On 23rd October 2010, International Alert’s Economy & Conflict project partners, the Caucasus Business and Development Network (CBDN), organised the third Caucasus Tea Festival together with the Caucasian Tea Producers’ Association. The goal of the Festival was to popularise varieties of teas from the region, including CBDN’s own brand of "Caucasus Tea", and to promote cooperation in the tea sector throughout the South Caucasus.
The programme of the Festival consisted of presentations on tea-growing and production, discussions with leading regional tea producers and sellers, as well as the ever-popular tea tasting events.
CBDN’s brand “Caucasus Tea”, which symbolises collaboration among Caucasian peoples across the conflicts’ divides, was presented among many other assortments of premium tea brands. It attracted special attention due to its unique regional blend of tea. Participants remarked especially on its taste and aroma, as well as discussing the current challenges the Caucasus tea sector is facing, the prospects for reviving the region’s tea-growing traditions, strengthening export-import potentials and attracting foreign investments into the sector.
In addition to Armenian, Azerbaijani, Nagorno-Karabakhi and Georgian producers, the event attracted many participants including investors, authorities, NGOs and hundreds of people from the general public.
CBDN is a regional network that promotes peacebuilding through regional economic cooperation and dialogue between all business communities across the South Caucasus. It was founded in 2005 and its work is guided by its members’ shared vision of an economically connected and cooperating peaceful Caucasus. Find out more at www.caucasusbusiness.net [3].
"Caucasus Tea" is a brand created from herbs and tea by Azerbaijani, Armenian, Georgian, Abkhaz, Ossetian and Nagorno-Karabakhi producers and experts. It offers flavours from all corners of the Caucasus and symbolises commonalities across the region. As of today, with the support of International Alert, CBDN is developing a region-wide strategy on popularising the "Caucasus Tea" across the region, which entails introducing the tea commercially where possible and other methods of raising awareness and reaching out to new audiences in other areas.