Easterntea will from time to time bring readers snippets of the latest news in the tea industry.

Chinese Tea in Germany

Germans are beginning to prefer Chinese Green Tea over Indian Tea. Germany had imported over 9000 tons of tea in 1999. Previously, Germans had been great drinkers of Indian tea but of late, Chinese tea is more popular. This is due to better marketing from the Chinese merchants and also, the widespread belief in Germany that drinking Chinese green tea is good for health. These statistics are from the Hamburg-based German tea Importers' Association. Hamburg is the tea importing centre of Germany. The third most important tea source for Germany is Sri Lanka.

This is an interesting trend as Germany has all along been a coffee-drinking market. But of late, Chinese tea is becoming popular though it will not displace coffee or Indian tea. But this represents a trend amongst young drinkers who are health-conscious. Many predict that Germany would becoming Europe's largest tea-drinking nation in a couple of years' time. It imported a total volume of 40 000 tons of tea in 1999 (all countries combined). The tea shops in Germany sold 2800 tons while restaurant and wholesale trade and mail order companies sold 900 tons each.

Last year, a survey conducted showed that one out of every two households consumed tea.