Chapter 655 Development Status of the Tea Industry
Ernst went to Kidundashan Weapons and Equipment Testing Site. Generally speaking, he mainly visited various weapons and equipment tests. As for the "Military Vehicle Research Institute" now It was basically an empty frame, but it was easy to understand in the initial stage of the entire automobile industry, so in less than a day, Ernst returned to the first town.
Finance Minister von der Leyen provided Ernst with a list of tea industries. In recent years, the tea industry has developed into one of the important industries in East Africa.
“In 1879, East Africa’s tea production was second only to the Far Eastern Empire and India. But by 1882, our tea export volume climbed to the third position in the world for the first time. Last year, our industrial export volume was second only to Indian tea. District and Far East Tea District, the output reached more than 22,000 tons, of which about 11,000 tons were exported. The output of the Far East Empire should be around 100,000 tons, and that of India is around 20,000 tons. Our tea is mainly sold to Germany, Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean coast (including North Africa), and the Middle East.”
Most of the increased tea exports in East Africa come from the help of the Hechingen Consortium, because Central and Eastern Europe is not like the British. I have a habit of tea, and there are no high-quality production areas like India. Therefore, if I want to expand the market, I must invest in advertising in the German region and cooperate with dealers. The export tea trade of the Far Eastern Empire is also mostly monopolized by the United Kingdom. Of course, the British mainland It is also the largest consumer of exported tea.
Overall, the quality of East African tea cannot compete with the tea producing areas of the former two countries, but there are advantages and disadvantages to each other, so it is not completely uncompetitive.
The first is the tea market controlled by East Africa such as Germany. The current tea production in the world is far less than that of later generations. In the past, the tea production in Kenya alone was higher than that of the Far Eastern Empire, India and East Africa, so the market volume is still very large. Especially the European and Arabian regions (Middle East and North Africa) where tea is not produced.
In the United Kingdom and Western Europe, the tea trade is mainly controlled by the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, which has a relatively large impact on Central and Eastern Europe. However, the cheaper East African tea will have a great impact on the original tea market in Central and Eastern Europe after the production increases. , currently becoming the most important tea market in East Africa.
In the Arabian region, mainly North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, East Africa also has certain advantages in the tea market. In addition to sea lanes, land tea trade lanes are also prosperous in North Africa, especially the Arab caravans in the hinterland of the Sahara Desert.
The reason why East African tea can be squeezed into the Arabian Peninsula is thanks to the Omanis, who can also be called Zanzibar merchants. Oman is the most prosperous country in the Indian Ocean trade in the Arab region, so relying on Zanzibar merchants, East Africa The tea then entered the Arabian Peninsula and radiated to other regions.
Except for Central and Eastern Europe and the Arab region, East Africa cannot compete with the Far Eastern Empire and India in other regions. The Far Eastern Empire's independent tea business covers the entire East Asia and parts of Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and North Asia (Tsarist Russia is almost negligible). Due to taste and output reasons, the Indian tea area is still unable to compete with the Far Eastern Empire.
“Green tea does not need to be fermented, but it must go through “greening”. Greening means that after the fresh tea leaves are picked, they are either fried, baked, sun-dried, or steamed to keep their original color and flavor as much as possible. However, this The sales volume of tea in Europe is still not as good as that of black tea. On the contrary, it is more popular in the Mediterranean region, with Austria and Italy being the main markets.”
“On the contrary, black tea and dark tea products generally have a long-term shelf life. The quality of it is more and more fragrant as it ages, making it very popular in overseas markets.”
“However, the consumption of green tea in my country is higher than that of black tea. It is mainly immigrants from the Far East who introduced green tea culture to East Africa. ”
Of course, the green tea culture in East Africa is a very common low-level folk tea culture. It is not as sophisticated as the wealthy families in the Far Eastern Empire, but it has also made great efforts to popularize tea drinking in East Africa.
This kind of tea-drinking culture also deceives immigrants from the German region. Correspondingly, immigrants from the German region can also introduce the study of coffee to immigrants from the Far East.
In fact, the two major immigrant groups do not have a deep understanding of tea or coffee. They are more influenced by the cultural environment of their own countries. “Tea trees can basically be grown in all of East Africa, especially the vast plateau areas in the east (Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, etc.), which are all excellent tea producing areas. They are mainly divided into two parts, one is northern tea. District (Kenny Asia), one is the southern tea area (coast of Lake Malawi)"
"The northern tea area is our high-quality tea area in East Africa, where the earliest batch of tea leaves were introduced. There are three tea varieties that have been compared after years of intensive cultivation. Mature.
In addition, the tea leaves in the northern tea area have high integrity, bright color, floral East African aroma, and slightly bitter taste. The smell is very strong and bright, the soup is red and translucent, and the taste is sweet. Mellow, high quality, unique flavor , so it is quite popular in the German region, two of which are black tea and one is dark tea. The technology mainly replicates the technology of the Far Eastern Empire, but we are also researching related machinery and equipment to increase production without affecting the taste. ”
Thanks to the superior geographical conditions of the northern tea area, the average annual temperature is around 20 degrees, sufficient light, abundant precipitation, relatively few pests, an altitude of 1,500 meters, and slightly acidic volcanic ash. The soil makes the northern tea area an ideal source of high-quality highland tea.
And the tea trees in East Africa are evergreen all year round. Taking the northern tea area as an example, in June and July every year, tea farmers will pick one round of tea leaves every two or three weeks on average; and in October every year, tea farmers will pick tea leaves. During the golden season, East African tea can be picked once every five or six days, so East African tea can grow all year round without a dormant period. This makes East African tea more productive in the same area.
“This year we established the Mombasa Tea Auction House in Mombasa to provide bidding for businessmen from Austria, Germany, Oman and other countries.”
The northern tea area in East Africa has now been formed The initial reputation is that this is a food that God appreciates. The same variety may be unknown when grown in the Far East, but its taste is greatly improved in East Africa, and it has a flavor of orange grown in Huainan.
“The annual output of the southern tea area is about more than 4,000 tons, mainly producing black tea. The tea soup is clear and of medium to high quality. The tea species belong to Indian species, so the grading method is the same as that of Indian tea, and the tea leaves are also spelled. How to make it. ”
"In the southern tea-producing areas, the products are mainly sold to Western Europe under the brand name "Indian tea". We cooperate with Dutch tea merchants and sell them at a price that is 3% lower than the genuine Indian tea. However, including shipping costs, because Indian tea The area is mainly located in the northeast, so it is about a thousand kilometers longer than the East African route, which makes the cost of tea production in Malawi lower.”
This is also a strategy for East African tea exports. , after all, East Africa is considered a new tea-producing area, so in the core business areas of non-Hechingen Consortium, it is inevitable to rely on the reputation of the Far Eastern Empire or India, two relatively mature tea industries, to open up the market.
Of course, copycat goods are not a long-term solution. East Africa is also working hard to develop its own tea brand. This is also the main task of the Northern Tea District. The Northern Tea District is the highest quality tea area in East Africa, especially the tea that has been compared. The quality of the three mature tea leaves is comparable to many tea leaves in the Far Eastern Empire.
So tea from the northern tea area has good sales in the German region with its price and quality advantages, and the price route is a focus of development for East African tea.
After all, judging from the development path of tea in the previous life, European and American countries are not very optimistic about the quality of tea. In other words, they do not have the rich cultural heritage and atmosphere of tea in East Asia. Instead, they are tea produced and processed by large industries. Brands are more likely to be accepted.
(End of this chapter)