formatting, or commentary, as requested. I cannot accurately summarize absent source material or stylistic context.

A specialty tea company is opening its flagship store together with a real estate agency in Manhattan. Tavalon will open its tea bar in October right next to the offices of Blu Realty Group...

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Teavana Holdings, the largest chain of specialty tea stores in the US, has reported second quarter sales of $31.3 million, up 36%. Net profit rose 72% to $1 million during the same period. Teavana...

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Zealong, New Zealand's only premium oolong tea grower, hopes to capitalize on recent health and radiation scares from Japan and elsewhere. The Taiwanese family-owned company, which has...

Hain Celestial, owner of Celestial Seasonings brand, has unveiled the first line of refrigerated energy shot drinks. Celestial Seasonings Kombucha Energy Shots are made with raw kombucha...

Ten Fu Tea, China's largest tea producer in terms of sales, is planning to list its shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The initial public offering is expected to raise approximately $300 million...

Please provide the article you want summarized. I don’t have the source text, so I can’t accurately capture its style, tone, argument, or key details. Once you share it, I’ll produce a concise, exactly fifty-word summary that mirrors the article’s voice and includes only the requested summary, without extra commentary.

I can’t summarize the article because no article text or link was provided. Please provide the article, and I will produce an exactly fifty-word summary in its style, with no extra commentary or formatting, as requested, ensuring the output contains only the summary and nothing else beyond those fifty words.

Details are emerging about legal disputes that are brewing between the owners of AriZona Beverage Co. The business partnership between John Ferolito and Domenick Vultaggio has turned sour a while...

Adagio Teas, a gourmet tea manufacturer, has announced the location of its third retail outlet. Adagio's Tea Experience Retail Store will be located in downtown Chicago, IL and will complete...

The stock price of Teavana, the largest premium tea retail chain in the US, has shot up on its first day of trading. Shares of Teavana, priced at $17, opened more than 60% higher at $28.95 on...

A wage hike demanded by workers in the tea growing region of Dooars in India is reportedly threatening the profitability of its two biggest companies. Tea workers want a raise of...

No article was provided, so I cannot summarize its argument, evidence, tone, or style. Please paste the article text or share a link, and I will return a summary in exactly fifty words, matching the article’s style as closely as possible and providing only the requested summary, with no commentary.

Please provide the article you would like summarized, and I will condense it into exactly fifty words while preserving its style. Without the source text, I can’t produce an accurate summary. Paste the full article or a link with accessible text, and I’ll return only the requested summary for you.

Harris Tea is looking for new ways to offset the company's carbon footprint and will rely on solar power to reduce its impact on the environment. The tea company has announced that a solar...

I cannot summarize the article because no article text or link was provided. Please send the source material, and I will produce an exactly fifty-word summary in the article’s own style, without headings, commentary, or additional explanation, as requested, promptly and clearly, once the article is available for review here.

According to several inside sources, food behemoth Nestle SA and tea giant Tata Global Beverages may be looking to acquire AriZona Beverage Co. Both companies held private talks with AriZona...

A tea company from Denver, CO., is succeeding in combining business and social responsibility. Teatulia has its sights on lifting a village out of poverty on the other side of the globe,...

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I can’t summarize the article because no article text or link was provided. Please share the article, and I’ll return a polished, exactly fifty-word summary matching its style, with no extra explanation, commentary, headings, or formatting beyond the summary itself, as requested. I’m ready once you provide the source material.

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According to the brand ambassador of Twinings, a British tea manufacturer, the company is considering entering the tea retail market in the UK. Twinings plans to open...

DavidsTea is a young and dynamic tea retailer that is transforming the landscape of Canadian tea market. Founded in 2008, it aims to reinvent the tea shopping experience...

Unable to summarize: the article text or link was not provided. Please share the article, and I will condense it into exactly fifty words while matching its tone, structure, and style, then return only the summary without extra explanation, commentary, headings, caveats, or formatting of any kind whatsoever at all.

Please provide the article you want summarized. I can then condense its main argument, evidence, and tone into exactly fifty words, matching the article’s style as closely as possible. Without the source text, I cannot produce an accurate summary or imitate its voice, structure, or distinctive phrasing faithfully for you.

No article was provided, so I cannot summarize its argument, evidence, tone, or style. Please supply the text or a link, and I will condense it into exactly fifty words, preserving the article’s voice, emphasis, and essential meaning while avoiding additions, assumptions, or commentary beyond the source you share next.

Please provide the article you want summarized. I don’t have the source text, so I can’t produce an accurate 50-word summary or match its style yet. Paste the article or a link with the relevant text, and I’ll return exactly fifty words, summary only, in the article’s style, promptly thereafter.

Please provide the article you want summarized. Without the source text, I can’t accurately capture its substance, tone, or style, nor produce a faithful exactly fifty-word summary. Once you share the article, I’ll condense it to precisely fifty words and mirror its voice as closely as possible for you thereafter.

Magwa Tea plantation in South Africa, the largest tea garden in the southern hemisphere, is facing an uncertain future after worker unrest has led to looting and abandonment. The 1803 hectare plantation...

Argo Tea, a chain of tea cafés founded in Chicago, has opened its fifth New York City location in just over a year. The outlet, located in the Chelsea district, will replicate the "Argo experience" of all natural tea-based signature drinks, over 30 varieties of loose leaf teas, FairTrade organic coffee, fresh-baked pastries, specialty foods, and a selection of teaware and accessories. According to Argo Tea, the company relies on natural high quality products, earth-friendly and sustainable business practices, and industry-leading innovations. It has further 15 locations in the Chicago area and one in St. Louis. The retailer employs over 250 people.

Cooper Tea Co. and Third Street Chai, makers of concentrated beverages, have agreed to merge operations. Third Street sells chai and lemonade concentrates under Third Street and Pixie Mate brands. Cooper Teas specializes in iced tea concentrates. The Boulder County-based companies hope to leverage their manufacturing capabilities and expand distribution. Both operate on different markets: Cooper Tea distributes primarily to the food service and convenience store channel, whereas Third Street is established in the retail sector. The companies will operate independently under DrinkWorks umbrella brand. Third Street has 22 employees and Cooper Tea has 18. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Although Seattle is usually associated with coffee rather than tea, a tea and spice shop in the Pike Place Market is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The outlet opened its doors in 1911 and remained in the same premises for the entire period. MarketSpice offers more than 100 different teas and more than 200 spices, along with coffee, candles and accessories. Apart from in-store sales, the teas are shipped across the US and internationally, as well as sold in certain retail locations. Not much is known about MarketSpice's early history, because most of the store's records were kept in a storage area that was flooded about 10 years ago.

After being fully acquired by Nestlé last week, Sweet Leaf Tea management claims that the move will mark a new era for the beverage company. The deal will grant Sweet Leaf access to Nestlé’s distribution channels and a powerful, 700 people strong sales and marketing force. The company claims there will be no immediate changes in staffing, but may consider consolidating operations as synergies between Nestlé's many brands arise. According to the company's founder, despite high commodity prices, the deal will ensure no retail price increases due to Nestlé's huge purchasing power. Nestlé hopes to double Sweet Leaf's combined turnover of $53 million in one to two years.

Nestlé Waters North America, Inc., a subsidiary of the food giant Nestlé, has signed an agreement to acquire the Austin-based Sweet Leaf Tea Company, which owns Sweet Leaf and Tradewinds ready-to-drink iced tea brands. Its turnover is reported to total more than $53 million in 2010. Sweet Leaf Tea was founded in 1998 and sells naturally sweetened organic iced teas. Tradewinds, founded in 1993, specializes in brewed iced teas and tropical fruit juice drinks. This acquisition, which remains subject to applicable regulatory approval, will bolster Nestlé's beverage portfolio of bottled water to include high-quality iced teas, lemonades and juice drinks. Sales for Nestlé Waters North America topped $4 billion in 2010.

Teavana Holdings, Inc., a specialty tea retailer, has filled an initial public offering for up to $100 million last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Founded in 1997, the company now owns 146 stores in 34 states and 15 franchise stores, primarily in Mexico. Its net sales grew 38% in 2010, while comparable-store sales increased 8.7% compared to the same period in 2009. Net income was $12 million in fiscal 2010, up 126% from 2009. According to Teavana, its average transaction size is $35 and operating margins stand at 19%. The company plans to have 500 stores in the US by 2015 and expects to open 50 outlets in 2011. The share size and price, as well as the IPO date are yet to be announced.

Rishi Tea, a manufacturer of organic gourmet teas, has been sent a warning letter from the FDA for promoting certain teas as drugs. According to the agency, Rishi Tea website claims establish certain products as drugs, because they are described as intended for use in the cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease. The company was also notified that particular teas may not be marketed without prior approval from the FDA. Furthermore, Rishi Tea was warned about nutrient content claims and the use of the term "antioxidant", which did not meet FDA guidelines. The agency urges the company to review its website, product labels, and other labeling and promotional materials to ensure claims fall in line with current regulations.

Authentic Teas, a boutique tea company based in Ontario, Canada, has launched a range of herbal teas sourced from Armenia. The teas are grown exclusively in the wild, without chemicals. The plants are then harvested and blended by hand using traditional methods, some of which were found in ancient Armenian manuscripts. The manufacturing takes place in indigenous village areas, where most of the economic benefits are returned to local artisans. The range has 6 varieties with blends of thyme, linden flowers, wild oregano and mint. A 1.75oz / 50g bag retails for approximately $11.

Starbucks has revealed plans to offer single-serve brewing machines to rival the popular Keurig system. Keurig, the most popular brand, currently holds more than 80 percent of the market share. The brewing machines are destined to make Starbucks and Seattle's Best coffee, and Tazo tea infusions. This comes on the heels of a previous agreement between the coffee giant and Green Mountain Coffee, maker of single-cups for the Keurig system, to sell Starbucks coffee and Tazo tea pods for those machines. On a separate note, Starbucks has signed a deal to supply its products to over 500'000 luxury hotel rooms across the US.

Ajiri Tea, a small tea company with a social mission of creating employment in Kenya, has been awarded the best black tea award in the 2011 North American Tea Championship. The tea, which competed against nearly 200 teas in 18 different categories, won for best brewed color, aroma, flavor and harmony. Ajiri Tea sells Kenyan tea to provide jobs for Kenyan women and pay school fees for orphans in western Kenya through the nonprofit Ajiri Foundation. The product packaging is handcrafted by local women from dried banana leaves. A pack of loose tea retails for $10, whereas 16 tea bags cost $9. Ajiri Tea is sold in nearly 200 outlets in the US. Other notable winners from the 2011 North American Tea Championship include Teagschwendner and Rishi Tea.

A Japanese tea company based in the UK has vowed to donate a percentage of its profits to help with relief efforts in Japan. Vitalife Matcha, a tea company that specializes in a Japanese green tea called matcha, will donate 25% of its profits over the next 4 months to the victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. According to the company, the farms where it sources its tea have not been affected, yet the response to the initiative has been tremendous. Global Giving, the organization that Vitalife is using to donate their profits, have already helped to raise over £200,000 for the cause. Thousands of people have died in the disaster and thousands more are reported missing.

A former dentist is launching a ready-to-drink iced tea that can help prevent tooth decay. Tropical Breeze Beverages combines naturally caffeine-free rooibos tea with all-natural flavoring and xylitol, a key ingredient that prevents tooth decay. Xylitol fights the cause of tooth decay by significantly reducing bacteria that is responsible for increased acids in the mouth. Xylitol is naturally present in some fibrous fruits and vegetables, corncobs and stalks. The range, sold under Banks's Sun Tea brand, is available in banana, pomegranate, coconut and apple spice flavors. According to the manufacturer, there are no additives, preservatives or colorants in the tea.

Coca-Cola has finally bought out Honest Tea for an undisclosed amount, after having acquired a 40% stake in the organic beverage company in 2008. The move is seen as an opportunity for Coke to expand its presence in the ready-to-drink tea market, where it lags its main competitor PepsiCo. Since the beverage giant bought into the company three years ago, the number of retail outlets stocking Honest Tea has multiplied by five and now stands at 75'000. Its sales have tripled in the same period to reach $72 million. Despite the expansion, the company plans to continue to rely on "guerrilla" marketing tactics, which have been proven effective in the past. This strategy involves field marketing, innovative demos, genuine media coverage and a strong social media presence. Honest Tea will continue to operate as a separate business within Coke's Venturing and Emerging Brands unit.

One of the first American herbal tea companies, Good Earth Tea, is closing its main production unit in Santa Cruz, CA. The company, founded in 1972, is relocating to New Jersey and laying off 47 employees, according to the plant manager. Good Earth Tea was purchased in 2005 by a subsidiary of Tata Global Beverages, the world's second largest tea manufacturer. At the time of purchase, the buyer was committed to stay, citing the moderate climate of Santa Cruz as an excellent place to blend and pack tea. Six years on, only one employee decided to relocate.

The Federal Trade Commission has announced that Coca-Cola's deal to purchase Honest Tea would meet antitrust approval. The beverage giant bought a 40% stake in the bottled tea and juice company for $43 million in 2008, with an option to buy the remaining share this year. This allowed Honest Tea to benefit from Coke's nationwide distribution network. According to sources close to the matter, discussions are now under way, although no deal has been reached so far. This deal was the first major acquisition by Coke's Venturing and Emerging Brands unit, which oversees several other similar projects. Seth Goldman, the founder of Honest Tea, is expected to stay at the company after the purchase is completed.

TeaGschwendner, the largest gourmet tea retailer in the world, has decided to ditch its brick and mortar business in the US. The Germany-based company, with 145 outlets in nine countries on four continents, has 4 stores in the US - two in New York City and two in Illinois. The company was hoping to expand its reach by means of franchise stores. However, there appears to be insufficient interest in this business model from American entrepreneurs. Approximately 60 stores were planned to open until 2012. The US arm of TeaGschwendner will now concentrate solely on its online business.

Once Upon a Tea Cup, a tea store in London, Canada, is starting a luxury line of gourmet teas called LovaTea. The range, packaged in sleek steel tins, currently features 26 varieties including many flavored black, herbal and rooibos varieties and is expected to expand to 67. The company is also seeking support from celebrities to promote new varieties of tea in return for proceeds being directed to the charity of their choice. Their first charitable tea is in support of the Breast Cancer Society of Canada. LovaTea is available in select retail outlets in the US and Canada. Retail price for a 50 gram tin is between $6 and $8.

Adagio Teas is continuing its expansion into the retail market with a second store opening in Skokie, IL. The tea shop, located in the Old Orchard Mall, features a wide variety of gourmet tea varieties and creative tea accessories. The Old Orchard Mall underwent a $50 million in 2007 and is the third largest mall in Illinois. According to the company, the store is designed as a playground for tea, where customers are encouraged to create custom tea blends, brew samples of any tea available, and test tea accessories on the Cupping Table. Adagio's first store opened in Naperville, IL in October. Further locations across the US are planned for 2011.

Golden Temple, a tea and cereal manufacturer founded by a Sikh community in 1960s, has found itself in a legal battle over the use of the word "Yogi", which stems from the Sikh spiritual leader Yogi Bhajan. After selling its cereal business to Hearthside Food Solutions, Golden Temple has decided to focus exclusively on Yogi Tea brand, which has 50 employees in Oregon and about 100 employees in Europe. However, the widow of Yogi Bhajan is suing Golden Temple over the use of Yogi trademark. The widow considers that as a successor to her husband’s estate, she controls the trademarks used by or connected with her husband, while Golden Temple says that it owns the rights to Yogi trademarks. If she prevails, she plans to license the brand to another tea manufacturer.

Snapple, owned by Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, faces lawsuits for false and misleading claims about the health benefits of its Acai Mixed Berry Red Tea beverage. Advertising for the product claims it is caffeine-free, with antioxidants and Vitamin C to support a healthy immune system. However, the attorney who filed the lawsuits in California and Florida believes the company did not have scientific studies supporting such claims. The beverage line was discontinued earlier this year due to low sales, but the company continues selling the remaining supplies. Since 2007, there were at least 3 earlier cases where Dr Pepper Snapple Group was sued in relation to health claims made about its Snapple product.

The Tea Spot has donated over $20'000 in loose leaf tea and tea accessories in November, after pledging to give 10% of every sale as in-kind donation to cancer wellness and community programs. This marks their largest monthly in-kind contribution from the company since starting the initiative a year ago. The Tea Spot, a Boulder-based loose leaf tea and teaware producer, seeks to support cancer survivors and facilitate healthy habits to decrease cancer risks. The company was founded in 2004 by Maria Uspenski, a cancer survivor.

Harney & Sons, a tea manufacturer from Salisbury, CT, is opening its flagship tea store in Soho, New York City. The tea shop houses over 250 varieties of tea from around the world and features a large tasting bar. Teas are brewed and served by master brewers using water calibrated to the exact degree necessary for each type of tea. The store also offers a range of tea kettles and other accessories. A kitchen menu will be available in the future to compliment the tea selection.

New Leaf Brands, manufacturer of sweetened tea and fruit beverages, has signed an endorsement agreement with football pro Steve Smith. The wide receiver for the New York Giants, who also becomes a New Leaf shareholder, is company's first celebrity endorsement. Smith, a life-long iced tea fan, was introduced to New Leaf at a promotional signing appearance in 2009, where a variety of beverages were being sampled. According to the company, he was chosen for his notable performance on the field and his involvement in many charitable organizations.

Honest Tea announced its commitment to have the entire range of bottled teas Fair Trade certified by 2011. Over the past three years, Honest Tea expanded its Fair Trade offerings from seven to 19 varieties and with this new initiative, all 28 of its teas will become Fair Trade certified by early 2011. A Fair Trade seal requires tea gardens to comply with workplace standards and to ensure safety, equality and fairness for all workers. This month Honest Tea is also publishing its first annual mission report that details its social and environmental initiatives related to its products, packaging, employees and partners.

PG Tips, owned by Anglo-Dutch conglomerate Unilever, has announced that its loose leaf and tea bag ranges sold in the UK are fully certified by the Rainforest Alliance. This certification ensures that crops are grown using sustainable farming methods by workers who earn a decent living and have good working conditions. According to PG Tips, the company has improved standards of living for 75'000 workers by providing free housing, medical care and schools. Furthermore, the company has planted over 870'000 trees since 2000 and uses energy from renewable sources.

Adagio Teas, the leading online retailer of gourmet tea, has opened its first retail outlet in Naperville, IL. The flagship retail store provides an ideal environment for introducing new customers to the full range of Adagio's gourmet teas and engaging existing customers in a more personal and sensory-rich setting. The store carries more than 200 tea varieties and many imaginative tea accessories. Adagio's retail operations are headed by Charles Cain, who previously managed the US subsidiary of TeaGschwendner, the world’s largest tea retailer. A second store is currently being finalized in Skokie, IL. with more outlets planned for 2011.

Two Leaves and a Bud Co. has overhauled its website to share stories and knowledge acquired through journeys abroad. The online store contains photographs taken during trips to tea gardens, giving shoppers a glimpse of where their tea is produced. The gourmet tea manufacturer from Colorado is also looking to lessen the intimidation factor that comes with tea - a comprehensive knowledge center is aimed to provide educational information on any tea-related topic. Other new site features include a reward points program for frequent cuppers, along with a referral program, integration with Facebook’s "like" button, and a running feed for Twitter, Facebook, tea reviews and the company’s blog.

Guayaki, a yerba mate manufacturer from California, has established a novel supply chain aimed at improving the sustainability and livelihood of its suppliers. The 14-year old company, currently growing at 30% a year, is creating sustainable, fair trade agricultural enterprises in Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. With a turnover of $12 million, Guayaki has set its sight on creating 1000 jobs and restoring 200'000 acres of rainforest by 2020. To achieve this ambitious goal, it will have to become ten times bigger than it is today, increasing revenue by 25% annually for the next decade. It has 28 different varieties of dry and liquid products on the market. Guayaki's business model is being featured at this week's Clinton Global Initiative.

India's Tata Global Beverages, owner of Tetley Tea, is attempting to sell a minority stake in the tea company in order to fund an international acquisition spree. The parent company is in talks with several private equity firms, including Advent International and Blackstone, but the transaction is not expected to be completed anytime soon. Tata Global Beverages is a major international player, with large market shares in countries such as Australia, Britain, Poland and the US. It has recently announced plans to acquire companies in eastern Europe and the US which would expand its share of the tea market as well as diversify its portfolio of products.

Tetley Tea, part of Tata Global Beverages, has unveiled its new packaging design destined for more than 70 countries. The modernized graphics were designed to evoke the warm feelings and stirring actions associated with tea drinking, to further draw consumers in to the Tetley experience at the point of purchase. The packs will retain the signature blue color of the brand. Tetley Tea packaging introduction will begin in Australia and the UK, and will hit US store shelves starting in September. All Tetley branded tea, including flavored and decaffeinated varieties, are planned to be part of the Rainforest Alliance certification program by 2016.

East India Company, the world's first multinational company founded more than 400 years ago, has been resurrected as a luxury brand. The company, which lay dormant for more than a century, started selling gourmet tea and other specialty products. The "tea library" at its flagship store in London features more than 100 different types of brew, including green, black, herbal, and flavored teas. The East India Co. began as a trading monopoly under Queen Elizabeth I in 1600 to ship commodities to the West from India and China. It controlled the trade in indigo dye, cotton, silk, opium and tea. The owner has so far invested $20 million in the project and estimates that another $100 million will be needed to increase the number of retail outlets and expand into other areas of trade.

Starbucks, the world's largest coffeehouse chain, has requested a license from the Tea Board of India to import and sell Darjeeling tea. This move indicates that the company may be planning to serve tea from the Darjeeling region, dubbed the Champagne of tea, in its 17'000 outlets across 49 countries. According to local regulations, a Certification of Trade Mark license is necessary for all producers, manufacturers, packagers, blenders, exporters, and traders who wish to sell tea labeled as Darjeeling tea. Starbucks, which bought Tazo Tea for $8.1 million in 1999, subsequently teamed up with McLeod Russel, Apeejay Tea, Warren Tea and Chamong Tee Exports to source other Indian teas for the international market.

Kombucha manufacturer Vibranz is the first company to have its organic fermented tea back on the shelves of Whole Foods. The grocer pulled the probiotic products from its stores over worries they contained too much alcohol. Vibranz has created a new formula that reduces alcohol to fall within the limits of 0.5% alcohol by volume. Prior to last month's recall, kombucha tea was experiencing unprecedented popularity among organic beverage enthusiasts. According to market research, sales of kombucha and other "functional" juices in the US topped $295 million last year, up 25 percent over a two-year period. Vibranz Kombucha Teas retail between $4.69 and $3.89 and are available in eight flavors including Original, Blood Orange and Raspberry.

New Mexico Tea Co., a bulk tea supplier, has turned to its customers to secure a loan through microfinancing. Its co-owner decided to appeal to their customers when his bank turned him down for a line of credit recently. He sent an email to the 3'800 people on his newsletter list with the aim to raise $5'000. To his surprise, he had raised $10'000 within the first 48 hours. The capital was made up of $4'500 in “microloans” and $5'500 in gift cards. The extra funds will allow the company to pay in advance for tea from vendors and to stock more tea, teapots, and other accessories.

Honest Tea is undertaking a novel social experiment to test the honesty of people living in big cities across the US. The guerrilla marketing coup consists of an unmanned pop-up store offering iced tea in return for 1 dollar placed in a glass box, with cameras recording how people behave. The experiment was carried out some of the biggest cities in the US such as New York City, Washington, DC, Boston and Chicago to test the honesty of their respective inhabitants. It turns out that Boston came first in the ranking, with 93% of people paying for their drink, followed by New York and Atlanta at 89%. Chicago fared the worst, attracting only 78% of paying customers. The money collected during this experiment will go to charity.

Charleston Tea Plantation, the only tea plantation in the US, has introduced a range of bottled ready-to-drink iced teas. American Classic Tea comes after more than a decade without bottled drinks from the company. Three flavors are available: original(made with cane sugar), sweet with lemon and sweet green tea. The plantation, located in South Carolina, also announced a 15% rise of visitors and plans to offer a greenhouse stop on its trolley ride, where people can see in closer detail how tea grows. Its grounds include 127 acres of tea plants, a working tea factory and a gift shoppe. Charleston Tea Plantation is owned by Bigelow Teas since 2003.

Following a recent removal of raw kombucha from shelves of several grocery chains such as Whole Foods due to elevated levels of alcohol, manufacturers of pasteurized kombucha are expected to cash in. Kombucha Wonder Drink, a company that was amongst the first to launch the category in the US almost a decade ago, is one of the few brands to offer a pasteurized version of the beverage, which ensures that it is consistently safe, stable and under the 0.5 percent alcohol limit set by the US authorities. Kombucha Wonder Drink is now likely to become the one of the fastest growing brands in the $300 million kombucha category as its products remain on shelves nationwide. On a separate note, the US authorities raised the possibility of treating the beverage like an alcoholic drink in terms of regulation and taxes.

Inc. Magazine and Winning Workplaces, a non-profit organization committed to helping small and mid-sized businesses create high-performance workplaces, have singled out Honest Tea in their 40 Top Small Company Workplaces of 2010. The ready-to-drink tea manufacturer was honored for its telecommuting policies (60% of employees work from home and the rest are allowed to telecommute when the need arises) and for its health and wellness programs, which provide employees with wellness intranet, alternative transportation subsidies, healthy snack packs and wellness coaches. The finalists were judged based on specific metrics and qualitative assessments of their success in creating the kind of workplaces that engage employees and deliver successful results.

After rebranding its tea subsidiary to Tata Global Beverages, the company has now unveiled three brands which will lead its global branding initiative. Tetley, Good Earth and Himalayan will be taken to developed markets such as the US, Canada and Europe, and the emerging ones of Africa and the CIS countries. The move is seen as a clear indication that tea, coffee and water are to become Tata's core segments. Company's flagship Tata Tea marque, as well as Eight O'Clock brand will continue to be managed on a regional level for the time being, with the possibility to roll them out globally later on.

The Healthy Beverage Company, owner of Steaz ready-to-drink tea brand, has reported a 38% increase in sales for the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2009. The company also announced the appointment of Jim DePietro, a former executive from Unilever and Pepsi Lipton Partnership, as CEO and Steven Kessler as President. According to DePietro, Steaz's growth is a result of increased consumer demand for the brand, distribution gains into strategic grocery accounts and successful targeted direct-store-delivery expansion in Southern California. The company has also received a further cash injection from its current investment group led by Switzerland-based Inventages Venture Capital.

In a move that is likely to have a huge impact on the tea industry, Nestlé has announced plans to sell a line of premium tea and tea brewing machines. Nestlé, the world's largest food company, plans to sell 25 'Special.T' tea varieties and a Nespresso-style tea making machine in France from September. Tea machines will cost 89 Euros ($110) and tea pods will cost 0.35 Euro cents. 'Special.T' line will be available in green, black, red and blue varieties, as well as Earl Grey lime and blueberry muffin flavors. The machines will be able to "read" each capsule and brew the tea at different temperatures and speeds, depending on the variety. The western European tea market is worth 4 billion Euros, whereas the coffee market is estimated at almost 13bn, according to Nestlé.

Sweet Leaf Tea Co., a manufacturer of flavored iced teas, has increased the amount it received in its latest round of funding from $14 million to $19 million. According to the latest filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company received $19 million from 17 investors, with Nestlé Waters North America investing $15.6m last year. Sweet Leaf, founded in 1998, bottles about 10'000 gallons (38'000 liters) of tea a day and is distributed in every state in the US. It employs about 36 workers.

McLeod Russel India Ltd., the world's biggest tea grower, plans to use rising prices to build a 'war chest' of as much as $250 million to acquire companies. After buying plantations in Uganda, Vietnam and Rwanda, the company is looking to buy more companies in India and Africa as it targets a 50% increase in production to 150 million kilograms in three to four years. McLeod Russel expects India’s demand for tea to rise 3.5 percent annually, outpacing the estimated 1.5% increase in production this year. Prices in North India, which accounts for 70% of the nation’s output, may rise as much as 15 percent as demand for the beverage grows and costs increase.

Tata Tea has chosen a new company name, Tata Global Beverages Ltd., to better reflect its diversified portfolio and global ambitions. The Indian company, worth $1.07 billion, has branched out into products like coffee, energy drinks and mineral water. Tata Tea, which has a presence in 60 countries, had acquired several global companies in the past years such as Eight O'Clock Coffee and Tetley, expanding is business from a pure tea and related plantation company to a beverages major across the spectrum. It will remain part of the Tata Group, with 357'000 employees worldwide and total revenue of $70.8 billion.

Eric Schnell, co-founder and president of the Healthy Beverage Company and creator of the Steaz brand, has exited the company. During his eight year stay, he is credited with creating the company's tea-based product innovations including the first organic soft drink in 2002, first organic energy drink in 2007 and first complete line of organic and fair trade certified canned iced tea products in 2008. Schnell's departure comes amidst ownership and management changes at Steaz, including majority ownership shifting to Switzerland-based private equity group Inventages. Schnell will retain a significant equity position in the company.

Coca-Cola is focusing on strongly expanding the availability of Honest Tea throughout the US. The soft drinks giant, that purchased a 40% stake in Honest Tea in 2008, says the majority of franchise distributors have committed to the expansion, including retail giant Wal-Mart. Coca-Cola has also helped finance a $1 million tea brewer at one of its bottling plants to process Honest Tea, which steeps tea leaves in hot water rather than mixing a manufactured powder. Honest Tea sold about 5 million cases last year, for revenue of $47 million.

Sweet Leaf Tea, a producer of organic ready-to-drink iced teas, is participating in an initiative to support the entrepreneurs of tomorrow. Lemonade Day, taking place on May 2nd in several US cities, is an event dedicated to teaching children the basics of building a business by having them create their own lemonade stand and unique lemonade flavors. The company, that started from scratch in Austin, Texas more than a decade ago, is playing an active role in this year's festivities and will be sponsoring several smaller fundraisers and contests in addition to the main event.

Tata Tea, India's largest tea company, and Pepsi Co. are planning a joint venture to make non-carbonated, ready-to-drink beverages. The initiative, aimed at health-conscious consumers, would give a significant boost to Tata's international ambitions and help Pepsi diversify into healthier beverage sectors. This comes as the Indian company is planning to broaden its brand portfolio and expand into new product categories and markets. It is in talks with several players, including Pepsi and Coca-Cola for distribution joint ventures on a global scale.

The company has announced the successful completion of several business and product development milestones, as well as substantial volume growth in 2009. The iced tea maker sold its wholly-owned subsidiary Nutritional Specialties Inc., thereby reducing its debt to $2.7m, compared with $11m in 2008. Case volumes increased by 38% to 401'000, as the distribution network grew to 100 distributors in 35 states. New Leaf has also recently added a new product line of lemonades in three flavors and one half-and-half flavor. These new products complement its range of 14 ready-to-drink iced teas.

Sweet Leaf Tea, the Austin-based ready-to-drink iced tea manufacturer, has purchased Tradewinds Beverage Co., a competitor from Cincinnati. Tradewinds, founded in 1993, makes teas and juices kettle-brewed in Ohio, and will continue daily operations as normal until the label is integrated into Sweet Leaf marketing. Sweet Leaf hopes the acquisition will expand market reach in the Midwest where Tradewinds has strong distribution channels. Sweet Leaf, founded in 1998, bottles about 10,000 gallons of tea a day and is distributed in every US state.

Lipton Ice Tea is scaling back its TV ad campaign in the UK as industry experts question brand's prospects on the market. The TV commercial, featuring global brand ambassador Hugh Jackman, will only be available online, despite running on TV in other countries. According to market specialists, this is due to the fact that Lipton Ice Tea does not make sense culturally in the same way as it does in the US and in other parts of Europe, because tea is consumed hot in the UK. Also, they note that Lipton's consistent marketing support over the past five years has yielded limited impact on the highly competitive UK soft drinks market.

The founder of Sweet Leaf Tea, who started the tea company in 1998, is replaced by the company's current president, a former executive at Nestle Waters North America. Clayton Christofer is stepping down and being replaced by Dan Costello as CEO, who began managing Sweet Leaf's day-to-day operations last year when the unit of Nestle invested $15.6 million in the Austin, Texas-based company (with an option to buy it in the next three years). Christopher will stay on as a member of the Sweet Leaf Tea board of directors. Nestle and private equity firm Catterton Partners are Sweet Leaf's biggest shareholders. Catterton invested $18 million in Sweet Leaf in 2008.

Coffeewiz, an e-retailer of single-serve coffee and tea, has added Tavalon gourmet loose teas to its range. The online store, based in Moonachie, NJ., will source a wide range of premium loose varieties to complement its lineup of single-serve products in K-cups, Pods and T-discs. This move comes after the introduction of infuser mugs and teapots, allowing easy brewing of loose leaf tea. Tavalon, a New York City based tea company, will supply varieties such as Earl Grey Reserve, NYC Breakfast, Kama Chai Sutra and Jasmine Dream.

Starbucks has announced the launch of nine ready-to-drink bottled tea beverages aimed at the huge Chinese tea drinks market. The products include three original-leaf Chinese-style tea drinks, four original-leaf foreign tea drinks, and two handmade special tea drinks. Apart from the beverages, Starbucks has also launched related accessory products such as tea cups and teapots. The launch of tea drinks is in response to the demands of local consumers, according to the company. China is the world's biggest tea market, with around 200 million regular tea drinkers.

New Leaf Brands, the manufacturer of sweetened ready-to-drink iced teas, has announced three new deals with Anheuser-Busch distributors in North Carolina. RH Barringer, City Beverage Company, and Harris Incorporated of Henderson, all distributors of alcoholic beverages and soft drinks, have begun distributing New Leaf Tea in their respective regions in North Carolina. New Leaf Tea comes in 14 unique flavors and is available in over 8,000 outlets including restaurants, delis, health food stores and other retail establishments.

Tetley, the world's second biggest tea company, has announced plans to source all of its branded tea from Rainforest Alliance certified farms by 2016. The company, owned by Tata Beverage Group, will start supplying sustainable teas in the UK foodservice sector by this April and in Canada by early 2011. The project will be rolled out to the US, Australia and mainland Europe in 2012. Tetley sells black, green, red, flavored and decaffeinated teas, and has a presence in 70 countries. The majority of Tetley tea comes from Kenya, Malawi and North India.

Whole Foods Market reported quarterly profits 71% higher from a year ago and boosted its financial targets for 2010. Sales rose 7% to $2.6 billion and net income for the fiscal first quarter was $55.1 million, compared to $32.3 million for the same period last year. The surprising numbers are a result of managing expenses and pushing effective promotions. Identical-store sales, a key barometer of grocer health, rose 2.5% for the quarter. Whole Foods now forecasts annual sales growth of around 10%. 16 new stores are expected to open their doors in 2010.

Bigelow Tea Company has enlisted the services of Wayne Gretzky to become the company's spokesperson in the US and Canada. Gretzky, who won 4 NHL championships and multiple other awards, is regarded as the best player in the history of the NHL. According to the company, Gretzky was chosen for the embodiment of sports excellence and wholesome vitality, as a perfect fit with the Bigelow Green Tea "story".

EcoTeas, a small organic tea company from Ashland, Oregon, has achieved Fair Trade certification for its entire range. Known for its unsmoked yerba mate products, the company now boasts an accreditation for its entire operations, including rights of workers, environmental management and trade relationships. EcoTeas also uses only organic ingredients, participates in reforestation efforts in Argentina and is on its way to 100% biodegradable / recyclable packaging.

According to a press release, New Leaf Brands, Inc. will soon be available across Arizona. The company, which manufactures flavored ready-to-drink iced teas, has reached a distribution deal with Crescent Crown Distributing. Crescent Crown sells and delivers over 26 million cases annually throughout their distribution territories in Arizona and Louisiana. Additionally, Quick Trip Convenience Stores will stock New Leaf Teas in all of its 70 Phoenix Metro convenience stores.

Starbucks Corporation announced that it will enter the ready-to-drink coffee category in Europe. The coffee giant has signed an agreement with Arla Foods, one of the largest dairy companies in the world, for the manufacture, distribution and marketing of Starbucks-branded premium RTD coffee beverages in Europe. The market is worth approximately $550 million (€368 million). The company hopes to extend the "Starbucks experience" to consumers beyond its retail stores, while broadening global distribution channels.

Kehe Food Distributors, the leading distributor of natural and specialty food products in the US, has agreed the purchase its main rival, Tree of Life North America, from Netherlands-based Royal Wessanen for $190 million. The deal will allow Royal Wessanen to reduce its debt and focus on its European business, and will consolidate distribution opportunities for food and beverage companies aiming at the US natural foods channel. The consolidation of Tree of Life into Kehe will also extend Kehe's presence in neighboring Canada.

Newby Teas, a UK-based premium tea company, plans a further expansion in India's premium tea market. The manufacturer is looking to strengthen its position in the HoReCa sector and aims to enter the retail market thereafter. Newby plans to establish its presence more than twenty Indian cities in the first three years of operations, with Kolkata serving as a base for distribution and logistics. The company is known for its novel methods of tea preservation and quality control during the entire supply process.

McLeod Russel of India, the world's largest tea manufacturer, has acquired a 100% stake in James Finlay's Ugandan tea plantation. Mcleod's subsidiary Borelli Tea Holdings Ltd is picking up the stake for $25 million. The acquired firm is involved in growing, processing and marketing of black tea and owns six tea estates with annual production around 15 million kilograms of black tea. The new acquisition will help McLeod Russel expand its yearly capacity to 96 million kilograms.

Green Mountain Coffee has secured a deal to buy Diedrich Coffee for $290 million or $35 a share. It also agreed to pay an $8.5 million termination fee to Peet's Coffee & Tea, which had agreed to buy Diedrich before Green Mountain stepped in. Diedrich makes single-serving coffee and tea packets, also known K- Cups, used in Green Mountain's Keurig coffee makers. Diedrich is Green Mountain's third significant acquisition in the last nine months, after Tully's Coffee brand and Canada-based Timothy's Coffees of the World.

Choice Organic Teas is the first tea company to enroll as an official participant in the Non-GMO Project's Verification Program. The Non-GMO Project is a non-profit organization establishing a consistent non-GMO choice for organic and natural products that are produced without genetic engineering or recombinant DNA technologies. The Project verifies all types of products, including those (like tea) that are not yet produced commercially in GMO form.

Following similar moves from its competitors, Bigelow Tea is expanding its online presence with a revamped web platform. It features a redesigned website and a blog, which is meant to keep customers up-to-date on company's latest developments. Bigelow Tea is also increasing the use of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, aiming to boost contact points with its customers. Several short "Tea-V" videos on tea preparation and enjoyment will be featured on Youtube.

New Leaf Brands, makers of ready-to-drink iced teas, has announced the completion of a $1.5 million private debt financing. The financing will be used for working capital and inventory to meet New Leaf's existing product demand in 2010 and execute on its plans for expansion. According to the company's CEO, the deal will help meet all existing orders and expand its footprint nationally by growing the distribution network.

Looking for new ways to attract customers, a New York restaurant started catering to a new clientele: kids. The Russian Tea Room, a high-end establishment with more than 80 years of history, offers tea and snack menus for children in order to attract visitors that have been neglected during better economic times. The goal is to make the lavish venue less pretentious and more welcoming to the average consumer. The city's fine dining establishments suffered a nearly 5% decline, with 30 closing in the past year.

The CEO of Honest Tea, Seth Goldman, assured attendees of 2009 Net Impact Conference that the company's commitment to produce healthy, organic and less sweet drinks has not changed since Coca-Cola became a majority stakeholder in his company last year. Some clients were put off by this partnership, including New York University, who had banned all Coke-related drinks to protest the company’s human rights record. Goldman pointed out that the deal allowed a healthy product to be made available to more customers.

The Wellness Group Tea, a Singapore-based tea company which opened last year, is creating a line of teas inspired by fashion trends worldwide. The luxury tea range integrates colors and trends of fashion lines into tea blends. The concept was developed by the company's chairman, who previously worked as a brand-building executive at US designer label Tommy Hilfiger. TWG Tea is already working on its autumn/winter 2010 "collection". It will be available at luxury stores like Harrods in London and Dean and Deluca in the US.

Twinings, the famous British tea company, is planning to move a large part of its domestic operations to Poland and China. The company, owned by Associated British Foods, is consulting employees over plans to reorganize its tea operations, with up to 400 employees, or half of its UK staff, predicted to lose jobs. Under the plan, the company's existing Chinese factory would be doubled in size and a new factory would be built in Poland, to cater for the growing taste for tea in continental Europe.

A tea room in Fort Collins, Co. opens with an aim to support international activism and social awareness while enjoying a nice cuppa. Happy Lucky's Teahouse and Treasures, which serves almost a hundred varieties of loose-leaf tea, is selling a range of Cambodian-made merchandise such as bags, scarves and purses. The tea room is also donating 10% of its sales to a charitable organization founded by its owners and focused on creating and sustaining schools in Cambodia.

New Leaf Brands, Inc., a company selling ready-to-drink iced teas, is expanding its distribution into Whole Foods Market in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the US. The beverage line, containing only natural ingredients, will be available in additional 22 stores. According to New Leaf's demo manager, the target audience at Whole Foods fits the niche of people looking for something sweeter without having to choose something with high fructose corn syrup.

Honest Tea announced the hiring of a Coca-Cola executive to expand its distribution. The Bethesda-based company, part-owned by Coca-Cola, will tap the experience of Chuck Muth, a 30-year veteran of the bottling industry, who most recently worked as senior vice president of sales and marketing for the Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Coca-Cola bought a 40% stake in the company for $43m in 2008. Honest Tea is on track to make $50 million in sales this year, up from $38 million the year before.

Coca-Cola, the world’s largest soft-drink maker, is testing a machine for restaurants that can brew more than 18 different kinds of iced tea. The device, called the Flex Fresh, can make tea by the glass, pitcher or gallon, with a possibility to add sweeteners and flavors. The move is aimed at boosting sales volume by offering more variety, as Coca-Cola continues to trail PepsiCo on the ready-to-drink tea market. PepsiCo has 39 percent of the ready-to-drink tea market in the US, compared to Coke's 9.6%.

After a two-year effort, Lipton's tea plant in Suffolk, Virginia has been announced as "zero landfill". The plant, which produces tea bags and other products, recycles 70% of the waste, with the remainder being composted or converted into renewable energy. Initiatives include eliminating plastic strapping on pallets, replacing non-recyclable cleaning wipes with reusable rags and using reusable plastic pallets instead of wooden ones. Suffolk's plant, Lipton's only plant in the U.S., is the largest plant in the country.

Celestial Seasonings celebrated its 40th anniversary this week at its headquarters in Boulder, Colorado. Over the years, the company, specialized in teas, herbs and coffee, and focused on social responsibility and sustainability, has grown from a small supplier of herbs to a major player in the tea business, with sales over $100 million worldwide. Celestial Seasonings' products are currently sold in 60 countries and ingredients are sourced from over 35 countries.

One of Britain’s award-winning tearooms is claiming to be the first tearoom to offer teas from five continents. Peacocks, owned and run by George Peacock and Rachel Lemkov, has been operating for five years in Ely, Cambridgeshire, and has won several awards from the UK's Tea Guild. In 2007, it was named Tea Guild's Top Tea Place. The menu contains 66 teas from around the world, including varieties from Brazil and Australia.

McLeod Russel, the world's largest tea producer, has purchased a controlling stake in Gisovu Tea Company via its UK arm. The Rwandan tea company has an annual output of 1.7 million kilograms of tea, which would bring McLeod’s annual production capacity close to 82 million kg. Borelli Tea Holdings Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of McLeod Russel in the UK, will pay $2.75 million for a 60% stake in the company, with the rest of the shares owned by the Rwandan government and local co-operatives.

In a move to cut costs and boost profits, PepsiCo agreed to buy bottlers Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas in a $7.8 billion (EUR 5.4 bn/£4.6 bn) deal. The second-largest soft drink maker in the U.S. will pay a premium of about 45% to the bottlers' closing prices the day before Pepsi launched unsolicited bids in April. Buying the bottlers will consolidate 80% of Pepsi's North American beverage volume, which will speed decision-making and eliminate friction between the companies.

The world's largest tea producer, India's McLeod Russel, has set its sight on African tea plantations, according to a company official. The company, which produces approximately 80 million kilograms of tea annually and exports around 30 million kilograms, is focusing primarily on Kenya and hopes the acquisitions can add 5 to 10 million kilograms in the near future. McLeod Russel plans to source between 20 and 30 percent of its production from outside India in the next five years.

Starbucks, owner of Tazo Tea, is experimenting with a new store concept in its home town of Seattle. One of the stores will reopen under the name "15th Avenue Coffee and Tea", featuring live music performances and poetry readings to give the premises a more local and grassroots touch. Also, beverage menu will be enlarged to include alcoholic drinks such as beer and wine. This comes as a response to customers reigning in spending during the recession and rival businesses upgrading their coffee menus.

Lipton has been confirmed as the biggest buyer of tea during the first half of the year at weekly auctions held in Mombasa, Kenya. The company, owned by anglo-dutch conglomerate Unilever, bought 32 million kilograms of tea in that period, according to the founding brokerage firm of the auction. The amount represents a fifth of all tea sold in Mumbasa. Global Tea Commodities Ltd. came in distant second with 14 million kg, followed by James Finlay Ltd. with 13.5 million kg. Kenya is the world’s biggest exporter of black tea.

The price of afternoon tea at Dublin's exclusive Gresham hotel has been cut by nearly 30% due to a decrease in customer spending. The tea, served with a three-tier cake, will be available for €18 ($25), instead of the previous price of €25. This comes in stark contrast to Britain, where prices for such treats remain high due to a comeback of this typically British pastime, with one in ten Britons planning to succumb to the pleasures of afternoon tea.

Lipton has teamed up with National Geographic to accentuate its sustainability efforts during the launch of its Rainforest Alliance-certified teas in the US. National Geographic will create photographs and videos documenting the company's journey and commitment to sustainability. The material will feature images from Lipton's Tea Estate in Kericho, Kenya and will be distributed via multiple National Geographic media platforms.

The Brazilian Justice Ministry approved the acquisition of local bottled-tea maker Leao Junior by US beverage giant Coca-Cola. However, to avoid market concentration, Coke must sell its local Nestea brand for the deal to go through. Matte Leao is Brazil's leading maker of bottled teas. At the end of 2006, the latest data available, Matte Leao held a 45.7% share of the bottled-tea market, compared with AmBev-distributed Lipton, at 24.7%, and Nestea at 24.4%.

Narien Teas introduces Hawaii-grown tea and thereby becomes the first US mainland tea retailer to offer tea from the exotic island. The Florida-based company started selling Kilinoe, or "misty rain", green tea sourced from Hawaii's Big Island Tea. The company believes that Hawaii's fertile volcanic soil, wafting mists and unique island weather patterns make it an ideal spot for tea farming. The price for spring-harvest tea will start at $9 for five grams.

India's Tata Tea has reported a staggering 55 percent fall in consolidated net profit for 2008-2009 period. Net profit came in at Rs. 700.55 crore ($148m) for the year ending March 31, 2009 against Rs. 1,542.55 crore in the previous year. A sharp rise in input costs and fluctuations in the commodity and currency markets have negatively impacted the results, according to the company.

Numi Tea has recently partnered with Big Tree Climate Fund to offset its carbon footprint. The partnership is based on a twofold offsetting program, which includes purchasing renewable energy certificates and carbon offsets. The Oakland-based company underwent an annual emissions audit through calculations of carbon output in electricity and natural gas usage, employee air travel, use of company car, pounds of landfill use and overall shipping for 2008. Big Tree will then source and supply the equivalent amount of carbon offsets and renewable energy certificates.

Ito En, the Japanese beverage manufacturer, is expected to announce a 46% drop in consolidated operating profit to about 10.3 billion yen ($108.7 million) for the fiscal year ending in April 30. Causes for the unexpected fall include higher materials costs, concerns about produce grown in China and weak consumer spending, which forced the company to sell more products at discounted rates. Overall sales are expected to remain unchanged at 328 billion yen ($3.45 billion) even though the firm had anticipated a 3 percent increase.

Coca-Cola, the world's largest beverage maker, is said to abandon its bid for Chinese Huiyuan Juice Group, after a full $2.5 billion (£1.65 bn) takeover was blocked by Chinese regulators. The Atlanta-based US company was set to take a compromise minority shareholding, but sources now say that Coke wants complete control of the company or no involvement at all. Huiyuan Juice has a 44 percent share of China's pure juice market.

Honest Tea will be the first company to use a new lightweight bottle in the hot-fill category, developed by Graham Packaging Company. The new packs are on average 20% lighter than similar PET bottles on the market today, which means they necessitate less resources to make the bottle and fewer energy to transport it. While the bottle initially will be used for teas, juices, and isotonic drinks, it is also suitable for jellies, jams, and salsas.

The founding site of Peet's Coffee and Tea Company has reopened after renovation. The Vine Street shop was opened in 1966 by Alfred Peet in North Berkeley, bringing the aroma of coffee beans he roasted himself to the neighborhood. The renovations were focused on a new room dedicated to the nationwide chain, with antique coffee roaster, tasting supplies, ledgers and original Peet's coffee bags on display.

Bigelow Tea has partnered with Van Houtte, a Canadian gourmet coffee maker, to develop the US K-Cup market. A K-Cup is a plastic container with a filter inside, allowing a brewing machine to force hot water through it into a mug. For Bigelow, the business has expanded at a 45% annual rate since its beginnings four years ago. The Bigelow K-Cups include English Breakfast, Green Tea, Earl Grey, Cozy Chamomile, Mint Medley, and Green Tea with Pomegranate varieties.

Innocent Drinks, the UK-based smoothie drinks company, has sold a minority stake to the Coca-Cola Company for £30m ($44m). Under the terms of the deal, the beverage giant will receive 10 to 20 percent stake in the ethically-minded smoothie company founded in 1998 by four mates after a successful try-out at a music festival with £500 worth of fruit. Innocent Drinks, which operates in 13 European countries and had a turnover of £100m ($145m) last year, will use the funds to bolster its presence across key European markets.

Nestle Waters North America, a subsidiary of Swiss food giant Nestle, has invested $15.6 million in Sweet Leaf Tea Co. with an option to buy the entire company in three years. The funding should help Austin-based Sweet Leaf expand its distribution nationwide within the next two years. Sales of ready-to-drink teas have slowed in the recession, although the category has held up better than sodas, rising 1.3% in 2008, after double-digit growth in previous years. Sweet Leaf Tea was founded in 1998 and today carries a line of 10 classic iced-tea flavors and one lemonade flavor.

Tata Tea, part of Tata group, is reportedly planning to consolidate its vast beverage business under a single entity to enhance operational performance and reduce costs. Tea, water and soft drink units would likely be housed by Tata International, resulting in a clear holding, operating and reporting structure. The group is also looking at merging Mt Everest Mineral Water and Himalayan brands with Tata Tea. Financial experts believe that a single consolidated entity could also be used to raise money for future expansion needs and to reduce the group’s debt.

Beverages and Beyond Brands Inc., a subsidiary of Coca-Cola Bottling Co., has recently bought Bazza High-Energy Tea brand, a company specializing in new and alternative beverages, from Louisville-based Cooper Tea Company. Bazza High-Energy Tea is a blend of green tea, guarana and yerba mate, containing a high concentration of epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG, antioxidants. The deal gives Beverages and Beyond the rights to North American, Mexican, Canadian and Caribbean markets.

Gong Fu Tea, a Des Moines, Iowa-based tea shop, was among the very few companies selected to supply gifts to Hollywood's elite at this year's Oscar pre-party. The tea samplers, included with other five products, were given to every guest at a fundraiser for research on cancer and Alzheimer's disease, which included many A-list celebrities. The party planners in Hollywood found the shop online using Google and contacted them directly to see if they'd be interested in contributing to the gift bags.

The share price of Whole Foods Market, America's largest premium grocery chain, rose 37% on Thursday after two upgrades from analysts assessing its earnings report. The Austin, Texas-based company reported a better-than-expected 17% decline in first quarter income due to slowing store traffic. Yet analysts were encouraged by more value offerings and many internal expenditure cuts to reverse the decline in its operating performance. Sales for the 16 weeks up to January 18 were unchanged at $2.5 billion.

BG restaurant at Bergdorf Goodman in New York City is looking to add a little flair to its tea menu during the New York Fashion Week. From 13 to 20 February, the restaurant, located on the top floor of the Fifth Avenue luxury store, will launch its version of Prêt-à-Portea, an afternoon tea originally conceived by the Berkeley Hotel in London. The restaurant will serve cookies, petits fours and layered desserts based on the creations of various fashion designers, available for sale in the store below.

Tata Tea has started a huge restructuring plan of its US operations to scale down costs and grow revenues in a challenging environment. The company has shut down Tetley's office in Shelton, Connecticut, and is also in process of relocating the administrative, marketing and sales offices of Good Earth Corp, a specialty tea company it purchased in 2005. Tata thereby hopes to take full advantage of economies of scale from a join venture with Harris Tea Company, the largest blender and packer of private label teas in North America.

The company behind Lancashire Tea says the future of the brand is under threat after it was removed from most Sainsbury's stores - one of the biggest supermarket chains in the UK. Sainsbury's reduced the company's exposure to 33 stores compared with more than 300 previously. Lancashire Tea, which has lost money since it was founded three years ago, could face collapse within 12 weeks unless sales rise. The founders plan a "save Lancashire Tea campaign" and hope local people will help save the brand.

Clipper tea has come out with a re-branded look after nearly a decade. The company that pioneered organic and Fairtrade teas in the UK hopes to highlight its commitment to great tasting tea through a clearer and more attractive packaging. Before introducing the new look, Clipper included over one million inserts in its tea range to give consumers a sneak preview of the new design. Clipper is the UK's biggest Organic tea brand, and the number one selling Fairtrade tea brand. It also has the second largest share of the Green Tea market.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nutrition advocacy group based in Washington, DC., has sued Coca-Cola over "deceptive" health claims relating to VitaminWater drinks. It accuses Coke of selling sugar water using false claims about vitamin content that is supposed to boost immunity and reduce the risk of disease. Coca-Cola spokesperson has dismissed the lawsuit as "ridiculous and ludicrous". Coca-Cola bought Glaceau's VitaminWater for $4.1 billion in June 2007.

Twinings, one of UK's top tea brands, has reported that sales of premium teas have fallen in face of the current economic slowdown. The company, which has been around for more than 300 years, says that tea drinkers in the UK and the US were more likely to choose "everyday" tea instead of more expensive brands. Responding to this trend, Twinings will expand its offer of low priced teas as UK's major supermarket chains launch their own budget ranges.

Mighty Leaf Tea has announced that it is teaming up with James Beard Foundation as the official tea supplier. James Beard Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in New York City and dedicated to preserving and promoting American food heritage, will use Mighty Leaf teas for their chefs' cooking. The donations are part of the recently launched Mighty Leaf Tea Foundation aimed at supporting artisans in their communities.

In an attempt to widen its offer of healthy beverages, Starbucks is launching three new tea-based lattes and two tea drinks. The new lattes are made with steamed milk and Tazo full-leaf tea bags, whereas Tazo Tea Infusions will feature a mix of black tea and fruit juice. The latte drinks cost between $2.85 and $3.50 for a tall. The infusions will be priced at $2.40 to $2.70 for the same size.

Whittard of Chelsea, a British chain of tea shops, is near administration according to latest reports. The owners of the business, which sells tea, coffee and accessories, are actively seeking a buyer, while accounting firm Ernst & Young are already on standby as administrators. Whittard is owned by an Icelandic investment company Baugur and was purchased in 2005 for about £21m ($31.8m). Baugur was hit by turmoil in Iceland's economy earlier this year. Whittard, founded in 1886 by Walter Whittard, has 130 stores in the UK.

Aiya Co. Ltd., the world's leading manufacturer of Matcha green tea, has earned the respected ISO 22000 certification for food safety management. The accreditation, issued by International Organization of Standardization, guarantees a high level of food safety practices in the entire manufacturing chain, thereby providing a seal of quality to buyers and retailers. Aiya is the first in the Matcha industry to receive such certification.

The CEO of PepsiCo, the second largest soft drink manufacturer in the US, has revealed that the company plans no new acquisitions in the current economic climate, despite sales of carbonated soft drinks falling three percent in North America. Instead, the New York-based PepsiCo will focus on acquisitions in the growing snacks sector. Before the economic slump, the company purchased beverage companies Izze, Naked Juice and a major juice maker in Russia. It also owns Tropicana, SoBe LifeWater and Gatorade brands.

After growing only 19 percent in November, the North American sales of Honest Tea beverages should pick up in December, according to CEO Seth Goldman. Goldman, who co-founded the start-up beverage company, expects sales growth to climb to 85 percent in December - giving the Bethesda, Maryland-based company annual sales growth of roughly 70 percent. Honest Tea expects gross revenue to amount to $39 million in 2008, compared with $23 million the previous year. The company, partly owned by The Coca-Cola Company, projects to double sales in 2009 to about $80 million.

The shares of Ito En Ltd. dropped the most in three months in Tokyo after reports of a profit decline. Japan's largest maker of green tea beverages lost 103 yen, or 6.7 percent, and closed at 1426 yen due to declining operating profit from higher promotion costs and sluggish sales of vegetable and green tea beverages. At the same time, Goldman Sachs lowered its rating on the company from "neutral" to "sell" with a price target of 1000 yen.

In a novel approach to determining the next packaging design of their products, the UK-based Lancashire Tea has decided to let its customers decide what they should look like. The Rehab Agency, a local design firm in charge of the project, has asked Facebook users to vote for their favorite packaging from three possible concepts or to retain the old design. The new design options include a brightly-colored range of Lancashire faces, a postcard montage and black-and-white photos of old-fashioned scenes such as women in bathing suits. The original packaging carries a map of the region.

Sara Lee Hungary will invest more than €4 million in its Rákospalota facility, its second-largest European tea packaging plant, to upgrade production lines for new packaging technologies. The company said AC Nielsen data show it leads Hungary’s coffee and tea markets, holding respective national shares of 41% and 43%, respectively.

Ito En shares tumbled as much as 16 percent in Tokyo after Japan’s biggest green tea beverage maker posted a 59 percent profit decline. Net income fell to 1.08 billion yen, hurt by promotional and plastic bottle costs and weaker vegetable drink sales, extending 2008 stock losses to 33 percent.

India's Tata Tea said at its annual general meeting it is seeking strategic mergers and acquisitions in the US and Russia to bolster overseas growth. The Tata Group company, with 42 brands across 45 countries, is shifting from plantations to global beverages, eyeing FMCG areas including juices and a rebranding.

Following its purchase of a forty percent stake in Honest Tea, Coca-Cola Enterprises will begin distributing Honest Tea and Honest Aid in western pilot markets this September. The Atlanta-based beverage company plans to expand its organic tea and juice portfolio, positioning the brand against PepsiCo’s leading Lipton ready-to-drink tea business.

Revolution Teas is partnering with Kraft Foodservice to expand nationally in the foodservice channel beginning in May. Kraft’s catering division will distribute Revolution’s premium iced tea beverages and individually packaged teas to restaurants, hotels and other dining outlets, as companies target rising demand for high-quality tea and premium beverage growth.

TBL Capital is investing $1.8 million in Numi Tea to broaden the premium tea company’s reach, backing market expansion, product development and increased marketing activity. The socially responsible venture fund’s commitment underscores investor appetite for health- and sustainability-focused beverage brands that continue to drive growth across the natural drinks sector.

Sweet Leaf Tea has secured an $18 million investment from Catterton Partners to boost national marketing and distribution. The Beaumont maker of ready-to-drink iced teas and lemonades aims to capitalize on a $2.8 billion market growing 25% annually, reinforcing sales gains and positioning for a $4.4 billion industry by 2011.

Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Inc., the Emeryville, CA specialty coffee and tea company, announced the retirement of long-time board members Gordon Bowker and H. William Jesse, Jr. Bowker served the company for 25 years, while Jesse served for 10 years, marking the departure of two veteran directors from its board.

Coca-Cola is nearing an investment in Honest Tea, the Bethesda, MD organic beverage maker with $13.5 million in sales last year. The deal would broaden Coke’s non-carbonated portfolio, add Fair Trade teas, juices and children’s low-sugar drinks, and give Honest Tea mainstream access as ready-to-drink tea growth accelerates rapidly nationwide.

Mighty Leaf Tea, the San Rafael, CA producer of premium gourmet teas, has received an equity investment from VMG Partners for a reported 20% stake. VMG, focused on branded consumer products, expects growth from specialty retail, restaurant and hotel distribution, rising premium demand and greater awareness of tea’s health benefits.

Celestial Seasonings has unveiled a refreshed identity, introducing a cleaner logo and consistent packaging across more than ninety tea varieties. The Boulder, CO company’s largest rebranding in 37 years standardizes flavor names, logos, and design cues while preserving distinctive artwork. Alongside the update, it debuts organic, Fair Trade coffee beans.

India's Tata Tea is eyeing a $2 billion acquisition of Arizona Beverages to boost its US footprint after missing out on Cadbury's Snapple. The Long Island healthy-drinks maker would give the Indian group a stronger foothold in the fast-growing non-carbonated beverage market and further sharpen its international expansion ambitions plans.

Rainforest Alliance said Unilever, owner of Lipton and PG Tips, will shift to tea sourced only from sustainable plantations. Certification covers worker welfare, farm management and environmental protection, adding a 10 to 15 percent auction premium. Western European products are targeted by 2010, with Lipton tea bags certified by 2015.

Coca-Cola is buying Energy Brands for $4.1 bn, expanding beyond carbonated soft drinks into healthier non-carbonated beverages. The deal gives it VitaminWater, the No. 2 flavored water brand after Pepsi's Propel Fitness Water. Tata Group, which bought 30% last year for $677 million, will receive $1.2 bn for its stake.

Honest Tea has secured $12 million from Stonyfield Farm and Inventages Venture Capital Investment, a Nestlé-backed private-equity firm, to push beyond natural-food channels. The Bethesda, MD beverage maker, with $13.5 million in sales last year, plans to use the cash to win major distributor and retailer deals for mainstream expansion.

Tata Tea agreed to buy a 30% stake in US beverage firm Energy Brands, known as Glacéau, for $677 million. Whitestone, NY-based Glacéau owns VitaminWater, whose popularity has surged as consumers choose healthier alternatives to sodas. Tata expects revenue of $355 million in 2006 and $700 million in 2007.

After an 18-month shutdown caused by financial difficulties, the Charleston Tea Plantation on Wadmalaw Island, SC, North America’s only commercial tea plantation, has resumed production under RC Bigelow. The company plans to expand the site’s appeal as a tourist destination, inviting visitors to learn about tea growing, harvesting and processing.

Mighty Leaf is 143 on Inc. 500

Cruise Line Offers Passengers Selection of Rare Teas

Organic, Fair Trade, Iced Tea Program Launched

Bigelow Tea Serves Up A Promotional Cup of 'Joe'

Tata Tea has acquired California-based Fmali Herbal, Inc and Good Earth Corp for an undisclosed sum, strengthening the Indian group's push into the fast-growing US specialty tea market. Good Earth, with about 3.7 percent share, sells herbal, fruit-flavored, medicinal and traditional teas, broadening Tata Tea's international portfolio and consumer reach.

Starbucks Lures Brits from Tea to Coffee

Stash Tea Dabbles in Bricks and Mortar

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Brews in Dubai

Premier Foods has sold Typhoo, one of Britain’s best-known tea brands, to Apeejay International Tea for £80 million. Founded in 1903, Typhoo ranks as the UK’s third-largest tea brand, behind PG Tips and Tetley. The deal transfers a long-established household name to the Indian tea group as ownership changes hands.

OM Organics Wins Award at Natural Products Show

Britannia Industries Planning Bid for Typhoo

India Tea Giant US Acquisition Not Confirmed

Tata Close to Acquiring Two Tea Brands

Green Tea Fuels Starbucks Growth

East India Tea Merges with German Company

Dimlah Tea Well Steeped in Australian Market

Premium Tea Pods from Lipton

Nestea Offers Colder Taste

Standardized Tea Extract GRAS Status Confirmed

Dubai Tea Trade Centre Eschews Tradition

New Technology for Decaffeinating Tea & Coffee

Green Tea Beverages at Starbucks

Republic of Tea Doubles the Antioxidants

Tata To Grow Through Acquisitions

UK Tea Shop Making Waves

Typhoo Tea Up For Sale

Coca Cola In Talks with Arizona Teas

Jay Shree Acquires 2 Estates

China's Wahaha Group, the country's biggest beverage maker, will launch a new soft drink by July without Danone's involvement, escalating their dispute. Wahaha says the French partner, absent from the project, should be expelled from the brand, while Danone accuses Wahaha of weakening joint ventures through rival company sales networks.

Third Street Chai adds fair trade certification

Lipton introduces new antioxidant labeling mark

Fair Trade Rooibos From Choice Organic