Türkiye has the highest average per-person tea consumption in the world.
For generations, tea producers in Türkiye have focused on quenching a domestic thirst unparalleled in the world. Now attention is shifting to exports to the European Union and organic production amid price challenges.
While Türkiye is the top tea producer in the Middle East, it must still import hundreds of thousands of kilos to meet the needs of 85 million people, who have the highest average per-person tea consumption globally. Nine out of 10 Turks drink an average of 1,300 cups of black tea annually - three to four cups daily, rising to 10 cups in winter.
According to the International Tea Committee, consumption increased from an average of 3.5 kilos to 4 kilos per person annually during the Pandemic. As Türkiye’s primary beverage, tea is consumed on every occasion, everywhere possible, from sunrise to sunset.
Historically, Türkiye has been among the top five producers worldwide, after China, India, Kenya, and Sri Lanka. Tea-growing areas in Türkiye are different from those in Africa and Asia. Its tea fields are located in the very north of the country along the Black Sea.
In 2023, the sector produced 275,000 metric tons of processed tea, up from between 200,000 and 240,000 tons over the past 10 years. Despite being one of the biggest producers in the world, Turkish tea exports are comparatively small.
Exports totaled $5.7 million in 2019. Germany was the biggest buyer at 128 metric tons. North Cyprus was second. In 2022-23, exports totaled $24.7 million, a 13.9% increase compared to 2021-22, according to the International Trade Center. There are a few reasons for this, primarily due to domestic demand. Almost 95% of the total production is channeled into domestic use, so much so that since 2015, Türkiye has had a negative trade balance in the commodity due to a surge in demand.
Natural obstacles—in addition to structural problems—causing relatively low export figures include high prices in relation to production cost and the frequency of harvest. Unlike hot and rainy climates where the harvest can occur 8-9 times a year, the cold climate in the north of Türkiye allows for only three tea harvests seasonally which negatively impacts the prices and causes Turkish tea to lose its competitive edge.
The average price is around $3,500 per ton in Türkiye, compared with the world per ton average, which stands below $2,500. China, Kenya, and India manage to sell for under $2,000 per metric ton thanks to low labor costs. In 2023, the purchase price of fresh tea stood at TL 11.30/kg, including supports.
Rize – the tea production hub
Approximately 200,000 people, earn their livelihood from working in the tea sector near Rize, Türkiye’s main tea-producing area.
The main growing area in Türkiye is around Rize, a relatively small city by Turkish standards with a population of 350,000. About 60% of the country’s total area under tea surrounds Rize, with smaller estates in Trabzon and Artvin. Rize produces about 43% of the country’s exports.
Rize is a province in the northeast of Türkiye, located close to the Black Sea. The climate in this mountainous region is ideal for growing tea plants. In winter, a covering of snow preserves the fragile tea plants and protects them against fungi and pests. In summer, it usually rains every third day. These climatic conditions are unique and help to create exceptional tea flavor. Türkiye ranks first in the world for tea yield.
One-third of Rize’s inhabitants live in the capital city, also called Rize, which means ‘under the mountain.’ The city lies at the foot of the Kaçkar mountains, stretching around 100 kilometers along the coast. The province borders Trabzon to the west, Erzurum and Bayburt to the south, and Artvin to the east.
Rize is well known as Türkiye’s primary tea growing region. Over half the people here, approximately 200,000 people, earn their livelihood from working in the tea sector.
Tourism is good for tea
DKİB deputy chairman of the board of directors and chairman of the tea sector committee, Şaban Turgut, said that the tourism potential has a positive impact on tea exports and added that tourists coming to Türkiye consume Turkish tea with pleasure and demand it in their own countries.
DKİB deputy chairman of the board of directors Ahmet Hamdi Gürdoğan believes supporting sustainable production methods and export training programs will increase the value of Turkish tea.
Stating that tourists, especially from the Gulf countries, have become accustomed to the taste of Turkish tea, DKİB deputy chairman of the board of directors Ahmet Hamdi Gürdoğan highlights that exports to the Middle East have improved. The US, Russia, England, and the United Arab Emirates import the most tea and have been targeted by Turkey to expand exports.
Gürdoğan claims that the best quality tea in the world is Turkish tea in terms of growing conditions: “Our work continues to increase the country’s diversity in Turkish tea. In this context, we plan to increase the sustainability of our tea exports with the UR-GE (Supporting the Development of International Competitiveness) project we have prepared. For this reason, we direct our companies to the leading markets where tea is consumed, both in fair participation and trade delegation programs.”
UR-GE is a sectoral cluster project for developing the export capacities of Turkish manufacturing companies. The companies gathered by the Exporter Association, by the sectoral associations and federations that they are members of, participate in activities approved by the Ministry of Economy to improve their competitiveness knowledge.
The objective of the support mechanism is to assist industrial and commercial institutions or companies in strengthening their competitiveness in the international market and meeting the expenditures of the cooperating institutions for the projects approved by the Ministry of Economy. The project activities include needs analysis, training and counseling, foreign marketing and procurement committees, and counseling programs for each company.
Çaykur
Founded in 1947, Çaykur produces more than half of all Turkish tea.
Tea is and always has been a strategic product for Türkiye. As a result of this mindset, the country established its own company, Çaykur, to regulate the expansion of production areas and, of course, prices.
More than half of all Turkish tea is produced by Çaykur. The corporate history of Çaykur is as old as industrialized tea production in Türkiye itself. The first tea factory began operation in 1947 in the harbor city of Rize. Çaykur has a reputation for quality.
Çaykur collected 60% of tea leaves in 2019 at pre-determined prices, which ultimately led the company to announce big losses. The state-owned tea producer reported a loss of TL 1.5 billion ($215 million) in 2017-2019, transferred to the control of Turkey’s sovereign wealth fund (around 267 million Turkish Lira in 2017 and 657 million TL in 2018 and 635 million TL in 2019).
Even though Çaykur puts itself at risk financially by regulating prices and thereby protecting farmers, the price of tea increased by 70% from 2014 to 2019. The Government’s tight grip on the industry effectively curbs investor appetite, limiting export growth.
The Black Sea region's harsh climate is a drawback regarding harvest frequency. “When we look back five years, we see a decline in tea farming yield ranging from 18 to 20%,” Mehmet Erdogan, the head of Turkey’s Rize Commodity Exchange, told the Hurriyet Daily News, an Istanbul-based newspaper.
Erdogan said that temperatures in Rize reached daily peaks at or above 37o C (98o Fahrenheit) for 20 days in 2023. “The tea plant is not prepared for this. Extended periods of no rain and high temperatures have caused the plant to focus more on self-preservation than yielding a crop,” said Erdogan.
The four provinces — Rize, Trabzon, Artvin, and Giresun — harvested 860,00 metric tons of raw leaf in 2021, but their 2022 crop fell to 583,000 metric tons.
There is a silver lining: snowy winters. Turkish tea doesn’t require chemicals to protect it from diseases, with the snow taking care of all that, enabling the land to produce chemical-free, premium quality tea.
However, aging tea shrubs and the effects of climate change have also taken their toll. The area has been battling major climatic disruption, landslides, and soil loss. The suggested solution on which many stakeholders have reached a consensus is to mobilize a rapid shift toward organic tea production.
Çaykur has already realized this plan in some selected pilot areas in Trabzon, aiming at a complete transition within three to four years in every tea field. Once this plan is finalized, Turkish tea's actual and perceived quality will be elevated. In time, Turkish tea can become a globally recognized brand by positioning itself as a high-end product, justifying higher prices than its competitors.
Türkiye is seeking lucrative markets that want premium tea. In order to appeal to those markets, Çaykur is transitioning the majority of its tea production to organic.
Belgium is the European Hub for Turkish Tea
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According to customs statistics, Türkiye produced 1.45 million metric tons and consumed 1.3 million metric tons of tea in 2021-22, achieving 98% self-sufficiency. Imports totaled 55,000 metric tons. Sri Lanka was the top tea importer with a 49% share, followed by İran (30%), Kenya (11%), India (7%), and the Netherlands (2%).
Exports totaled 28,000 metric tons. Belgium was the top trading partner and the gateway to European buyers. Georgia accounted for 21% of exports. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus bought 7% of exports, with the US (6%) and Germany (4%) among the top five.
According to Türkiye’s Eastern Black Sea Exporters Association (DKİB) data, tea was sold from Turkey to 111 countries from January to September 2023. Tea export revenue was $16.6 million in the third quarter of last year but increased by 23% and reached $20.4 million by the end of the year.
The highest demand for Turkish tea, whose exports increase yearly, came from Belgium, the US, and the United Kingdom. In the nine-month period of the year, $7.6 million was earned for the sale of 1,921 tons of tea to Belgium. This was followed by the US’s $2.4 million and the United Kingdom’s $2.3 million.
Unlike the same period last year, tea was exported to Poland, Congo, Slovakia, Italy, Brazil, Gabon, New Zealand, Portugal, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Togo, and Rwanda this season.DKİB deputy chairman of the board of directors and chairman of the tea sector committee, Şaban Turgut, said that they expect tea exports to exceed $25 million by the end of this year.
Emphasizing that they want to get a larger share of the world markets, Turgut said: “Although we produce the snowiest tea in the world, that is, the most natural tea, our inability to produce products with innovative added value and according to the consumer preferences of each country causes our share in the world markets to remain low.”
“Importing companies have warehouses in Belgium, and the products placed in these warehouses are distributed to all European Union countries where the Turkish population is dense. In other words, Turkish tea exported to Belgium is distributed to all of Europe,” he added.
