OUR TEAM
Shabnam Weber
President
Shabnam Weber has dedicated over 25 years to the tea industry, starting with her own innovative tea company in Toronto. Her passion for tea led her to join the Tea and Herbal Association of Canada, where she developed the Tea Sommelier® program. Since becoming President in 2018, Shabnam has transformed the association into a global industry leader. She is the Canadian representative and Vice-Chair of the UN FAO’s Intergovernmental Group on Tea, actively contributing to key working groups and co-founder of the International Alliance of Women in Tea. With a focus on diversity and a sustainable global tea community, Shabnam is committed to advancing the industry through collaboration and fostering meaningful connections.
Adi Baker
Communication & Programs Coordinator
Adi Baker is THAC’s Communication & Programs Coordinator. In this role she is dedicated to membership relations and in charge of marketing, media outreach, events and coordinating the Tea Sommelier® Certification Program. She holds an Honours degree from Queen’s University and a Masters degree from York University. Additionally, she is a certified THAC Tea Sommelier®. For Adi, tea has always been part of some of the best and most memorable moments in her life and career. She enjoys being a part of the tea industry and providing assistance to THAC members, from varying parts of the supply chain, and students in THAC’s education program.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Nancy Lavigne
Chairperson
Nancy Lavigne is the General Manager for Canada for Lipton Teas and Infusions, one of the most important tea companies in the world. In line with the company’s objectives, she is committed to create value for all in the tea industry with high sustainability standards and value for stakeholders. With over 20 years of experience in the CPG industry, she has a deep knowledge of Canadian market that she developed through various roles in sales and marketing.
Kirsten Sullivan
Vice-Chairperson
Kirsten Sullivan is the Director of Corporate Food Safety and Quality at Bigelow Tea, family tea blenders since 1945, located in Fairfield, Connecticut. Though new to the tea and herbal industry, Kirsten has spent 22 years in food and dietary supplement manufacturing and the last 12 in the food safety, regulatory and quality arenas. Her role encompasses the whole of the supply chain from partnering with ingredient and material suppliers to developing the FSQ systems and programs that enable Bigelow to deliver uncompromising quality to the consumer.
Kurt Hatherly
Treasurer
Kurt Hatherly is the Country Head for Canada at TATA Consumer Products. He as been with TATA since 2008, serving in several roles
Zahra Afshar
Director
Zahra Afshar is the Head of Legal, Human Rights and Sustainability for Ahmad Tea. Trained in criminal defence law and human rights, Zahra has channelled her passion for safeguarding fundamental freedoms into the family tea business and spearheads initiatives to instil responsible business practices to protect the most vulnerable in the tea supply chain. Her commitment to long term impact and addressing real needs has led to nutrition projects, sanitation programs and widened access to education – benefiting communities, not only within the tea industry, but beyond. Her efforts helped earn the Ahmad Tea the King’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development in 2024. Called to Bar, Masters at London School of Economics, Bristol University LLB.
Carman Allison
Director
Carman Allison serves as VP of Consumer Insights for Nielsen Canada. Carman has his finger on the pulse of the CPG landscape and is relied on by manufacturers and retailers to provide them with the consumer insights they need to make strategic and impactful business decisions. He shares his insights on consumer shopping, industry trends and buying and media consumption behaviours and attitudes through thought leadership reports, industry presentations and his two monthly columns in Canadian Grocer and Grocery Business magazine.
Mark Arathoon
Director
Mark has more than 30 years’ experience in the Tea Industry. He has been CEO/President of Blue Ocean Tea & Herb Co., based in Vancouver Canada, since 2013 and has been instrumental in building the enterprise value of this specialty tea trading group. Blue Ocean Tea & Herb Co. currently operates in North America and Europe and they are working on expanding the global footprint of the business. Mark is also the co-founder and director of UK food and drink businesses including Ministry of Tea (from 2016) and Divine Organics (from 2019) and he is currently a Board Member of the Tea and Herbal Association Canada (THAC). Mark graduated with a degree in Economics from St Xavier’s College, Calcutta, India and he holds post-graduate qualifications in leadership and marketing from Cornell University and Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania.
Sean Batty
Director
Sean Batty is Global Director of Raw Material Sourcing at Yogi Tea, with 30+ years of international supply chain leadership. Before joining Yogi he spent 20 years with Starbucks in senior global roles across the UK, The Netherlands, and the US, and has over a decade of experience working in the tea sector. A former board member of the Ethical Tea Partnership, Sean brings a strong focus on sustainability, governance, and ethical sourcing. He is passionate about building resilient supply chains, leading global teams, and aligning strategy with long-term corporate responsibility goals.
Richard Enticott
Director
Richard Enticott is the President and owner of Meridian Trading based in Boulder, Colorado. Meridian is a global Importer and distributor of botanical raw materials to industrial clients primarily in the tea and beer industries. Richard has been in the tea business for over twenty five years beginning with a five year apprenticeship in tea tasting at Tetley Tea GB, where he became a senior tea buyer. Thereafter in 1999 he joined James Finlay USA as Director of North American Tea Trading. In 2003 he joined Martin Bauer USA as President & CEO responsible for botanical ingredient sales to the US food, beverage, and dietary supplement industries.
Henry Evans
Director
Henry Evans is the Vice President for Twinings North America.
Kevin Gascoyne
Director
British tea taster Kevin Gascoyne has been buying tea in Asia since 1989. He started his career as a tea writer for publications in the U.K., the U.S.A. and Japan. Over the years his passion for the black teas of India has spread to the plantations of many other countries. In Canada he is one of the owners of the Camellia Sinensis Tea Houses and Tea Schools of Montréal and Québec City. He also co-authored of the prize-winning book ‘Tea, History, Terroirs, Varieties’.
Robin Lavooij
Director
Robin is the Managing Director of the global Van Rees Group, bringing over 26 years of experience with the company. He began his career in origin countries with roles in Mombasa, Indonesia, and Malawi before moving to Toronto in 2007 as Trading Manager. In 2013, he became Managing Director of Van Rees North America, where he expanded the portfolio with specialty teas and botanicals while strengthening supply chain partnerships. Today, he leads the global team, drawing on Van Rees’ two centuries of trading expertise to drive continued growth and innovation.
John Roumanis
Director
John Roumanis is the VP of Marketing at Mother Parkers Tea and Coffee, a family-owned company with over 110 years of tea and coffee experience. John brings over 25 years of North American CPG industry experience, including tenures with Loblaw, PepsiCo, and Nielsen. In concert with Mother Parkers’ values, John is passionate about delivering high quality tea products to customers across North America, while deploying insights, innovation, and a strong sustainability mandate. John holds an MBA from the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics and is a Chartered Professional Accountant.
Christian Sauve
Director
Christian Sauve discovered the wonderful world of teas at the age of 8. He has been with Trans-Herbe for 21 years. As Vice President, Innovation & new business opportunities and a proud Four O’clock brand ambassador, Christian has collaborated with the R&D for the amazing & unique blends of Four O’clock.
Sarah Segal
Director
Sarah Segal joined DAVIDsTEA in 2010 and has filled multiple roles including Board Member, Head of Tea and Product Development and currently serves as the Company’s Chief Brand Officer. Sarah’s passion for tea stems from living in China after University and during the field work portion of her Master’s degree. Her ongoing commitment is to make tea both accessible and easy to understand in order to reach broader audiences. Sarah’s academic background is in Environmental Science and Water Policy and Management, with degrees from McGill University, the London School of Economics and Oxford University. She is passionate about the ways the tea industry can push the conversation on climate change and adaptation.
Sri Lanka Tea Board
Director
Pavithri Peiris is the Director Promotion for the Sri Lanka Tea Board. The Sri Lanka Tea Board is responsible for regulating the activities of tea industry, viz. production, increase of cultivation, replanting, rehabilitating old gardens, establishment of factories and monitoring their operations.
Tea Board of Kenya
Director
Willy Mutai is the Chief Executive Officer for the Tea Board of Kenya. Their mandated to license tea manufacturing factories; to register buyers, brokers, packers, management agents and any other person dealing in tea; and promote Kenya tea in both the local and the international markets.