Tea has been a popular beverage for centuries. It also plays an important role in our social and economic lives. We know tea as a refreshing drink, a delicate delight, unique in its inherent cultural values and the health benefits it brings to our daily lives. In Europe, consumers are increasingly demanding natural and organic ingredients in a variety of blends, flavours and environments. However, the tea sector faces a number of challenges that need to be addressed to ensure its long-term sustainability. Tea production is highly vulnerable to climate-related events and global warming, which severely affect yields and tea quality.
Tea has been grown in some European Union (EU) countries for several years, and in France, tea is a new area of interest compared to Asian countries. The French tea production has been developed in several regions such as Normandy, Brittany, New Aquitaine, Occitanie, with more than 40 farmers and 30,000 tea trees planted by 2023 and still increasing every year. The question of the quality and authenticity of teas, particularly French teas, is currently being raised with the development of this sector. It is therefore necessary to have the means to qualify and authenticate teas, from the source of production to the consumer. This requires the development of a database so that products can be traced. Several approaches are possible, in particular the use of analytical sciences to study the compounds present in tea, but also in soils, by studying the soil-plant transfer through water and the rhizosphere. All the information obtained from these analyses will be used to build a database that can be used to create a tea cartography and help identify the origin of teas.
The aim of this workshop is to bring together people from different disciplines such as analytical sciences, agronomy, soil sciences, human and social sciences, as well as partners in the field, from producer to consumer, with the support of the tea houses; encourage dialogues between communities with different disciplinary backgrounds in order to develop approaches in the field of tea and, in particular, to protect the rapidly expanding French tea sector.
This workshop will present the latest and most painstaking information and research on French and South East Asian teas, as well as an exhibition of photos and various representative teas from these producers. The conference will provide an opportunity to learn about the main issues related to tea, to identify the challenges facing tea, and to seek solutions to promote French and South East Asian teas more widely in the country and internationally.
Your participation is most welcomed!
Registration for this workshop is free but mandatory.
On behalf of organizers
Philippe Behra (Email: philippe.behra@toulouse-inp.fr)
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