Memberships & Benefits

Membership

A Free Membership

ITFA is a non-profit organization established by tea farmers as a bridge between tea producers and tea lovers around the world. Membership costs nothing: an application is all that stands between you and the alliance's network of member farms and resources.

• Free Membership

  Joining the International Tea Farms Alliance is free of charge for tea farmers and tea lovers alike.

• Tea Information

  Members gain access to curated tea information and resources shared through the alliance.

• Global Tea Tasters Club

  Membership includes the option to take part in the Global Tea Tasters Club, which shares tea selections from member farms.

Join ITFA GTT Club

The International Tea Farms Alliance is a non-profit organization built by tea farmers themselves, acting as a bridge between the estates and smallholders that grow tea and the enthusiasts who want to know where their cup comes from. Rather than a commercial marketplace, it functions as a connective network, opening a channel between producers and tea lovers across regions such as Japan, China, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Korea and beyond. The alliance exists so that the people tending the tea bushes have a voice, and so that drinkers can trace a leaf back to a garden, a season and a particular patch of hillside.

Membership in the alliance is free, which is deliberate: the organisation was created to serve tea farmers and supporters alike, so a modest application form is the only barrier to entry. Once inside, members receive information and resources shared by the alliance, including access to the Global Tea Tasters Club, where tastings and discussion of character, aroma and leaf style can be explored. The benefits that follow membership are practical and educational rather than transactional, helping people understand processing methods, cultivars, harvest timing and the realities of working on a tea farm in a different climate or tradition from their own.

The alliance's member estates and gardens span very different landscapes and traditions, from shaded gardens and small family plots to larger estate operations, and each contributes something distinctive to the collective picture. Articles, news, blogs and cultural features on the site give context to the regions where tea is grown, while information on business, trade, the industry and production offers a glimpse of the economics behind the leaf. Projects connected with government ministries and local bodies, internship and ambassador programmes, and press coverage extend that reach further, connecting the farms with students, researchers and organisations interested in tea.

Joining the alliance is a two-sided proposition. For tea farmers, it offers visibility, shared knowledge and a route to a global audience that values transparency and provenance; for supporters of tea, it opens the door to learning, to tastings and to a clearer sense of the people and places behind every infusion. The organisation's stated mission is simple: to connect producers and consumers, to support the farms, and to give the industry a shared platform. It started as a growers' idea and continues on that footing, with the tea itself as the common ground that holds the network together.