Tea production in Georgia

When Georgia was a member of the Soviet Union it was supplying the entire country with tea. Georgia was producing 400,000 tonnes of tea annually, but recently this industry has almost died. Now Georgia produces 4,000 tonnes of tea only. The newly appointed agriculture minister Zaza Gorozia stated that Georgian tea satisfies only 20% of tea demand in the country. Unofficially the figure is two times smaller as Georgia exports almost 90% of tea. Some years ago, the Georgian authorities considered tea production a dying branch of agriculture and suggesting changing tea plantations with hazel nut gardens, however the country’s situation has changed. As has become known demand for tea is increasing. China, India and others are producing enough tea for producing and consuming and exporting it. There are some countries which can become world players in tea production. Among them is Georgia. It has around 100 years of tradition of producing tea there are still some specialists and with serious investment and support from the government the industry could be revived. In particular Georgia can produce green tea. It could be exported to the former Soviet Union and worldwide as well.