Turkish tea served in curved transparent glasses. Photo by Lazika.
For a lot of Turkish people, life would be empty without the coffeehouse. In a country of 82 million people, coffeehouses function more as social clubs than mere places to sip a hot beverage. It’s where Turkish people have gathered for centuries to discuss business, politics, and the latest brewing trends. And despite the name, most coffeehouses do a brisk trade in tea, as well. But with the onslaught of Covid-19, this ancient tradition of gathering in coffeehouses, dating back to the days of the Ottoman Empire, might be serving its last cup.
To say that Turkey has a tea infatuation is an understatement. Turks consume 1,300 cups of tea per year, according to a 2019 report from the International Tea Committee. And the majority is grown locally along the coasts of the fertile Black Sea region, giving sellers a sizable advantage over countries that are forced to import from overseas.
Despite this, the tea market in Turkey is still in a state of relative infancy. In the late 1930s, around 70 tons of black tea seeds were imported from Georgia in order to kickstart tea farms in the region of Rize, hometown of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Now, with 767 million square miles of tea-producing land, Rize is the tea capital of Turkey.
But there’s a disconnect between the Turkish market and what’s happening with tea globally. In Turkey, much of the market is dominated by government-owned businesses. The largest one, Çaykur, founded in 1983 employs over 10,000 people spread across its 45 factories. The global tea market size was valued at US$55.14 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach $68.95 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 6.6% from 2020-2027. At the forefront of this growth is green tea with 16.36 billion in 2019, and will reach 26.11 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 9.8% during the forecast period. However, it’s the traditional loose-leaf product that’s at the forefront of the Turkish tea industry.
Coffeehouse Culture
Unlike other countries where speed is priority, Turkey still likes to take it slow when itcomes to tea. The unique style of serving is based on what is essentially a “double-boiling” kettle system that can take up to 20 minutes to prepare. People here prefer quality over fast service. Coffeehouse owners would carefully brew the tea, customers would sit, play backgammon, and catch up with old friends from the neighborhood. They’dstay for hours, some owners charging them per hour of game time. In other shops, thegames are free, and businesses make money through selling drinks and other snacks.
That was until the pandemic swept through Turkey.
“Most cafe businesses were not prepared [for the pandemic],” said Veysel Berk,owner of Çaycı, a teashop selling classical Turkish tea and also blends. “Part of that isbecause of the nature of the cafe business model, which is historically built on servingcustomers in stores. But Covid taught us how important the role of the café is in creating social areas for people outside their homes.”
And despite being open for business, customers aren’t staying long. Lockdownprotocol means that customers are no longer allowed to play games in the shops, alongstanding tradition in Turkish coffeehouses, where games such as backgammon and cards were a mainstay of the cafe culture experience. With this avenue of income stymied, coffeehouses are turning into ghost houses. Murat Agaoglu, head of the Turkey Coffee Houses and Buffets Federation forecasts that 20% of them may go out ofbusiness for good.
But it’s not all doom and gloom.
Many in the industry predict that things will recover quickly. “Turkish coffeehouse sare very important for tea culture and for social life in Anatolia,” said Emre Ercin, founder of Lazika, a Rize-based tea start-up. “They have witnessed many pandemics in [Turkish] history and succeed in remaining part of our social culture. God will save the coffeehouses.”
Homebrewing is a hit
But for the time being, at-home consumption of tea is rising. While the pandemic is a tragedy for hotels, restaurants, and coffeehouses, business is booming for tea retailers. No longer being able to go out and socialize, many of Turkey’s residents satisfy their tea urges at home. Tea consumption spiked during lockdown.Yusuf Ziya Alim, general manager of the General Directorate of Tea Enterprises(ÇAYKUR) indicates that the nation’s consumption of tea almost doubled during the months that corresponded to the lockdown. During this period, the average sales of tea increased from 20,000-40,000 tons. For companies that are able to adapt and rearrange their businesses to suit this new paradigm, there’s money on the table.
“We need to quickly adapt to these new forms of service and products,” said Berk of Çaycı. “This is not easy, but it will payoff all these efforts even long after pandemic ceases. All these people keep on drinking and eating at home during lockdowns. We need to make our products available in different forms and channels. As the pandemic slows down, cafes that added new service models and products, in addition to in-store services, will shine.”
Mümin Kulaksız, of Daily Sabah, said, “Of course we need to drink tea; we are from Rize. They say it is also effective against the corona virus. Tea is being brewed four to five times a day in our house. Every time we brew, we drink four or five cups in arow — we finish the teapot.” So, whether it’s in a coffeehouse or in a cozy chair at grandma’s, it seems nothing will separate theTurkish people from their tea.
Exports rising
The tea industry in Turkey posted a 17% increase in revenue during the January-November 2020 period compared to the same time the previous year, according to the Eastern Black Sea Exporter’s Association (DBEK). That’s around 4,135 tons of tea. During the first seven months of 2020, there was a 43% increase in exports, which is a 500-ton increase compared to the same time period in the previous year.
But what countries are behind this rise in tea exports? In first place is Belgium, which purchased $4.8 million-worth of the Turkish export. The Netherlands and Germany were in second and third place respectively. The rest of the exports end up in neighboring countries and Cyprus for the main part.
“We pushed harder on retail and online sales channels,” said Ercin of Lazika. “We grew double in 2020. We started to export to six countries in Western Europe and Russia. Those were the plans we were working on since 2019. Luckily, our customers did not stop or hold the projects.”
And industry voices are confident that the export marketwill continue to rise. Ahmet Hamdi Gürdoğan, vice-chair ofDBEK, told the media, “Despite the Covid-19 outbreak, teaexports continue to increase [in]potential.” With Turkey havingearned over $15 million during 2020, it seems like a good cup oftea is what everyone needs to get through lockdown.
What does the future hold for Turkey’s tea industry?
“Every single day, 250 million cups of tea are consumed inTurkey,” said Berk. “That is a huge market. People keep drinking more and more tea as they’re locked down at home.” For businesses that rely on serving food and drinks in store, that’s a big issue, but also a great opportunity. “People got used to ordering food for delivery a long time but delivering drinks is still new,” he said. “People just need some time to acquire that habitbefore the drink delivery market reaches saturation.”
The businesses that can learn from these interesting times we live in and adapt best to new patterns of consumption will be the winners in today’s lockdown-dominated economy. While some of the coffeehouses that dot Istanbul’s ancient streets may not survive the year, one thing is for sure: Nobody in Turkey will be giving up on tea anytime soon.
“Tea is our life,” said Ercin, “We can find a way to drink allday long even with our masks on.”