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The Executive & Technical Series (ETS) provides cutting-edge content designed specifically for top executives, research scientists, product formulators and ingredient managers using tea in a wide range of applications. 

This exclusive education track will be held the mornings of Friday, May 30th and Saturday May 31st. 

To register more than one representative from same company, please use this form to take advantage of the group discount: Company Registration   

 Schedule-at-a-Glance:

Education Content Full Descriptions

Super Data Session:  An unprecedented line-up of leading market research providers will  share their cutting-edge data and offer their unique insights into the global tea markets.  Brian Keating, Publisher of the Specialty Tea is “Hot” Report will moderate presentations from Mintel, SPINS, Canadean, and the International Tea Committee.  A lengthy Q&A will be included in this session.

• Tea of all kinds is appearing in a number of food and nonfood products around the world. In some cases, the tea is present for its cache, flavor, and aroma alone. But in many others, it is designed to serve a functional benefit, whether it be the weight loss benefits of green tea or the antibacterial benefits of tea in skincare. Lynn Dornblaser of Mintel Custom Solutions will present cutting edge data on how tea has appeared in a wide range of categories beyond beverages.
  Speaker: Lynn Dornblaser, Director, Custom Solutions Group, Mintel International Group
  
  
• Natural and Organic Tea is a $500 million category in supermarket retail while Ready-To-Drink varieties are driving overall beverage trends with growth rates of +20%. Learn about current consumer buying behaviors and key demographics as SPINS explores the driving sales trends within Natural Supermarkets and Conventional Food, Drug & Mass.
  Speaker: Lara Christenson, Director of Business Insights, SPINS
   
  
• Kim Slater of Canadean will present a broad ranging review of Hot Tea consumption highlighting its key features and putting it into the context of other beverages. This information will be based not only upon hard data but also 1st hand experience and insights gained in-market in the most important tea markets around the world, including Russia, China, and India.
  Speaker: Kim Slater, Principal, Faraday Business Consulting (A Canadean Consulting Firm)
  
  
• Manuja Peiris of the International Tea Committee (ITC) will discuss data reviewing Global Supply Trends in the Tea industry.  He will provide cutting edge data regarding Total World Production of Tea over the last 10 years through today.
  Speaker: Manuja Peiris, Chief Executive and Statistician, International Tea Committee (ITC)
  

Speaker:  Frank Jaksch, President and CEO, ChromaDex

Is my product a tea, a food, a dietary supplement or what?  Why it matters and why you need to know: 
In today’s regulatory maze a simple tea may actually be a food, a drug, a dietary supplement or, God forbid, a food additive.  Your ingredients and claims you make determine your label setup, GNP compliance, retail tax status, and much more.  Mistakes in regulation can costs your company hundreds of thousands of dollars.  We will review examples of how companies failed to properly label their products and review the current regulations to make the rules work for you.
Speaker: Loren Israelsen, Executive Director, United Natural Products Alliance

Currently, stevia is sold in the US only as a dietary supplement, limiting its current use in mainstream consumer products. Major corporations, however, are partnering and investing heavily in creating GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status for stevia to enable its use in conventional food products. Mark Blumenthal will explore alternatives to stevia and the possibilities for developing new tea and beverage blends using both popular and relatively exotic herbal ingredients. He will further discuss considerations for marketing tea blends as “dietary supplements” in ways that allow the packaging to appropriately convey some of their benefits.
Speaker:  Mark Blumenthal, Founder and Executive Director, American Botanical Council 


Tea Polyphenol Application Science
Formulating science-based products and claims for beverages, functional foods and supplements involves a delicate interplay of science, regulation and marketing. Learn how leading edge research on specific polyphenols and other tea research can guide product development, claims development and effective marketing. FTC requires "competent and reliable science" behind advertising claims and you're doomed if you advertise without it. What extracts and isolates qualify for legitimate health benefit claims, at what levels, and in what types of products? Case studies will show exactly how effective products and bullet-proof claims are crafted and promoted.
Speaker:  Rob McCaleb, President, Herb Research Foundation


The R&D of New Tea Intellectual Property - Developing & Commercializing Tea-Centric Finished Goods: 
The proliferation of tea-centric goods—from beverages to cosmetics to capsules—has brewed a highly generic, saturated and utterly confusing plethora of products, rendering consumers challenged in making informed choices. How do you reach consumers, drive sales, and secure brand loyalty with tea-based products and ingredients?  How do you create products that consistently delivers targeted outcomes (flavor, efficacy, nutrition and more) with each and every purchase? This “below sea level barrier” to new product creation invites an opportunity to create weapons that can exclude competitors from making the same product, or the same claims. Learn how to take a concept through strategic, value-adding maturation steps, yielding a finished product that reproducibly works, cannot be copied by others (without risk of penalty), and can emerge as a category disruptor with economic sustainability supported by legions of brand-loyal customers.
Speaker:  Anthony L. Almada, MSc, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, IMAGINutrition

Program Cost - $795.00 first person

Group Discounts Available - $595.00 second person from same company

                                                    $395.00 third or more persons from same company

To register more than one representative from same company, please use this form to take advantage of the group discount: Company Registration

A La Carte Pricing Available - Individual session registration is available through the online registration system.