1.1 Definition and scope of study

Tea, with 1.5 billion cups consumed every day, is the second most popular drink in the world after water. Established in China, introduced in Japan at the end of the 8th century and part of British culture, tea also has a special place in Middle Eastern cultures. This global character of tea is reflected by the long list of countries where it is drunk.

Tea is a beverage obtained from the leaves of the tea plant (about 200 different species), infused in hot water. The types of teas are segmented by their colors (black, green, Oolong, yellow, white and post-fermented) which differ according to the treatment of the harvested leaves. Rooibos or "red tea" is actually an infusion obtained from the leaves of Aspalathus Linearis, which is only found in South Africa, and not from the tea plant.

Behind water, tea is the most consumed beverage in the world, with over 3 million cups consumed every minute. In general, the consumption of healthy beverages and food has been growing 24% per year in Brazil. In this context, tea has become a tasty option and is increasingly present on the table of Brazilians and in specialty shops of the product. The largest tea companies in Brazil are Coca-Cola (owner of Matte Leão), Maratá, Herbalife and the Oetker Group.

Despite its growing popularity, tea has not yet been fully established in the Brazilian market and its consumption is still generally low. This is largely due to the fact that Brazilians prefer coffee much more to tea. However, new variations of tea are becoming increasingly popular in Brazil, such as bubble tea and ready-to-drink tea.

Despite the success of mass products, the specific high end niche has shown a strong opportunity for growth. One case of success is the Spanish brand "the Tea Shop", which grew in Brazil by 47% in 2018, supported by the trend of typically more exclusive gourmet foods and healthy beverages. The growth of this sub-segment is expected to continue on as more Brazilians become aware of the benefits of the beverage.

1.2 A fast-growing global market dominated by China

The world tea market amounted to **.*** billion in **** and the forecasts predict continued growth in the coming years, with an average annual growth rate of *.**% forecast over the period ****-****. As a result, the world tea market is expected to reach over $** billion in ****.

Global tea market World ****-****, in billions ...

1.3 A promising Brazilian market

Brazil is far from being the biggest tea consumer in the world. This is primarily due to the fact that coffee is the number one preference for Brazilians - the country accounts for **% of total global coffee sales [***]. Because of this, tea has not had the opportunity yet to fully establish ...

1.4 Imports and exports

Within a global context, Brazil is a small player in the tea market. With under $* million worth of exports and just about $* million worth of imports, Brazil represents a very small part of the global tea trade. In fact, to put it into perspective, Brazil's tea exports are equivalent to less ...

2.1 Increasing popularity of tea

Despite the generally low demand for the product in Brazil, between **** and ****, the consumption of tea increased by **% [***].

Volume of tea sales Brazil, ****-****, in tons Source: ****

As an example, the consumption of black tea in Brazil (***) has also been increasing. Since ****, the consumption of black tea grew by approximately *.*% per ...

2.2 A generally weak popularity in Brazil

As previously mentioned in this study, Brazil is far from being a country that is known for its love of tea. In fact, the estimated *,*** tons of black tea consumed in the country in **** only accounted for *.*% of the total global consumption of black tea in that year [***].

Per capita, Brazil ...

2.3 Popular in the North, less in the South

Tea is much more popular in the North of Brazil than in the South. Based on the search trends for the word "Chá" (***) on Google in ****, it can be seen that the popularity of this term is much greater in the North-Eastern regions of the country, as oppose to the Southern ...

2.4 Demand driven by seasonality

Tea is very much a drink that is more popular during the Winter as oppose to the Summer. Such is the case in Brazil, as the popularity of the drink is very strong during its Summer months (***).

Below is a graph showing the interest of the word "Chá" (***) on Google between ...

2.5 The growth of RTD tea

Ready-to-drink tea is one of the fastest growing non-alcoholic beverages in Brazil. Although the sales of RTD tea represented less than *% of the total sales of non-alcoholc beverages in Brazil in ****, its popularity has been growing since **** - *** million litres of RTD tea were sold in ****, as oppose to *** million in ...

3.1 A market dominated by an international player

In Brazil, it is Coca-Cola that leads the tea market with its tea brand "Leão". The American giant holds nearly **% of the market, followed by Maratá (***). Another international player that also operates in this Brazilian market is Unilever with its "Lipton" brand. The British giant does not disclose its sales ...

3.2 A production primarily based in Brazil

Given the vast amount of rich primary resources that can be found in the country, it is expected that most of the production of tea happens in Brazil. Such is the case with the leading tea brand in Brazil, Leão.

Leão has * production factories in Brazil - * in Paraná ...

3.3 Different types of players

Different types of players are present on the tea market in Brazil. We can distinguish between the following in particular:

The big players (***) - These offer traditional tea bags, RTD tea and tea capsules Tea houses - These tend to offer higher quality tea (***) Bubble tea kiosks - A new trend ...

4.1 A varied offer

In terms of traditional tea, there is a wide variety available, ranging in flavours and benefits. Below are some of the most popular types of tea in Brazil [***]:

Beyond traditional hot tea, there are other variations of the product. For instance, there is ready-to-drink tea, there is bubble tea and there ...

4.2 An offer that differs between regions

In Brazil, the type of tea that is most popular to be consumed varies between regions. Below you can see which tea is the most popular in each region of the country [***]:

South (***) - Mate tea South-East (***) - Chamomile tea North-East (***) - Tamarind tea North (***) - Catuaba tea Centre-West (***) - Guaco ...

4.3 Price analysis

Tea in Brazil can be split into * sectors:

Traditional tea from the big national brands RTD tea Tea capsules Tea from tea houses Bubble tea

Starting with the big national brands, the Leão brand is by far the cheapest (***) and the specialist Herbalife tea is the most expensive. Below is ...

4.4 New trends in the market

Beyond the traditional hot tea, there are two variations of this product that have been gaining popularity: ready-to-drink tea (***) and bubble tea.

RTD tea

As mentioned in the section *.* of this study, RTD tea is one of the growing trends within the last decade. Although RTD tea has already somewhat established ...

5.1 Regulations

Most of the regulations regarding the tea sector in Brazil is specified in the Vigilancia Sanitaria technical report. in this report, the following is stated:

It is important to note that not all plants and plant parts can be used for the production of tea. The plant species and parts of ...