Boosting the demand for tea

As the world tea market has been seeing production surpass the demand, ways are being sought to increase demand as other measures to balance supplies and demand have not been fruitful. Increased consumption has been seen as a way out for tea, according to an FAO report prepared for the Intergovernmental Group on Tea meeting in Hangzhou, China (14-16 May 2008).

Production was close to consumption in 2006, but since the production has increased more than demand, with an annual production of 3% for the year or 3.6 million tons. According to the latest figures, world black tea production is set at 2.5 million tons compared to 968,000 tons of green tea. FAO's projections to 2017 expect green tea production to grow at a faster pace than black tea, or 4.5% against 1.9% for black tea.

The consumption has not been following increased production and even high consuming countries have not increased their consumption with strong economical growth. Russians are thought to consume 1.26 kg per year and the British 2.2 kg per year. Indian tea consumption is only 0.65 kg per head per year and in China it is only 0.53 kg per year.

The report sees the potential for increased consumption to come from countries with strong economical growth and low consumption. The increased consumption is thought to be achievable through quality improvement. There has been a growing demand for a minimal quality standards for tea production, but there have been some difficulties to agree on internationally acceptable quality standards. Some countries have adopted the ISO 3720 standard to be used with tea production and it will be discussed at the meeting in Hangzhou if this standard should be taken up with other producing countries.