Unique fusions sometimes provide some fantastic results.
Technological fusion can contribute to the development of new tea products. For example, collaboration of tea processor and industrial research institute had create a new puer tea using a single microorganism strain. Arahataen Tea Farm developed its original puer tea “Saryu Soso” by the collaboration work with the Industrial Research Institute of Shizuoka Prefecture, which has the accumulation of knowledges about fermentation for food processing.
Many businesses have created various tea products by fusion of tea and other goods. For example, matcha is used for various cuisines, confections and beverages. STARBUCKS Japan demonstrated the unique event “Matcha Fusion”, which provide us with the opportunity to guess the new stuff using for the new match beverage.
The new matcha beverage presented the new harmony of matcha with mascarpone and citruses.
These fusions stimulate me to try create some combinations of tea and others. Sun rouge pickles and vinegar, sun rouge cocktail of plum liquor, matcha raktajino, matcha sauce etc. as posted before.
White raddish and onion pickled with loose leaf tea of ‘Sun Rouge’. Sun Rouge colored the pickles to pale pink.
Colorful cocktail using ‘Sun Rouge’.
Ice of ‘Sun Rouge’ can make the natural color gradation from purple to pale pink with plum liquor.
Matcha Raktajino made from organic matcha, spices, Gyokuro and cinnamon.
My favorite matcha fusion cuisine “baked Tofu topped with spicy matcha keema”.
Kaneroku Matsumoto Tea Garden has developed and sold a line of mixture of Hojicha roasted tea and various local products. I love the GIAHS blend of green tea cultivated by “Chagusaba” method and genmai roasted rice produced in Sado Island. Chagusaba farming is the practice inputting grasses growing around tea plantations to the soil of tea plantation. This method has been practiced by the tea farmers on Kakegawa tea estate and surrounding tea estates such as Makinohara upland and Kawane tea estate, resulting in the wealth of biodiversity as described in a FAO report. Sado Island has the endangered wild bird, Japanese Crested Ibis “Toki”. Farmers and island people has kept to practice the wildlife friendly agriculture and reservation of environment, resulting in the harmony of paddy field with Japanese Crested Ibis as described in a FAO report. Mr. Matsumoto, chief tea farmer of Kaneroku Matsumoto Tea Garden, cultivates tea plants by Chagusaba farming and he blends his specialty tea with genmai roasted rice produced in Sado Island by the cooperation with his friend in the island. Their future-oriented motivation and partnership over crop types and distance could create the prominent unique fusion!
Appearance of loose leaf tea of GIAHS Genmai blended tea launched by Kaneroku Matsumotoen.
Harmony of 2 GIAHS products, Genmai roasted rice grown with Japanese Crested Iblis and roasted green tea produced by Chagusaba method.
Lately the fusion of tea businesses and new technologies is quite interesting!
“Tea House Meditation” was created by Pure Leaf Tea and launched as one of the Alexa skills for Amazon Echo. This unique Alexa’s service can advise some exercises and teas suit to our feelings or conditions at the time.
Integration of developed technologies is also important for the breakthrough against the present issues. Now organic cultivation in agriculture is require worldwide. Of course, tea farmers and related businesses also put significance on organic tea farming, as indicated in the Organic Tea Power Up Meeting conducted by MAFF.
On the other hand, organic tea farmers commonly input much labor for weeding.
As for the weeding on the soil between rows of tea bushes, I expect the fusion of automatic tea farming vehicle launched by Matsumoto Kiko co. ltd. and the weeding equipment launched by Ochiai Hamono co. ltd. Matsumoto Kiko developed the vehicle-type automatic tea plucking machine, which plucks tea shoots according to pre-setting without human operator riding. The machine can move along the row of tea bush with sensing the plants. Some types of sensor can allow the machine to move the next row of tea bush at the edge of row. As the name of “Hamono” indicating, where “Hamono” means “blades” in English, Ochihai Hamono has traditionally developed various machines for plucking and pruning. Lately Ochiai Hamono launched a new attachment equipment for weeding on the soil between rows of tea bush. If these two technologies could integrated, the unique fusion could decrease the labor input of tea farmers for weeding.
I think many entrepreneurs or businesses tried unique fusions and most of them may not be successful. On the other hand, such fusion could result in some insights for the next business. Hopefully unique fusion odyssey and collaboration among various businesses could accelerate the development in tea industry and result in real options for such challengers!