Story
06 June 2020
Potential is brewing for tea growers in Georgia and Azerbaijan
By the 1980s, Azerbaijan and Georgia were supplying most of the tea consumed in the then Soviet Union.
Their once-booming tea industries rapidly declined in the years following the Soviet collapse. Today, their combined production is not even 2 percent of their peak from the 1980s, as Georgian and Azerbaijani consumers have turned to less expensive, better quality imports.
In recent years, both countries – boasting ideal tea growing conditions and natural tea stock – have taken steps to revitalize their tea sectors.
With the right support, including public and private investment and the transfer of know-how, Georgian and Azerbaijani tea industries could see a revival. Their tea producers could carve out an interesting niche in a dynamic international tea market catering to consumers of quality organic, green, and specialty teas.
From field to cup
According to tea expert John Snell, “the tea bush survives for a century or more, and with care can be brought back into production, which is happening in both Georgia and Azerbaijan.”
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