World Green Tea Conference Session 1 Consumption

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World Green Tea ConferenceSession 1Consumption
Distribution of Green Tea in the USA

• Presentation by
• Joseph P. Simrany, President
• Tea Association of the USA
• November 2-4, 2007

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Green Tea in the USA is becoming More Popular

• Most Popular Beverages in USA
• Soft Drinks
• Coffee
• Bottled Water
• Tea is 6

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Long Term View of Green Tea Consumption in the
USA 000 Lbs.
Year Avg. Lbs. Total Inc/(Dec)
1910-19 44,410 42.8 ------
1920-29 29.010 31.3 (34.6)
1930-39 18,606 21.2 (35.8)
1940-49 5,491 6.3 (70.5)
1950-59 2,927 2.8 (46.7)
1960-69 2,526 1.9 (13.7)
1970-79 6,928 4.1 174.3
1980-89 10,529 5.7 52.0
1990-99 11,916 6.2 13.2
2000-06 32,618 14.5 173.7
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Green Tea Trends in Recent Years 000 Lbs.
Year Green Total Total gt/lt
2000 16,737 8.5 194,639 -4.9
2001 22,423 10.5 213,117 9.5
2002 20,492 9.9 206,024 -3.3
2003 26,584 12.8 207,620 1.0
2006 40,729 17.2 318,092 53.3
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Leading Importers of Green Tea to the United
States December 06Thousands of Pounds
Country Quantity Total Green Tea Change Last year
China 26,214 64.4 36.4
India 1,290 3.2 (5.1)
Japan 1,634 4.0 39.7
Sri Lanka 782 1.9 87.1
Taiwan 630 1.5 3.4
Total 40,729 100.0 30.7
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Green Tea Teabits

• Green Tea sales are booming in the USA, driven
  by
• Promise of Health Benefits
• Expanded Distribution
• New Blend Variations
• New Forms including RTD
• Growing Awareness of Specialty Tea

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Green Tea Teabits

• Sales Revenue is up over 1500 over the last ten
  years from approximately 200,000 to well over
  300,000,000 in 2006.
• The majority of Tea Health Publicity is focused
  on Green Tea.

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Green Tea Observations

• Green is experiencing a resurgence in popularity
  driven primarily by the promise of health
  benefits
• Initially, it was in limited distribution mostly
  confined to Asian communities
• Initially, it met with some consumer resistance
  as the taste was very different from Black Tea

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Green Tea Observations

• Early resistance to the taste of Green Tea was
  overcome through education, relative to proper
  preparation and
• Packers developed new blends of Green Tea mixed
  with various fruit flavors that appealed to the
  American palette.

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Prospects for Continued Growth

• Green Tea sales show no sign of slowing down in
  recent months
• Prospects are excellent that sales will continue
  to be strong over the next several years.

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Reasons for Continued Growth

• Growing awareness of health benefits
• Official sanctioning of health claims
• Aging population base
• Increasing availability via
• Tea Salons
• The Internet
• Supermarkets