NATC 2024 provided optimism amid challenging times for tea
The 2024 North America Tea Conference (ATC) took place this week (24-26 September) in the quaint town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, which is north of Niagara Falls in Ontario. The Tea and Herbal Association of Canada, which organised this year’s event, packed a lot into the 2.5-day conference, providing participants with valuable information, lively and productive conversations, as well as the opportunity to network with members of the global tea industry who hailed from ‘near and far’. Countries represented at this year’s NATC included Argentina, Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Kenya, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, the United States, and of course, host country, Canada.
The past few years have been challenging for the tea industry, and 2023/24 is no exception. Producers discussed the continuing impact of climate change on production (extreme heat in some areas versus excessive rains and flooding in others), and of course, the rising costs of production (labour, fertiliser, fuel, electricity, etc.) – up double and even triple percentages in some countries – which is making it nearly impossible for producers to generate viable incomes to support their families. And yet, despite the production challenges, there is still an overproduction of tea, which leads to lower quality tea flooding the market, a primary concern, which attendees agreed must be addressed.
Vijay Jagannath of McLeod Russell India said while production has fallen, exports in 2023 increased double digits over 2022. He shared that India made the decision to not produce tea in December to help reduce the amount of poor quality tea being brought into the market. NATC participants agreed this is a “bold step” and a strategic one that other producing-countries need to consider to halt the over-production of tea globally, which results in lower quality teas and in turn, lower prices.
Exports for China in 2023 slipped 2% from 2022, but it is still the second largest tea exporter behind Kenya, and remains the largest producer, with production (mainly green tea) hitting 3.3 million metric tonnes last year, a 5% increase over 2022 (global tea production is about 6.6 million metric tonnes). John Callaghan of Firsd Tea, noted that the reason for the decline in exporters is that “China is absorbing what it is producing” as consumption remains strong.
David Muriyuki of the Tea Board of Kenya concurred with other producers that tea production remains challenging but reported that consumption is increasing and exports are also expected to rise this year. Pakistan is Kenya’s main export market followed by countries such as Egypt, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and the UK. He happily added that Kenya is celebrating 100 years of tea production in 2024 so many festivities are being planned around the anniversary later this year.
Anil Cook of the Colombo Tea Traders Association said one of the many challenges Sri Lanka is facing – aside from the standard ones [rising costs production, labour, climate change] – is that everyone is switching to orthodox tea. However, he said production picked up in August almost on par with 2023, noting, “we are on our way back despite high cost of fertiliser.”
And while the herbal/botanicals market is booming, it’s also not without its challenges at production.
Richard Enticott of Meridian Trading Company said there are approximately 150 plants commonly used in herbals/botanicals. As with tea, climate change the biggest threat to the herbal/botanical industry.
He noted that in India, where many herbals/botanicals are sourced, the summers getting hotter in so labour costs increasing. In other countries, many botanicals are collected in the wild so finding people to pick them are difficult, he shared. Suitable land is also a challenge, and he added that there an increasing number of governments offering subsidies to plant other food, not herbals/botanicals. Compounding this, Enticott said “government regulations making it harder to produce herbals/botanicals.” He explained that herbals/botanicals consumption surged during Covid – up 25% – (primarily immune boosting), but demand dropped in Europe and US after Covid because ‘cupboards were filled’. The good news, Enticott shared, is that the demand for herbals/botanicals is stabilizing.
There are also challenges on the consuming/manufacturing side of tea, but that’s for another blog!
- Vanessa L Facenda, editor, Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.
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