Turkey has the highest per capita tea consumption in the world, according to most surveys. Just about every tourist guide will highlight, generally in the first paragraphs that cay (pronounced like “chai”) “is much more than a drink. It is an unmistakable part of the nation’s social life fabric.” It is ubiquitous in homes, cafes, restaurants, business and social gatherings, sporting events, etc., “from sunrise to sunset.”
Turkey is the fifth largest tea producer, generating around $1 billion in revenues. (Turkey has a population of 80 million.) Its exports are tiny, though growing, just 4 percent of production and $25 million sales. They increased by more than 20 percent in 2017. The total volume was 7 million metric tons, sold to 96 countries with Germany the top market, paying $770,000 so far this year for 128 metric tons. During the first eight months of 2018 the U.S. purchased $576,000 worth of Turkish tea, according to the Eastern Black Sea Exporters Association (DKIB). Historically, Turkey has ranked around 15th globally but that has fallen to 30th.
The main growing area, Rize, is at a low elevation and located adjacent to the Black Sea and accounts for more
Turkish Samovar
than half the national output. The city was originally part of Georgia and given away to Turkey by the USSR. Of its 350,000 inhabitants, 200,000 are estimated to grow tea. Rize is notoriously rainy – the wettest area in Western Asia. Its wet season is September to June and the dry one April to May, the exact opposite of the monsoon and growing patterns of the major Asia tea growers.
Rize has a natural pesticide: snow. It is the only major tea growing region in the world with a snowy winter – lots of it – and where tea plants withstand freezing temperatures. Climate change is causing major disruptions, including landslides, soil loss and decreasing yields: Rize is drying out, with less rain and colder winters.
Turkey produces one of the few true Earl Grey teas, through its being one of the few countries outside Italy to grow the key flavor maker: bergamot. This is a little ironic, since Turley was at war with Britain in the very years he supposedly invented it.
Tea there is brewed in a two-level double-boiler samovar and served in a tulip-shaped, handle-less glass. The liquid is concentrated and typically drinkers will pour half a glass and add water to dilute it. They use a lot of sugar and no milk.
The tea industry
Rize, Turkey tea plantation
Tea is very inexpensive, around 80 cents a cup and a third of that for coffee. Given the growing range of products both firms offer to the hot beverage market, there is every reason to expect domestic growth to expand.
In both import and export markets, Turkey is expanding its connections and openness. Historically, imports were blocked; even in the early 2000s, tariffs on tea were as high as 145 percent. Within the past few months, initiatives have included Çaykur supporting a new factory in Pakistan and partnering with Chinese firms to produce stevia – “Rize sugar” – in the tea growing region of Turkey. Turkey is Sri Lanka’s third largest market. Lipton has been building its supply base for organic teas through assistance to and education of small Turkish growers.
The main export markets are countries with a large expatriate population. Germany is the main one, with its “Gastarbeiten” – guest workers. North Cyprus is another receptive target. Increasing tourism from the Middle East has expanded buyers of its teas for their “idiosyncratic tastes.”
The Turkey tea culture
