New rules - new flavors
Since January 1, 2022, new rules for organic products apply in the EU. For tea drinkers, it is about what flavors can be used when flavoring tea.
It is not so easy to interpret what the regulation says, so here is a small summary of how it can affect you as a customer.
What is actually organic?
There are several things that apply for the tea itself to be called organic. First, it must be grown without chemical pesticides. Secondly, no artificial fertilizers must be used in its cultivation. When flavoring a tea with aromas, it can either continue to be called organic under certain conditions. In addition, this must be checked by an independent auditor. We are also checked every year, to make sure that what we sell as organic has really been checked in the step before us, and that we do not, for example, sell more organic tea than we buy.
New rules for flavorings
Pure organic teas will not be significantly affected by the new rules. If you drink flavored teas, there will be some changes.
It has been a bit difficult to communicate what is "flavor", "natural flavor" and "nature-identical flavor" etc. Now it is true that flavors used to flavor organic tea must come to 95% from the corresponding / naming product, the rest from other natural sources. For example, you can call a flavoring lemon flavoring, even if 5% comes from orange. However, even if it is possible to produce exactly the same flavorings chemically, such flavorings cannot be used for organic products. However, the flavoring does not have to be 100% organic.
What does this mean for Tea Central customers?
Citrus fruits often provide very intense flavors in a simple way. This includes orange and lemon, but also bergamot, which flavors Earl Grey and its variants. However, it is more difficult with mango, apple and pear, as the flavor strength is only a few thousandths of what citrus fruits can give.
Some teas that were previously organic, we will no longer be able to sell as organic tea. For some teas, this means that we will sell them as "conventional", i.e. non-organic, even if the tea itself is organically grown. For other varieties, it means that the aroma and therefore the taste will change. We will therefore change the flavors of some teas, while other teas will be re-classified as conventional.
Good or bad?
It is good that it will be easier to communicate about the teas. If we sell a black tea flavored with orange, the list of ingredients will say "orange aroma" and not just "aroma". At the same time, we think this is a bit unfortunate, because it will mean that some organic varieties will disappear and be replaced by conventional ones. In the worst case, there will be less organic tea on the market, instead of more. But only time will tell.