Rize Commodity Exchange (RTB) President Mehmet Erdoğan stated that the average tea consumption in the world is 2.8 kilograms per person, "We are far above this. We have reached a per capita consumption of approximately 4.5 kilograms. We are the world leader in per capita consumption."
Rize Commodity Exchange President Mehmet Erdoğan made statements to Birlik News Agency (BHA) regarding the fresh tea season and tea consumption. Stating that in 2021 and 2022 they experienced the pandemic, Erdoğan said, "In 2022, there were various ecological changes in the world. Accordingly, fertilizer prices increased. For this reason, when less fertilizer was applied to the field, the yield of tea decreased. Last year, around 1 million 255 thousand tons of fresh tea was produced. There was enough production for consumption. It will be a very good tea this year. We had square centimeter measurements made in certain areas. Normally, the number of shoots should be between 16 and 18, but it was 18-19. This is a sign of an abundant tea season. We expect yields between 1 million 350 and 1 million 450 thousand tons. We expect the quality to be better."

'WE WILL DIVERSIFY OUR TEA'

Emphasizing that Turkish tea should be popularized among young people, Erdoğan said:
"For this, we need to diversify tea. While conducting market research around the world, we established an organization called ÇAYMER. Our young people say; 'Bring us different products in tea. Try different products than the ones my grandparents and elders drank.' We worked on this issue. Although Rize has not yet switched to the fabrication system, there are 19 types of tea production. There are probiotic teas, pro teas, non-staling teas, soft teas, caffeine-free tea, bedtime tea, soft tea. These studies are on the agenda today. Around 12 companies are carrying out these studies. If we diversify our tea in this way, we will make our young people love our tea more."

'WE ARE THE WORLD LEADER IN PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION'

Pointing out that tea consumption is increasing in Türkiye, Erdoğan announced new data on per capita consumption. Erdoğan said, "The average tea consumption in the world is 2.8 kilograms. We are way above it. We have reached a per capita consumption of approximately 4.5 kilograms. We are the world leader in per capita consumption. We are the world's biggest tea consumers. Especially during the pandemic, people who quit fizzy drinks and other beverages that affect human health preferred tea. This has been a good process in cold tea, tea soft drinks, green and black tea. This will continue. Türkiye at least will not give up this leadership. Turkish tea culture has become a culture with its cup, brewing style and presentation. Our main goal is to introduce Turkish tea culture to the world. We need to work on this well. There are projects we have submitted to our ministries on this issue. We will accelerate our work on this issue."