Archives

by Maxwell Fernando, Mercantile Produce Brokers

The world market for tea has been in an oversupply situation for a considerable length of time, with all producer countries paying their fullest attention to increased productivity, but not paying the same attention to market expansion. The excess crop harvested two years ago has been now absorbed and last year's deficit recorded among some of the larger tea producers for last year should stabilise the tea market further at least in the short term.

Even if favourable conditions prevail during the early part of this year, and if the surplus is not too excessive, a relatively small increase in consumption could rectify this in-balance. Now is the appropriate moment, when the world is looking towards leading a healthier lifestyle, and responding positively to known linkages between diet and health to launch a campaign advocating its health benefits.

Considerable evidence is now emerging that tea possesses beneficial properties concerning several areas of human health, mostly centred round health disease, stroke and cancer and the promotion of oral health.

As for the future of tea, its reputation as a health drink is bound to improve, and will continue to enjoy the nature as being the world's most popular beverage that has been perceived as having moderate therapeutic effects.

Therapeutic values

Today, scientific evidence suggests that some of the centuries-old human premonitions have been correct, and there are sound reasons to drink tea. Its hygienic, dietetic and even therapeutic values would entirely justify its success.

Gradually, the consumption of tea as an accepted drink, both at meal times and during the day, will spread throughout the world. The immense Russian Continent, Indonesia and all the South Eastern part of Asia have now become great tea drinkers.

The consignments of tea brought by the Eastern Indies companies of the Dutch French and the British contributed to the geographical expansion of the use of tea among the western nations. It is also noteworthy that tea is being drunk more and more in the Arab countries, where coffee had reigned supreme.

This astonishing lasting quality of tea as a beverage, spreading over a thousand of years, and the progressive conversion of new populations in fresh territories to the consumption of tea, cannot be due to chance alone. Research to ascertain the health giving properties in tea has now being intensified, and in their search for biochemical secrets behind many of the effects of tea, they are also discovering new ways in which tea may contribute to good health.

Intellectual alertness

In the ancient world, when healing theories almost made use of medicines with herbal bases, the medical theoreticians had already noted the beneficent effects of tea on intellectual alertness, and on the digestive and renal systems. The tremendous amount of research conducted on tea during the early stages are unfolding only now.

By 780 AD, Lu-Yu's treatise summed up the immense quantity of knowledge already collected on tea. During the following centuries, there had been so many publications on tea that in 1935, in a monumental work of more than 1,152 pages, William H. Ukers compiled a chronological study with more than 500 historical references, a bibliography of about 2,000 authors and more than 10,000 general references.

Where does all this takes us? It only goes to prove that many of the mysteries of tea still remain to be unlocked, that the relationship between tea's composition and human health is a fruitful area for further research.

As related by Illtyd Lewis, in an age and time when, "Green consumers are looking for a natural product, this is where I see tea's future. It is healthy, entirely natural free from artificial processing, colouring and calories. More importantly, tea does not damage the environment in its growing or processing. Logic therefore lies behind the argument that tea is poised to be the drink of the new millennium."

More exciting

Today, the sale of tea products is getting more exciting, and there are vast developments taking place in the market place. The marketing of teas in the standards forms, in packets or tea bags, all blended from multi-origin sources is been done away.

The supermarkets give more space to tea now, and they are packed with a host of different teas marketed by the packers and or the retailers themselves.

Teas sold from single origins, as well as blends are a common feature. In addition, there are fruit teas, extra fresh teas, vacuum packed from origins and many others. Today, the average consumer is attacked from all sides with messages, advertisements via Television, Radio, newspapers and magazines, billboards, and the latest, the Internet and e-mail and the personal computer.

Consumption of tea varies with difference life stages, day stages, and mood stages, but due to its versatility, tea is found to satisfy the wants of all categories. The tea utilising patterns in the United States indicate that consumption levels increase with age. So the sooner we get people into the tea drinking habit, better for each segment.

Requirements of the tea consuming public are constantly changing, and new needs require new products, so they need products that display foreign cultures, have unique or preferred textures and appearances, and still others would prefer fruit or vegetable flavours. In this instance, the consumer is the king, and when he visits the supermarket, he should have the choice of his favourite drink.

New beverages

Innovation will rule the day in the new millennium. New beverages are required to provide an experience that goes beyond traditional refreshment. People today are seeking variety in colour, taste, texture and size. The expansion is continuing, flavour, form, texture, appearance, fruits vitamins, enrichments, nuts, chocolates, and many others have become a part of tea.

Although instant teas had been in the market for some time, sales have started to rise only now, after extensive research had been conducted to improve the end product. New manufacturing techniques have improved the quality of freeze dried instant tea. These teas are capable of reflecting the true quality of various origins.

The most recent reliance is on iced teas, and the convenience factor is quite important when marketing a product that is sold along with a large range of chilled beverages. The "Ready To Drink Teas" have overtaken the tea bag for its convenience. The present day tea drinker is getting more and more refined. He wants convenience, the same flavour profile, and the industry is gearing itself to service this set of consumers who want it all and fast.

Active lifestyles

Lifestyles are fast changing, and the consumption of alcohol is on a steady decrease. Consumers have begun to avoid carbonated beverages, and what they are demanding is a clean, refreshing and a more healthful drink that will fit into their active lifestyles.

They are on the lookout for a convenient drink that could be purchased over the counter. Suppliers of RTD drinks feel that they have combined all these factors, and with advanced technology, the quality of the product now available to the consumer has never been better.

Tea has been associated with health from the very beginning, and is prized for its perceived competence to drive away exhaustion, excite mental powers, and raise energy levels. Tea has turned out to be the ideal beverage for the future as its health qualities fit into what the consumers are looking for. People are all looking for things that are natural and safe, and tea is the answer to their prayers.

A bright future is unfolding for Organic tea. People today are most concerned about their dietary habits and the environment they live in.

All attempts are being made to lead healthy lives, and by doing so, they are all striving to get closer to nature. Scientific evidence has proved that the tea leaf contains at least three groups of beneficial chemicals. They are vitamins, minerals, and polyphenols.

A cup of tea warms, cools, cheers, and brews all at once. A cup of organic tea goes further. It enhances the therapeutic value of tea further.

Organic tea is the latest addition to Sri Lanka's wide range of tea products. It is only now that the world has realised the foolishness in following conventional farming systems based on external inputs such as fertiliser, and pesticides. Conventional methods of farming have failed to offer any form of solution for the world's agricultural problems as hoped for earlier, with the result, organic agriculture is gaining ground all over the world as a sustainable farming system.

"Sustainability" has become the sum and substance in all matters connected with the agricultural world. Addition of inputs tends to decrease the degree of diversification in farming systems, and tends to increase the harmful effects caused by chemical residues.

In the field of tea production, a vast market expansion is anticipated for organic types in the world, and the group that is demanding the production of tea in a sustainable manner, without chemically synthesised input is expanding. This latest tendency offers Sri Lanka a world of opportunities for further product diversification, and another form of direct marketing of tea.

Sufficient knowledge

This trend no doubt will offer a direct answer to the some of the problems faced by most of the tea plantations. Today, the majority of our estates where production is carried out on conventional methods, are confronted with rising prices of external inputs, and above all, a long-term depletion of soil fertility. This tendency has to be arrested before the tea plantations become unproductive.

Further research however will have to be conducted, if this switch over to organic tea cultivation is to be developed further. This program however is well on track, and sufficient knowledge has already been obtained on the subject, and with prudent planning, more plantations could be brought under organic cultivation.

This form of organic tea production calls for major changes in cultivation practices, soil fertility management, pest and disease control, weed supervision, and soil erosion control. Tea plantations of today were established on land that was once home to the mountain forests of Ceylon, which today is a thing of the past.

In organic agriculture, fertility management is based on the principal of the development of the overall ability of the soil to sustain plant life. This lends itself to the development of a diversified and healthy form of flora and fauna. Trade in organic products is on a steady rise, and these organic markets offer ample opportunities for Ceylon teas to be traded in new markets. Its sales could be conducted through the usual organic shops, and through the conventional super market chains.

Progress so far has been slow, and this could only ascribed to the limited supplies now available for purchase, and the inability of the organic tea producers to guarantee continuous supplies. When taking all these factors into consideration, all indications are that the future for tea seems bright, and it is expected to zoom into the next century as the beverage for the next hundred years.

The vast amount of advertising and the publicity drive undertaken to promote sales, raises the profile of tea. It is projected as a new product, with the right image. Tea should be made the beverage of choice at home, school and workplace, as hot, cold, iced, RTD, green, black, flavoured, or Oolong tea, they are all poised to become the obvious choice in the new millennium.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager