The use of green tea over normal tea is changing since few years. This has brought about the consumers interest into green tea for its health benefits and fit lifestyles.
- Definition / Scope
- Market Overview
- Market Risks
- Top Market Opportunities
- Market Drivers
- Market Restraints
- Industry Challenges
- Market Size and Forecast
- Key Market Players
- Strategic Conclusion
- References
- Appendix
Definition / Scope
Tea is the most consumed beverage in the world after water. It is extracted from Camellia sinensis , shrub /small tree. Tea is a hot beverage prepared by boiling dried leaves of the plant.
Among several types of tea, green tea is essentially normal tea that is not put through the oxidization process and is popularly recognized for its dietary properties. It is available in different forms (tea bags, instant mixes, ice etc) and numerous flavours (lemons, aloe Vera, cinnamon, jasmine etc.).
Medical researchers have demonstrated health benefits of green tea for brain and heart as it contains powerful anti-oxidants and nutrients that assist in blood sugar regulation, improve brain function and enhance metabolism. Also, it possesses essential minerals, bioactive compounds and fat-burning qualities that enhances detoxification and favors weight loss.
An interesting incident is attached with green tea, where video depicting the Donald Trump being send a green tea was made by Indian company named “Tea-a-Me” for massive marketing campaign.
In the video, Trump was send a 6,000 green tea bags where large tea box of Assam tea was delivered to Trump Tower accompanied by Message: “It is never too late to cleanse yourself.” This company’s “epic mission” received about 1.3 million views in less than 24 hours in social media.
Market Overview
India exports of tea to the world worth USD 658 million in the year 2017. Black tea is the most exported tea product from India to the global market. India exports of black tea stood at 80.46% of the total tea exports which is followed by regular tea and recorded 15.66% value.
Green tea, herbal tea, masala tea, and lemon tea are other types of tea exported majorly. With the growing awareness about the health concerns, the shift of consumer from normal tea to free/limited pesticides tea is on the rise. However, the price for such tea is high than ordinary tea.
The value addition to tea, a flavored version of green tea has a great scope as this has become popular among all age groups even youngsters.
Various part of India is famous for tea production; East and North East part of India (Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Darjeeling, Terai part of West Bengal), The North part of India( Kangra valley in Himachal Pradesh, Dehradoon etc) and South (Part of Kerela and Karnataka).
Green Tea is something new for Assam. China is the largest producer and consumer of green tea in the world.. But gradually more and more Assam tea growers have started producing green tea due to the huge demand of both good quality organically grown green teas both in domestic and international markets.
Market Risks
India is considered to be world’s second largest in tea production but is also facing challenges such as;
- Low labour productivity as in North and South part of India, shortage of labour is felt at times since, tea plucking is a manual activity, labour cost is quite high.
- The wage component for production accounts about 60% of the total cost. The cost for electricity, pesticides, agro chemical irrigation etc is also high.
- Weather changes play an important role as inappropriate temperature and unfulfilled precipitation requirement cease quality as well as the quantity of tea production. In south India, tea productivity is better because of the almost uniform climatic condition. Generally in North India due to cold in winter tea bushes remain dormant and production declines.
- Misuse of fertilizers and pesticides serves as another threat. The unbalanced application of fertilizers causes deterioration in soil health in physical, chemical as well as biological aspect. Sometimes, an overdose of pesticides applied knowingly/ unknowingly, cause a risk of higher pesticide residues as well as environmental contamination, disturbance of ecological balance.
Top Market Opportunities
The market for green tea is surging, as in the recent time because the paradigm of health concern for a growing number of Indian consumers has largely shifted. People are opting for quality and healthy lifestyle. This should be a huge opportunity for companies participating in this industry.
Since, the medical researchers have demonstrated health benefits of green tea for brain and heart as it anti-oxidants and anti-ageing properties, the surge in market demand is seen.
Beside this, the youth are more aware about the benefits of green tea and in turn are more inclined towards consumptions of healthy beverages to integrate into use with several flavored products that has fostered the market opportunities especially in urban ares of India
Likewise, Premiumization of green tea in cafes and restaurants has opened a gateway towards possibility of market opportunity in the India.
However, affordability is a matter of concern as the cost of green tea is comparatively high as compared to traditional black teas available in market but consumers are becoming less price sensitive in making purchase decisions.
Market Drivers
The demand for green tea in the country is being fortified by witty marketing campaigns. The main efforts made into green tea are to put up appreciation of the benefits of the category and drive penetration amongst consumers. Several growth drives for green tea include:
- Health and wellness: The market for green tea has been preferred due to its health benefits ranging from weight loss to detoxifying body among its consumer. With the passage of time, the strategy of promoting and raising knowledge about the health benefits of green tea has also paved for the effective market outcome.
- Surging consumers demands:
Consumers are practicing better drinking habits and lifestyle and are willing to pay more for good quality green tea. The shift in consumer’s interest from unbranded to branded product is due to the quality of the product, brand loyalty and promotions.
With regards to annual export, Market for green tea is pegged at around 6.8805 million US. Dollars, that accounts 2.20176 billion U.S dollars of total tea industry in India. With this rising demand for tea, the positive sign of progress in market is seen.
- Trendy product for young people:
Young urban consumers are most eager in consuming green tea for its quality and some other for a fashionable product to integrate into the lifestyle. Value-added tea is widely the area of interest as flavoured green tea in various flavours adds up the new arena to the tea industry. Similarly, consuming them in a sophisticated environment including renowned tea houses, exclusive restaurants or café is gaining attractiveness.
- Numerous health benefits:
The popularity of green tea is accounted for its use in reducing weight. It is also believed to be of benefit heart and brain functioning, boosting immune functions etc as it has the capacity to absorb oxygen radical thereby destroying free harmful radicals from the body.
- Beauty and skin treatments:
Green tea possess catechins having anti-bacterial property and is used in curing acne and regulating hormonal imbalances. Also, green tea contain anti-oxidant properties that protects from skin cancer too. It aids in healing blemishes and scars, reduces inflammation, and enhances the skin’s elasticity.
Market Restraints
Although the tea industry is flourishing, few restraints get into its ways. Primarily, the price of green tea is higher in comparison to the available black tea in market and price sensitivity can restraint demand. Similarly, lack of awareness, especially in developing economies is anticipated to restrict the growth of the global green tea market in the next few years.
The IGG report has warned about the sensitivity to changes in growing conditions and is heavily impacted by climate change. Changes in temperature and rainfall patterns affect tea production and its yield.
The quality and prices, the level of income of workers and even livelihood are threatened by the climatic adversity. Thus, both on the adaptation and mitigation front (climate change challenges), should be integrated into the national tea development strategies as well.
Nonetheless, the extension of the product portfolio and the increased marketing activities and advertising are projected to offer promising opportunities for the key players in the global green tea market.
Industry Challenges
- Climate changes- are expected to intensify and call for urgent adaptation measures. Also, the need is felt for reducing carbon emissions during tea production and processing. The South India part has better productivity than North part because of uniform climatic condition.
- Use of pesticides and fertilizers-The production of tea should be encouraged without using any chemical pesticides, fertilizers or plant hormones.
- Convenient and attractive packaging- is expected to drive the demand and promote the growth of the market.
- Labour productivity-In North as well as South India, the labour shortage is a common challenge and brings about dependency in labour for plucking tea leaves.
Market Size and Forecast
In the worldwide scenario, although China is the largest producer and consumer of green tea, India accounts for the largest production and consumption of black tea. In the workshop organized by NETA, it was found that the demand for tea is increasing in India.
During 2004-2005, the total of 162 million kg of tea was exported from India with earnings of $336 million. The exported tea was based on the nature of processing as black, green and other varieties of tea.
According to the study by Tea Board official (2013), the demand for green tea is growing at the rate of 17% per year against only 3% black tea in the domestic market. In Assam, however, it was estimated that there was about less amount of production than actually estimated.
Various trade experts for the green tea companies in India has forecasted that the high-quality green tea brands in India are likely to raise at over 50% annually for the next five years. In the year 2017, it exported tea valuing approximately $700 million yearly at a volume of more than 260 million kg.
The popularity of green tea market in the global arena is expected to further surge in the forecast period of 2016-2024 and anticipated to reach USD 50 billion at a CAGR of 7.5% over the forecast period.
About 1.7 million metric tons of green tea was created and the value is expected to attain over 3.5 million metric tons by the end of 2024. Asia-Pacific is the dominating region for green tea market and share about 62% revenue of the global green tea market in 2016 only.
Twenty-third Session of the Intergovernmental Group on Tea (May, 2018) stated that Global output of green tea is foreseen to augment at faster rate i.e.7.5% yearly to reach 3.6 million tonnes in 2027.
The market for green tea is pegged at around 6.8805 million US. Dollars, that accounts 2.20176 billion U.S dollars of total tea industry in India. However, in a global scenario, the production of black tea is increased by only 3% whereas it’s 5.4% for green tea.
Key Market Players
Various brands are popular among consumers across India for green tea production. The key Market Players in Green tea band includes:
- Organic India – This is one of the most popular green tea brand established in 1997 at Lucknow. The company is spread in about 55,000 acres of agricultural land to produce one of the best green tea brands for added health benefits and higher metabolism for better weight management.
- 24 Mantra Organic Green – This brand was founded in 1992 at Hyderabad. This leading high-quality green tea brands in India is forecasted to inflate their production to greater than million consumers by the end of 2020. The company covers over 150,000 acres of land for cultivation employing over 30,000 farmers. Organic green tea and tulsi green tea are popular products.
- Basilur Tea India – Basilur Tea India is one of the best green tea brands in India offering high-quality green tea founded in the year 2011 in Mumbai. Flavor green tea brand with Moroccan mint, rose petal, and Chinese milk oolong green leaf add a new taste to its users.
- Typhoo India – A brand offering high-quality green tea was launched in 2008.This carrier the hundred years of legacy of parent brand in UK as Typhoo UK. Here, green tea is offered different variants such as Jasmine, Moroccan mint, organic green tea, pure green tea etc.
- Golden Tips Tea – This green tea brand was established in 1933 at Darjeeling. Cinnamon green tea, African varieties of green tea like blitz and rouge, Darjeeling green tea, and earl grey green tea are widely acclaimed and available at a reasonable price.
- Twinings India – It is the top green tea brand in India established in 1993 with its headquarters in Kolkata.T his best green tea brands in India includes top green tea brands such as lemon green tea, lemon & honey green tea, jasmine green tea, and earl grey green tea.
- Lipton – This is one of the top 10 brands of India manufacturing high-level green tea established in the Indian market in the late 1980s as a merger with Hindustan Unilever The products are available under name of pure and light green tea, mint burst, lemon zest, honey lemon, etc.
- Tetley India – Tetley India is a top 10 green tea brands in India with a global presence and over a hundred years British legacy of high-quality green tea brands. This best green tea brands in India for weight loss has three segments for green teas, which are organic green tea, super green tea, and longleaf green tea.
- Jay Green Tea – Jay Green Tea is another top 10 green tea brands in India offering one the best green tea in India offering 2 varieties; Jay green lemon and Jay green pomegranate.
Strategic Conclusion
As the market of green tea is surging it can be anticipated that robust growth can be expected over forecasted period in India.
Also, the medicinal values and health benefits add to its popularity that has encouraged the involvement of various organizations to strengthen the competitive scenario of the green tea market.
References
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2855614/
- https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/indian-company-sends-donald-trump-green-tea-to-cleanse-him-a7138686.html
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Appendix
- NETA-North Eastern Tea Association
- YOY-Year over year
- GATS- Global Agriculture Trade System
- FAO-Food and Agricultural organization
- IGG-Inter governmental group
