World Tea launches East Coast event– co-located with Expo East
Is it cheesy to say “This just in…”? Well, sometimes, that is the truth. Check out the news on our latest co-location efforts:
World Tea Launches East Coast Event
World Tea Expo producers partner with Natural Products Expo on new conference
LAS VEGAS (June 8, 2009)—The team that gave the specialty tea industry its biggest annual event is expanding its offerings to the East Coast.
SFG Group, producer of the World Tea Expo®, is launching a second event, World Tea East™. The new regional conference and pavilion will be co-located with Natural Products Expo East, September 23-26, 2009, at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. In addition, an East-Coast edition of World Tea Expo’s popular New Business Boot Camp (NBBC) will take place as part of the Boston event.
George Jage, president of SFG Group, said World Tea East achieves three important goals. First, it responds to demand for specialty tea education on the East Coast by industry members who can’t travel to Las Vegas for World Tea Expo in the summer. Second, it provides a sourcing opportunity for holiday product at an ideal time in the tea buying cycle. And finally, it brings knowledge, products and connections from the country’s top specialty tea trade show to the natural products market.
“We’ve had numerous requests to offer our program to people in the Northeast United States, but we didn’t want to have a second, independent show,” Jage said. “Our partnership with Natural Products Expo East is a perfect solution to fill the needs of the industry through a more robust platform.”
World Tea East will begin with the NBBC, Sept. 22-24. The three-day intensive workshop is designed to give budding tea entrepreneurs direct interaction with industry leaders. The World Tea East Core Conference, with sessions geared toward established business owners, runs Sept. 23-24. And the World Tea Pavilion will be a group of exhibits dedicated to specialty tea within the Natural Products Expo show floor, which is open Sept. 24-26.
It won’t be all learning and buying, either. Tapping into their experience producing the tea industry’s most exciting special events, World Tea East organizers also will host the World Tea Championship Winners Tasting on the evening of Sept. 23. At this elegant affair, attendees will have the chance to sample winning teas from the World Tea Championship™, an annual competition that results in independent tea ratings.
“We are thrilled to be working with World Tea,” said Alan Peterson, senior vice president of New Hope Natural Media, which produces Natural Products Expo East. “Specialty tea is a rising star in the natural products industry, so it makes perfect sense for us to partner with the leaders in the specialty tea community.”
