Solid growth makes tea brew success in region
Posted by Zawya.com
Monday, May 17, 2010


15b cups drunk a day as large expatriate population and relatively high disposable incomes drive demand

Dubai People in the Arab world drink 15 billions cups of tea per annum. With a population of roughly 300 million, this translates to 50 cups per person per annum tea consumption in the Arab world

The total value of the tea market in the GCC is 200 million euros (Dh906) and tea consumption in the UAE is worth 48.5 million euros, according to statistics made available by Unilever.

Iain Potter, vice-president of marketing for Unilever North Africa Middle East), said, “The tea category in the GCC is continuing to experience solid growth. This is remarkable given that approximately 15 billion cups of tea are currently drunk in Arabia per annum.”

The GCC remains an important target market for coffee and tea outlets because of the increasing number of multinational coffee chains setting up operations in the region; the large number of expatriates and the region’s relatively high disposable incomes, which are collectively driving demand for various coffee and tea products and services. In the UAE alone, tea consumption in 2009 achieved a remarkable increase of 47 per cent to 4,227 tonnes, while the annual coffee consumption has reached 3.5kg per person, which is even higher than the UK’s 3kg per person.

“While across the GCC 92 per cent of this is the traditional black tea, the remaining 8 per cent is accounted for by speciality or added value tea’s [green tea, flavoured and speciality tea] which people are increasingly gravitating towards,” he said.

“While black tea will continue to remain the dominant format for the foreseeable future, it is the speciality teas that are expected to drive value growth of the category.”

Organisers of the Middle East Coffee and Tea Convention, meanwhile, announced that the convention will return to Dubai this year with an improved and expanded format following its debut in 2009.

Gulf News Report

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