Ceylon Tea demonstration and tasting in South Africa

Thursday, 8 April 2021 02:36 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sri Lanka High Commission in South Africa in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Tea Board organised a ‘Ceylon Tea Demonstration & Tasting’ at Brooklyn Mall on 27 March. Representing the tea traders, two leading Ceylon Tea brands in South Africa, Dilmah and Basilur, joined with the Mission to demonstrate their new and existing products.

Ambassador of Russia Ilya Ragachev, Ambassador of Iran Mehdi Agha Jafari and High Commissioner of Mauritius Dr. Prakamarjith Vijaye Lutchmun participated in the event as the special guests. Many Ceylon Tea lovers in South Africa visited the event and experienced the new varieties of Ceylon Tea.

Average total consumption of Black Tea in South Africa is 27,000 metric tons per year while Sri Lanka is contributing 10% of the total demand. The hot beverage market in South Africa is worth $ 600 million per annum and the Black Tea owns 5.8% of the market.

Except Sri Lanka, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Kenya are the top tea exporting countries to South Africa, altogether these countries export 14,000 to 18,000 Metric Tons of tea per year. Five Roses is the top tea brand in South Africa, having more than 50% of the market share, which produces number of tea varieties including the Ceylon Blend and Pure Ceylon Breakfast Tea.

The key challenge faced by the Ceylon Tea in Southern African region is the low consumer interest dominating in the hot beverage market and the Coffee is catering to a significant part of the market. Therefore to penetrate the beverage market, it is necessary to do the strategic promotions to uplift the interests of the different consumer groups.

Increasing per capita income in this region may open the new market segments for value added tea and the changing lifestyles to adopt attractive and different products in a quick manner. The tourism industry should be the next target market for Ceylon Tea which accounts for 25 million annual arrivals.