Eastern Black Sea Exporters’ Association Vice Chairman of the Board Ahmet Hamdi Gurdogan said, “We do not consider the success achieved in tea exports to be sufficient. It is important that this figure rises at least 4 times and that we can get at least 10% of the world tea trade.”
Turkey earned $203 million 872 thousand 233 from tea exports between the years 2011-2021. According to the information compiled by the AA correspondent from the data of the Eastern Black Sea Exporters’ Association (DKIB), Turkey, which exported 2 thousand 191 tons of tea to 68 countries in 2011, earned $10 million 233 thousand 528 from foreign sales.
In 2021, 5 thousand 500 tons of tea was sold to 120 countries from Turkey, and a profit of $19 million 575 thousand 574 was obtained. Thus, Turkish tea exports increased by 15% in quantity and 91% in value in the last 10 years.
Turkey, by exporting 51 thousand 824 tons of tea in the period of 2011-2021, earned $203 million 872 thousand 233 in return.
“DIFFERENT INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS NEED TO BE DEVELOPED”
Ahmet Hamdi Gurdogan, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of DKIB, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the export of Turkish tea has reached a significant amount in the last 10 years due to the brand awareness in foreign markets.
Emphasizing that they are making efforts to increase exports even more, Gurdogan said, “We do not see the success achieved as sufficient. It is important that this figure increases at least 4 times and that we can get a share of at least 10% from the world tea trade. In this context, it is necessary to develop different innovative products according to the consumer preferences of the countries with the variety of brands and products.”
“RUSSIA IS AN IMPORTANT MARKET IN TEA CONSUMPTION”
Gurdogan pointed out that tea exports to Russia are increasing day by day and continued as follows:
“There has not been any pause or negativity in our exports to Russia yet. There are only problems in money transfers. Our exports in the first 2,5 months of 2022 have exceeded the total export volume of 2021 in terms of quantity. While 148 thousand kilograms of tea was exported to Russia in 2021, 222 thousand kilograms of tea was exported in 2,5 months of 2022.”
Stating that Russia is an important market in tea consumption, Gurdogan noted that Russia’s annual tea imports from the world are around 154 thousand tons.
Noting that the export of tea to Ukraine has stopped as in all sectors, Gurdogan added that Ukraine could not be among the leading markets in tea exports for 10 years.
Source: Sabah / Translated by Irem Yildiz