International Tea Day turns focus to sustainable production and trade
The UN observance on May 21 promotes sustainable tea production and fairer trade while underlining tea’s place in culture and daily life.
- Tea is a vital cash crop in many developing countries, providing a key source of income for numerous farmers, particularly smallholder growers.
- International Tea Day promotes sustainable production and Fair Trade practices to ensure appropriate prices and better conditions for workers, supporting the industry's long-term economic health.
- The global tea market is large and continues to grow, driven by high consumption in major markets like China and India and expanding trends like premium and ready-to-drink teas.
- The industry connects the economy, society, and environment, evolving from a simple agricultural product into a high-value global food and beverage sector.
International Tea Day, which falls on May 21 every year, is not merely a celebration of one of the world’s most popular drinks. It also reflects the important role of tea as a cash crop, a cultural marker and a driver of sustainability in many countries around the world.
The United Nations (UN) designated May 21 as International Tea Day to promote sustainable tea production and consumption, while raising awareness of the importance of the tea industry, which connects the economy, society, the environment and the quality of life of people across the supply chain.
In many developing countries, tea is an important cash crop that generates income for large numbers of farmers, especially smallholder tea growers, who form the backbone of the industry. The designation of International Tea Day, therefore, aims to reflect the role of these farmers and support the development of fairer trading systems.
In addition, tea is more than a daily beverage. It is part of the culture, way of life and history of many countries worldwide, from Japanese tea culture and Chinese tea to tea in South Asia and Southeast Asia. At the same time, tea has gained popularity from the health-conscious trend because it contains antioxidants and helps support the digestive system.
Another key aspect of International Tea Day is the promotion of Fair Trade, covering appropriate prices, workers’ conditions and transparency in the supply chain, to improve the long-term quality of life of tea growers.
On the environmental front, sustainable tea production also plays an important role in conserving natural resources, including soil, water and ecosystems, as well as helping to reduce the impact of climate change, which is becoming a major challenge for the agricultural sector worldwide.
Another piece of information reflecting tea’s global role is consumption behaviour in each country. Data from a food and drink consumption ranking website indicate that Turkey drinks the most tea in the world when measured per head of population, averaging about 3.16 kilogrammes per person per year. This clearly reflects how tea is part of Turkish people’s way of life and everyday culture.
Meanwhile, European countries such as Ireland and the United Kingdom continue to rank among countries with high tea consumption, influenced by their long-established tea-drinking culture and Afternoon Tea.
In terms of total consumption volume, China and India remain the world’s largest tea markets because of their huge populations and deeply rooted tea-drinking cultures dating back hundreds of years.
At present, the global tea market continues to grow, driven by premium beverages, ready-to-drink tea and the expanding culture of tea shops and milk tea in many countries. This reflects the fact that tea is not only an agricultural product, but is moving towards becoming one of the world’s high-value food and beverage industries.
Kittima Thasenhod
