World Tea East Gathers The Tea Industry In Philly, Sept. 9 -10

LAS VEGAS, June 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The tea industry is headed to Philadelphia this September for the launch of World Tea East, Sept. 9 – 10 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The East coast-focused Expo features more than 100 leading-edge tea manufacturers and suppliers, providing professionals the opportunity to discover new products, optimize merchandise, gain product knowledge and network with peers in an intimate setting.

World Tea Media, the organizer of World Tea East, expects more than 2,000 retail buyers, tea professionals, food and beverage manufacturers and decision makers in related industries, including hoteliers, spa owners and restaurateurs.

"The objective of World Tea East is to support and fuel the expanding demand for specialty tea and related products in the Northeast, mid-Atlantic and Southeast United States, and provide solid tea education for the category's ever-growing popularity," says George Jage, president, World Tea Media. "The timing of World Tea East is designed to facilitate immediate or near-term business for the holiday season and first-quarter business."

In addition to the Expo, the World Tea East conference features three programs: Core Conference Sessions, an Executive & Technical Series and a New Business Boot Camp. Seminar topics cover the latest trends, answer current business challenges, provide real solutions and debunk both tea and business myths. Focused Tea Tastings include type-specific tastings as well as advanced training in detecting defects and assessing quality.

The session "Top Tea Retail Trends" looks at American tea retailers--already grossing $7.3 billion--including small footprint stores located in malls and near foodie-focused grocers.

"Tea retail growth is growing significantly faster than foodservice at the moment," says Jage. "Some of our forward-looking sessions assess consumer trends, corresponding changes in the industry and market-leading store concepts, and reveal the formula shared by the industry's winners."

In the session "Understanding the Retail Shopper for Tea Products," gain insights on: purchasing rates by product type; variety and flavor choices for bagged/loose leaf tea vs. ready-to-drink (RTD) tea; planned vs. impulse purchasing; price/promotion based purchasing; and product choice motivators. Another lecture offers a global look at how RTD teas have grown in importance and relevance with consumers today.

The "Think Tea in Every Menu Course" presentation looks at how chefs and restaurants are experimenting with tea. Another session looks at food service marketing trends and what's driving iced tea sales.

Visit www.WorldTeaEast.com.

SOURCE World Tea Media