Earlier this month we again attended The World Tea Expo, which was held in Las Vegas. Though I am not a big fan of the city, the venue worked well for this annual event. Our first participation at this trade show (then named Take Me to Tea) was in Providence RI. If I recall correctly there were about 400 attendees. That was 4 years ago. The Expo’s website says they had over 4600 registered this year! Yes, over a 10 fold growth. The number of exhibitors also has increased each year. We are starting to see support and affiliated vendors viaing to attract business from this fast growing segment.
All this bodes well for those that enjoy fine teas. More people wanting to start up, more companies growing, more and better supplies of tea and accessories, and more solid information about tea and health. It also means that some will jump into the industry just to get in on what they perceive is easy money from the overall growth. These people often have not done sufficient research, or do not have a real apprecitation of fine teas. Those are the operators that have less than great products, and usually are short lived when the consumers become more educated.
In any case, it will be fun to watch, and to be a part of this new trend in the US.
