Tea · importers
Tea shares its trade chapter with coffee, mate and spices, and in that chapter the United States is the largest buyer in the world at $11.7B.
| Market | HS 09 imports |
|---|---|
| Germany | $6.5B |
| France | $4.0B |
| Italy | $3.4B |
| Canada | $2.4B |
| Spain | $2.2B |
Figures are for the whole of HS chapter 09 (coffee, tea, mate and spices); tea is only part of it. Source: UN Comtrade, as reported by national authorities; latest available year per market.
No other country reports more imports in the chapter: $11.7B against $6.5B for Germany, and 17.3% of the world total. Coffee is likely to make up most of it in a country where coffee drinking dominates, so the tea share of the figure could be modest. Tea is nonetheless a large business in absolute terms, and it is served by iced-tea and ready-to-drink makers as well as bag and loose-leaf packers.
The whole chapter is 0.3% of the country’s $3.36T imports and ranks 39th among its import chapters.
Large packers blend teas from many origins to a fixed taste and buy black tea in volume against a price and flavour target. Ready-to-drink and iced-tea manufacturers use tea as an ingredient and care about cost and consistency. Specialty importers buy single-estate and speciality teas in small lots, and green, white, oolong and herbal categories each have their own suppliers.
Ask which group a prospect belongs to, because the sample, the price and the paperwork will be different for each. Iced-tea makers in particular buy large volumes on tight cost targets, so ask whether the buyer wants the same tea year-round or is willing to switch origins as prices move.
Residue limits, labelling rules and import documentation for tea are set by the authorities and change over time, so confirm the current position with them and with the importer before shipping. Mexico, China, Canada and Germany lead the country’s overall source list, which spans all goods and says nothing about where tea comes from.
Shipment records filtered to the tea heading separate it from coffee and spices, and they name the receivers with weights and declared values. That is the practical route from a chapter total to a call list.
Records of tea shipments show who receives each cargo and how heavy it is. Build a shortlist from them, agree Incoterm, currency, payment terms and port, and reach the companies through this site’s free marketplace.
Its chapter figure is $11.7B, first of 96 markets, but that also counts coffee, mate and spices.
Coffee is likely to dominate the chapter in a country with heavy coffee consumption.
Blenders and packers, ready-to-drink makers, and specialty importers of single-estate teas.
Use shipment records under the tea heading and sort receivers by tonnage and frequency.
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