Green tea supplies from China increase in 03

With the researcher's confirmations about Green Tea contributions in preventing Cancer & for great Health. More people drinking green is causing the demand to growth sharply.

Green tea supplies from China increase in 03
07/12/2004 - At 3.15 million tonnes world tea production in 2003 beat 2002 supplies but prices remained firm reflecting season variability, reports the UN food and farm body, adding that China has pushed up green tea supplies.

India accounted for 27.4 per cent of world output, closely followed by China with 24.6 percent, and then Sri Lanka and Kenya with 9.75 per cent and 9.4 per cent respectively.

Despite the record production levels, tea prices stood firm in 2003. According to the report from the Food and Agriculture (FAO), composite price averaged US$1.48 (€1.10) per kg from January to June 2003, rising to an average of US$1.55 (€1.15) per kg from July to December 2003 as a result of seasonal variation.

Growth in green tea use by food and beverage manufacturers, spiked by growing evidence of the potential health benefits of the leaf, gave output a boost in China, that saw overall tea production rising on the year before by 3 per cent to an estimated 791 000 tonnes of tea in 2003. Green tea accounted for a 73 per cent slice of the output.

“Larger production in China is attributed to higher prices witnessed throughout 2003 as a result of continued expansion in the ready-to-drink, and organic segments,” said the Rome-based FAO.

But tough food and drink material rules in the European Union and Japan, saw a lower uptake from the European Union and Japan for China’s tea products, ‘allegedly due to non-compliance of MRLs requirements’.

Beverages remain the biggest application area for green tea extracts. In Europe, tea makers have seen a shift in sales in recent years as consumers increasingly opt for flavoursome or healthy alternatives, such as fruit and herbal teas, consumption of which increased by almost 50 per cent between 1997 and 2002, according to market analysts Datamonitor.

Green tea consumption in 2002 was more than 20 times the 1997 figure. Read More...
Green tea supplies from China increase in 03