Built by Tea Farmers, for the Tea World
The International Tea Farms Alliance is a non-profit organization founded to link tea producers with one another and with tea drinkers around the world.
Founded in Kyoto
ITFA was started by Kyoto Obubu Tea Plantations, with support from the "Japan Brand" project run by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry. The organization is based in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, and operates as a non-profit established by tea farmers themselves.
Membership is free and open to both tea farmers and tea lovers, reflecting the alliance's goal of keeping the exchange between growers and drinkers direct and accessible.
The International Tea Farms Alliance is a non-profit organization built by tea farmers to serve as a bridge between producers and the tea lovers who drink their harvests. Rather than functioning as a commercial marketplace or trading body, the alliance exists to connect growers across regions with an international audience, helping estates and plantations gain visibility and reach consumers who care about where their tea comes from. Its structure is deliberately flat and borderless, mirroring the idea that the connection between farmer and cup should feel direct, immediate and unmediated by layers of intermediaries.
The alliance traces its origins to Kyoto, where it was started with support from a government-backed project focused on promoting Japanese brands and raising the profile of domestic production. From that beginning in Kyoto Prefecture, the idea of a farmer-founded body has grown into a genuinely global network, with members and partner estates spanning Japan, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and beyond, including Hawaii and other growing regions. This international reach is the heart of the mission: shared knowledge, shared standards of quality, and shared access to markets.
Membership is free and open both to tea farmers seeking supporters, collaborators and distribution, and to tea lovers who wish to learn more about the people and places behind each leaf. The alliance presents content on tea cultures, business practice, regional production methods and farm-level stories, alongside news, articles and press material, so that enthusiasts can follow the craft as closely as industry professionals. For those who want to participate more closely, the organization also offers ambassadors, internships, applications and supporter pathways for partners.
A Bridge Between Farms and Tea Lovers
ITFA's core purpose is to connect tea farmers from different production regions with each other and with tea drinkers worldwide. The alliance brings together farms across countries including China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and the USA, working to build relationships across diverse tea-producing regions rather than promoting any single origin or style.
That same mission shapes the Global Tea Tasters Club, which gives members a way to experience tea sourced directly through the alliance's network of farms.