Author Archives: Xavier
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What is in a name? Positioning
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Let me clarify something first, this post is not meant to judge any brand/product or to imply that they are not delivering what they say they are. Positioning is how a brand tries to find a set of attributes to get a clear, attractive, different …
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All it took was one ship
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All it took for me to think about this topic was one ship. If only this was true, it would make a good story but the truth is that I came across the topic of this Swedish East India Company (or SOC in Swedish) through …
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“The True Vintage of Erzuine Thale” or the art of selecting teas
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I was reading a compendium of novellas in the Dying Earth setting (a Jack Vance’s invention and for those of you who don’t know what I am speaking about, here is a link) when I came across one dealing with the finest wines on Earth, …
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The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence
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Sometimes, you have to go back to another place you know well to find “new” and interesting things that you had previously missed. I once spoke of loose leaf tea sold in a supermarket (see here) but I saw during this week an interesting concept …
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Bowing to traditions
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Tradition is something that binds people together. Sometimes it makes sense when you look at it from an historical perspective but some other times, it amazes those that look at it. As far as tea is concerned, traditions are part of it since it …
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Tea retail business and the Great Captains: an intro
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Small tea business are like every other small business in the world. They face different challenges be it competitors, taxes, difficulties to find good suppliers… but they also have unique advantages in terms of their capacity to evolve, a peculiar relationship with their customers, the …
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Any damn fool
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«Any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith and perseverance to create a brand.» David Ogilvy (1911-1999) With such a quote to begin with, it is obvious that I can only speak of two things: deals or brands. I hope …
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In his lair
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The Master in his lair Was smelling the thin air What he should do next Was the big question. He had done many Nature, flavoured… He had more than twenty In his quest savoured. How many dark nights Did he look at the stars To …
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Hamburg or Free is the name of the game
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Hamburg holds a special place in my heart not because it is a major hub for the world tea trade but today we will only focus on this aspect (sorry for those too curious about me). I will first call everyone knowledgeable about this topic …
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Women drinking tea
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Women drinking tea… At first, I thought it would be easy to write about that topic and say out loud that the tea drinkers are not all old grannies drinking their tea in English china but I found out I was wrong. Now, I will …