Report: Whos Driving the Global Tea Market?

Tea is stealing the spotlight in the beverage community, and a new report by Transparency Market Research suggests the beverage’s growing popularity is the result of a growing number of people across all age groups who are beginning to prefer drinking hot tea over other beverages.

The global tea market—valued at USD $38.8 billion in 2013—is finding an increase in demand as people are beginning to prefer hot beverages as a part of their daily liquid consumption, the report found. In fact, the report anticipated the market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.8 percent from 2014 to 2020, which means the global tea market will reach USD $47.2 billion by 2020.

Tea’s healthy halo is another factor propelling growth of the market. Teas possess antioxidants in abundance, which can help treat and prevent multiple ailments, including cardiovascular and degenerative diseases along with stomach and esophageal cancer. The myriad health benefits provided by tea have helped drive the global tea market among the more informed and sophisticated consumer demographics, the report noted.

Importantly, research continues to support the health benefits of different varieties of tea. In fact, recent research showed white tea may slow the progression of colon cancer. For an in-depth look at white tea, including information about its health benefits and manufacture, check out chapter three of Tea and Tea Products by CRC Press. The book also offers manufacturing and nutrition insight on other varieties of tea, including green tea, black tea and pu-erh tea.

The two basic segments of the global tea market according to type are leaf tea and “crush, tear and curl" (CTC) tea. Sub-segments of leaf tea include oolong tea, black tea and green tea. Of these, black tea dominated the global tea market in 2013, accounting for more than 50 percent of the global market in terms of demand.

This sub-segment is immediately followed by green tea. Green tea is the fastest growing segment in the global tea market.

The Asia Pacific region is the largest producer and consumer of tea. The prime reason for this is the substantially high production and storage capacities in India and China, the two largest tea-drinking nations in the world. By rank, India is the largest consumer of tea, followed by the United Kingdom and China.

Low rates of consumption in North America, where coffee is usually the beverage of choice, have resulted in a very slow growth of the tea market in this region, the report noted. These trends are expected to continue till 2020, although the increasing preference for green tea in the United States could gradually tilt the scales in favor of the tea market.

The global tea market is showing a strong growth rate, although consolidated mostly in parts of Europe and most of Asia Pacific.