Tea growers are smiling once again as prices have started to soar this year. There is a global surge in demand especially from Middle East, North Africa , Eastern Europe and China. The trigger went off as a result of concerns of a global shortage of tea.
Political upheavel in Kenya's tea growing region pushed prices above normal levels. Farmers everywhere from Sri Lanka to Indonesia have for the last couple of years tried to mitigate against the rising fuel costs, labor and packaging costs. Indeed this time around, a sigh of relief for many tea estates as weekly tea auction prices have hit record highs everywhere. In Colombo, the biggest weekly tea auction now sells tea at USD3.15 per kg.
According to United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), tea will be a bull market in 2008. If there is a drought or civil unrest in any of the leading tea growing region, the demand will be lifted. Also, being the second most popular beverage after water, the tea category will continue to see positive growth.
For the consumer this commodity boom will translate to paying more for a cup of tea, at least for this year !
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