ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

held on October 13th 2021 at 10am BST

President’s Address

Good morning.  On behalf of the Directors of the European Speciality Tea Association I warmly welcome all our members to our third Annual General Meeting.  I am very pleased to report on our performance during the Financial Year 2020 to 2021.

It will come as no surprise, I am sure, if I start with Covid. The whole of the year 2020/21 was dominated by Covid.  In common with most other organisations and companies the virus disrupted actions and played havoc with plans.  Joining or staying in a trade association was not high on most company’s or individual’s lists of priorities, and there were no trade events to attend, both of which affected our anticipated membership recruitment plan. Covid also jolted our planned education programme, which necessarily had to be rejigged for launch online - not the ideal medium for sensory education.

However, membership did grow - from 80 to 175 during the year to March 31st (and today stands at 285).  In the year we opened our first two local chapters, in Benelux and Denmark, and now Russia and Ireland chapters are well in hand.  Member recruitment is very much affected by personal contact - and trade shows provide that opportunity.  Covid lockdown caused cancellation of shows and thwarted our plans, but I am happy to say the tide is now turning and we had a successful presence at the postponed Caffe Culture Show in September and will be at CATEX in November.  

On the tea education scene we continued our popular wide ranging monthly webinar series with invited guest speakers from across the tea industry.  On the formal educational front, we launched “TEA101” and “Introduction to Tea” as learning starting points for new tea enthusiasts and have started creating Foundation modules “Camellia sinensis” and “Botanicals” as next-step learning.  We are also close to the launch of a version of “Introduction to Tea” for our well represented Hospitality sector.  Our planned educational program covers many tea aspects and has four levels of learning from introduction to advanced.  There is still much to complete, and our progress has been slower than planned – but our mission is built on providing excellence and this takes time, particularly for a volunteer-based organisation.  We do have active creator groups working but I would urge all ESTA members to consider assisting with this essential work. 

Looking at Marketing: our distinctive website has continued to expand and improve, and our use of social media became much more active and influential.  Our followers increased to 1,120 on Facebook, 2,390 on Instagram and 745 on Linkedin – and continue to increase. We completed our branding document and started a monthly newsletter for members to ensure you get hot news - as it happens.

You may remember from our last AGM that at that time we were named the European Tea Society and passed a resolution changing our name to include Speciality and substitute Association.  While we discovered that a simple change of name involves a great deal of executive activity I believe it has been beneficial in increasing our inclusivity and concentrating our focus.  One tangible result has been our attempt at defining speciality tea – which, if not perfect, is probably the best attempt I have seen.

During the 2020/21 year we set up three new ESTA committees, Marketing, International Development, and R&D.  Members of these committees and their working groups are widely spread across Europe and further; they meet and liaise regularly via Zoom.

In the year 2020/21 we appointed three new directors, Steve Lovegrove, Oscar Woolley and Sharyn Johnston, and are continuing to add valuable skills and expertise to your Board.  From early in 2022, as ESTA shakes down into an established organisation, 12 director positions will be subject to election by the members – details will be announced later.

We also started collaborating with several other tea associations and organisations including, close at hand, the European Tea Growers Association.  Regretfully a sister organisation - the American Speciality Tea Alliance (ASTA), founded at the same time and with the same ideals as ESTA folded during the year.  Sadly, ASTA found that its volunteer support was inadequate to keep the organisation alive.  This for me reinforces the wisdom of our early decision to employ a remunerated CEO.  A strong executive function is vitally important for any organisation and especially for a volunteer-based association.  I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank our CEO David Veal for the vast amount of behind the scenes work he does to keep the Association functioning well and maintaining a steady course.  In the year we also appointed a new part time executive administrator, Michelle Hawkins, who is ably helping David to turn the seemingly impossible into reality.

Finally, on behalf of all your Directors I would like to formally thank you - our members – for your ongoing enthusiasm, loyalty and support.  

With  your support we have weathered a distinctly stormy year.  We are well on our way to becoming an influential and respected voice for speciality tea.

I have every confidence that with your further support the European Speciality Tea Association will continue to flourish and grow. 

Relevant documents:

Click HERE for Notification and Agenda

Click HERE to view the 2020/21 Accounts

Click HERE to view the Minutes of the last meeting.

Click HERE for Board Resolution