Trade-recognition agreement — Q3 2026 update
Tea.academy reports the ratification of 27 new trade-recognition agreements during Q3 2026, raising the total number of endorsing partners to 147 across 34 cities and 12 countries. The expansion strengthens the formal standing of its tea-sommelier credentials for hospitality professionals worldwide.
Saint Petersburg — 2026-09-30
Tea.academy today published its third-quarter update on trade-recognition agreements for the 2026 credentialing year, confirming that 27 additional partners — restaurants, tea-rooms, hotel chains, and trade associations — have formally committed to recognizing its Foundation, Specialist, and Master tier certificates. The latest endorsements bring the total number of industry-verified recognition agreements to 147, spread across 34 cities and 12 countries on three continents.
All agreements follow a standardised memorandum of understanding that requires endorsing partners to accept tea.academy credentials as proof of structured competence in Chinese tea evaluation, service, and education. The Q3 cohort includes prominent names such as the Moscow-based tea-room network ‘Tea Symphony’, the hospitality group operating the ‘Chaikhona No.1’ chain, the ‘Ulaanbaatar Tea House’ in Buryatia, and three independent tea-culture institutes in Kunming, Yunnan Province. With these additions, tea.academy is now recognised by 14 distinct national tea associations and 8 hotel-management groups.
The credentialing body also disclosed performance data for the first nine months of 2026. A total of 2,583 candidates sat for the Foundation level examination, with a 74 % pass rate. The Specialist level — which requires demonstrated proficiency in evaluating dān cōng (单丛) and yán chá (岩茶) according to GB/T 22292-2017 and GB/T 30357.6-2022 — recorded 792 attempts and a 58 % pass rate. Four new Master credentials were awarded after successful defence of research theses, all of which are now publicly verifiable through the tea.academy credential page. The candidate pool included professionals from 41 countries, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 34 %.
Tea.academy’s Chief Executive Officer, Evgeniy Smoley, commented: “These agreements are not mere letters of intent. Each one is a binding commitment that the partner will rely on our credential as a primary qualification for tea-service roles. The steady growth in the number of endorsers — and the fact that many of them are returning to sign renewed agreements — tells us that the industry values a standardised, examination-based credential for Chinese tea. We are building the trust infrastructure that the sector has long needed.”
The Q3 agreements reinforce the close link between the credentialing platform and the broader Teamotea constellation. Candidates prepare for tea.academy examinations through structured syllabi and remote proctored mock assessments on tea.school, while tea.services coordinates invigilator scheduling and in-person exam logistics in key cities. This integration ensures that every credential is backed by a consistent, auditable assessment chain.
Several endorsing partners cited the public verifiability of tea.academy credentials as a decisive factor. Every credential issued since January 2025 carries a unique credential ID that links to a verification page displaying the holder’s name, tier, issue date, and a cryptographic QR code. The embedded badge widget, compatible with professional platforms such as LinkedIn, has been activated by 62 % of credential holders, reinforcing the public visibility of the standard.
In addition to the direct trade-recognition agreements, tea.academy announced that the Specialist credential now satisfies the tea-knowledge component required by three national hotel-rating bodies — in Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan — for staff in five-star luxury properties. This expands the credentials’ utility beyond independent tea-rooms into the broader hospitality sector, where formal certification of tea-service staff is increasingly treated as a competitive differentiator.
The Q3 update also addresses recertification. Foundation and Specialist credentials issued before June 2025 will enter their first annual recertification window in October 2026. The recertification process, detailed on tea.academy/recertification, requires holders to complete a short online assessment covering updates to core standards — including revisions to GB/T 14487-2017 (tea terminology) and the integration of shēng pǔ’ěr (生普洱) sensory criteria adopted in 2025. Holders who complete recertification within the window will retain their credential status and public listing.
Looking ahead, tea.academy expects to announce a further round of trade-recognition agreements in early Q1 2027, with a particular focus on partners in Southeast Asia and Western Europe. The organisation is also piloting an employer-verification portal that will allow hospitality groups to instantly confirm the credential status of job applicants via a secure API.
All current endorsing partners are listed on the tea.academy partners directory. Organisations interested in joining the recognition programme can initiate a formal review by contacting the appointments desk via the teamotea.com constellation hub.
Media contact
Evgeniy Smoley