NEWS RELEASE
January 7, 2007
CONTACT:
Jacquelyn Clair
Marketing Design Group
Phone: 619.298.1445 x106
Email: jacquelyn@mdgworks.com
For Immediate Release

World Tea Expo announces most innovative Education
Program to date.
Las Vegas, NV—The World Tea Expo®, which offers the largest Educational Program on
tea, has announced the addition of four new programs to meet the needs of the rapidly
growing tea industry. A New Business Boot Camp, the Executive and Technical
Series, Skill-Building Workshops and Super Workshops will compliment more than
40 sessions comprising the Expo’s Core Conference Program. The World Tea Expo
will be held May 30 – June 1, 2008 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las
Vegas, NV. Registration opens online at www.worldteaexpo.com January 8th.
“World Tea Expo’s attendance has grown an average of nearly 40 percent per year
since our inception in 2003 and the educational needs of the attendees has changed
significantly,” stated Kim Jage, VP of Sales & Marketing for the World Tea Expo.
“Whether the attendee is a new tea room owner or a research scientist from a Fortune
500 company, the Expo is committed to providing the most relevant, exciting and useful
educational tools to ensure their professional success.”
Core Conference Program
Central to the Expo’s Educational Program is the Core Conference comprised of 36
sessions and 6 Focused Tastings from important growing regions in the world, including
for the first-time ever Hawaii. In addition, two brand new components added in 2008
include the Skill-Building Workshops and Super Workshops.
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The three individual Skill-Building Workshops offered are Blending, Cupping and
Brewing/Serving Tea. Each is a 3-hour, intensive, hands-on training led by top industry
professionals. Stacie Woods, Director of Education noted, “The limited class size and
team-teaching environment created will help aspiring tea professionals hone their
mastery of these core skills.”
The Super Workshops will be offered in the afternoons, creating a relaxed environment
to enjoy the two sessions: Tea & Chocolate Pairing led by Pearl Dexter, Publisher of
TEA A Magazine®; and The Way of Tea, with the Grand Master of the Ura Senke
Foundation from Japan teaching attendees the art and practice of the Japanese Tea
Ceremony.
New Business Boot Camp
The New Business Boot Camp (NBBC), held the two days prior to the Expo, May 28 –
29, 2008, will feature 16-hours of intensive, hands-on sessions designed especially for
new and aspiring tea room owners, as well as unique and exciting micro-networking
opportunities. The inclusive program will feature small class sizes to maximize the
student-teacher interaction and covers critical topics such as: Tea 101; Strategic
Planning; Marketing & Building Your Customer Base; and Using Technology To Manage
Your Tea Room. The NBBC faculty represents some of the top teachers in their
respective subjects, such as Jane Pettigrew, “The First Lady of Tea”, and Bruce
Richardson, Owner, Elmwood Fine Teas and Benjamin Press.
Executive & Technical Series
Designed specifically for the top executives, research scientists, product formulators and
ingredient managers of major consumer-products companies, the Executive & Technical
Series (ETS) will lead-off with a data-packed never-seen-before Super Data Session
featuring stats, forecasts and trend-analyses from Mintel®, SPINS®, UK-based
Canadean, and the International Tea Committee.
“Tea is being used as an ingredient in an unprecedented number of new consumer
products outside the realm of hot and cold beverages,” said Autumn White, senior
market analyst for Sage Group, publisher of the Specialty Tea is “Hot” Report® and soon
to be released Tea Ingredients Annual. “In addition to record levels of tea-based
beverage products being introduced to the marketplace, tea is being incorporated into
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personal care products, functional foods and even pet products to leverage the healthy,
nutritive properties of Camellia sinensis (tea),” notes White.
Additionally involved in the two-day ETS will be natural products-industry veterans and
experts Loren Israelsen, Executive Director of the United Natural Products Association;
Rob McCaleb, President of the Herb Research Foundation; and Mark Blumenthal,
Founder of the American Botanical Council. “We are excited to offer this level of content
to meet the needs of the major companies coming to the Expo each year,” commented
Jage.
For more information on the World Tea Expo, including a full listing of events and
seminars, new features for 2008, a floor plan and an interactive exhibitor directory, visit
www.worldteaexpo.com.