Germany native Dr. Hans-J. Langenbahn studied Social Anthropology and on one of his post university-trips to Ethiopia he suddenly became hooked on the coffee there. After completing some extended cup tasting trainings at the national “Coffee Liquoring Unit” he found himself and for almost 15 years, in the Specialty Coffee business.During this time, in October 2007, he moved from Germany to Canada. For several years he continued travelling to coffee producing countries as well as running his German online shop for Specialty Coffees. But after a while he knew it was time for a change. An old friend of his, and long-time manager of the German Teekampagne, requested to sell their teas in Canada. After 6 or 7 years of asking Dr. Hans to commit to this new venture he finally said ‘yes’ in 2014.
I chatted with Dr. Hans to learn more about the history of Teekampagne, the goal for Tea Campaign Canada, and tea trends he is noticing in Canada.
1. What is one of your earliest and favourite tea related memory?
My earliest memory: tea is in little bags, and only poor people drink it. Those who can afford it drink coffee. That was the mentality of the social (farmers- and workers-) environment I grew up in.My favourite early memory: more than 20 years ago I discovered in a little town in the southwest of Germany, a tea-store. The owner spent many years in Japan and he served me – in his words – the best Japanese tea he had in stock (I unfortunately forgot which tea it exactly was). It was an extremely light-bodied, tasteless tea – I thought. But then he explained to me more about the tea, its taste, flavour etc., and after a few more cups I started to discover the fine, for an inexperienced palate, hidden flavour. This was the moment when I realized how important knowledge and taste-training was if you wanted to explore and discover the flavours beyond “Ostfriesen Tee” (you know, this bold, strong brew that needs a lot sugar and milk).
2. What do you believe sets Tea Campaign apart from other tea companies?
There’s a bunch of things that sets the German Teekampagne and the Tea Campaign Canada (as well as the Boston Tea Campaign in the US and the Tea Campaign in New Zealand) apart.
Basically there is the paradigm: buy a top quality product for a fair price and sell it for the lowest possible one. At the first glance this doesn’t make sense, as high quality and/or rare products (and Darjeeling tea is a relatively rare one) are always and everywhere sold at the highest prices. But the founder of the Teekampagne, the Economist Prof. Guenter Faltin, asked the question: why do they have to be expensive? And isn’t it the high price that makes them inaccessible for too many people?
After intense research he was convinced that it is the number of middlemen between producers and consumers that makes those products so expensive, not necessarily a limited quantity or other reasons. Based on this understanding, but also on the ideas of Gottlieb Duttweiler, the founder of Migros in Switzerland, he developed, in the early 80’s of the last century, the “campaign principle”. The Teekampagne was originally a theoretical model. To prove that the model not only works but also can be successful he founded the Teekampagne.
The pillars of his “campaign principle” are:
- Be focused on only one product (Darjeeling tea)
- Buy directly from tea gardens; exclude middlemen
- Buy in bulk
- Use large packets; this saves on packaging, labelling and handling costs
- Convince your customers to buy their year’s supply at a time; this saves shipping and warehouse costs
- No advertising; just word of mouth
Originally the Teekampagne sold the bulk of their tea exclusively within a short period of time in the year after the arrival of a new harvest. Customers were (and still are) informed in advance about the arrival and could (and still can) make their orders. Hence the name “Campaign”.Another difference between us and our competitors is, besides our organic certification, each tea-lot is tested for all kind of possible chemical residues (currently 486 chemicals). This is unique.
3. How was it decided to have Tea Campaign Canada focus on Darjeeling only?
The decision was made by Prof. Guenter Faltin simply by the fact that focusing on one single tea results in higher quantities compared to buying smaller quantities of 10 or 20 different teas. And a higher volume results, as we know, in a lower price. And as long as this price is a fair price, everybody is happy: producers, importers and consumers.
4. Do you find it is more difficult to focus on one tea only?
From a business perspective: no. From a personal perspective: yes. There is always this inner desire to offer all this great variety of teas produced around the world. But this desire is not limited to tea. When I started my online coffee shop I had, one purpose, only one coffee: Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia’s No.1 and one of the worlds best coffees. But then this desire… I ended up with having fifteen absolutely great coffees and Espressos, but due to the inevitable smaller quantities of each, I had to pay the highest prices for the green coffee; and roasting small batches is also inefficient and costly. So, what is the better decision – at least business wise…?
5. Tell me a bit about Tea Campaign’s tea growers. What kind of relationship do you have with them?
Honestly, I’m the wrong person to answer this question. I’m too new in the Darjeeling tea business, but people like Prof. Faltin or the manager general Thomas Räuchle could give you detailed answers. Especially Mr. Räuchle, who has been with the Teekampagne from almost the very beginning, knows all 86 tea gardens in Darjeeling, knows all their owners, managers, parts of their staff and workers. But one thing I know for sure: the Teekampagne has strong ties to many of the gardens. This doesn’t necessarily mean that there is always “Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen” (“peace, joy and egg-cake”) as they use to say in Germany. Producers are producers, buyers are buyers; and both parties have to be satisfied with a deal. But due to its economic and environmental impact, the standing of the Teekampagne among the tea gardens is a strong one.
6. I’m always very interested in Canadian tea habits. What have you noticed from being here?
Basically the same as what I experienced in coffee too: Canadians, at least the Canadians I know, like it bold and dark (exception: the watery Tim Hortons coffee and the watery beer of the big national breweries; but there it’s not about coffee or beer: it’s about tradition, legacy, identity and…branding!). To bring my experience I would like to quote a tea-store owner here in Ottawa: He recently said to me: “I try to get rid of my First Flush Darjeelings. People don’t want it. It’s too light and flavourful for them. They like it bold. They like the Second Flushes.”