STiR coffee and tea magazine

24 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 2, 2022 (April / May) By Dan Bolton I Japan: Government Boost apan: Government Boost Leads to Record Tea Exports Leads to Record Tea Exports n 2020 Japan announced plans to increase tea exports from ¥14.6 billion (US$126.3 million) to ¥31.2 billion as part of a government program to boost farm, fishery, and forestry exports to ¥5 trillion in 2030. The new emphasis on exports is working well as Japanese tea exports, led by matcha, grew in value and volume in 2021. The Ministry of Finance reports a 26.1% increase in value to ¥20.4 billion yen (about US$176.5 million), a record high for sales that easily surpassed the ¥16.2 billion exported in 2020. Revenue from green tea exports doubled from ¥10 billion yen in 2015, mainly on sales of high-value green teas. Matcha ac- counted for 65.3% of total exports by value. Export volume increased by 17.1% to 6,178 metric tons. Ja- pan is the second-largest green tea exporter, but export totals are far behind China which generates almost $2 billion annually in sales of green tea. Domestic demand for leaf tea, in contrast, declined as con- sumers switch to ready-to-drink tea in bottles and cans. RTD tea is quite popular in Japan, accounting for 30% of the non- alcoholic beverage market, double the share held by soda, and 10% greater than RTD coffee, according to the Asahi Factbook 2020. The popularity of bottled tea erodes the prices paid for high-grade tea. In 2021, for the first time since records were kept, the famous tea-producing Shizuoka region generated less revenue than Ka- goshima, a rival tea-growing region that is highly mechanized. As a result, Shizuoka is looking offshore, seeking new markets for its teas which were once entirely consumed in Japan. The US is Japan's top loose leaf and matcha tea trading part- ner, accounting for ¥10.3 billion in sales, growing 22.1% year- over-year. Germany purchased ¥2.0 billion, an increase of 73.9%, with sales to Taiwan up 9.9% to ¥1.7 billion. Japan subsidizes outreach to markets including France and central Europe. Specialty tea shops selling loose-leaf tea in Japan lost market share to supermarkets. Sales of traditional teas are on the decline in the domestic market as bottle teas gain favor. Adobe iStock. 4. Outlook of consumption/demand of tea ࠐ Concerning the consumption of green tea (leaf tea) has been on a declining trend and consumption of green tea beverages has been on an increasing. ۑ Annual spending per household for green tea (leaf tea) and tea beverage product is decreasing for leaf tea, but the total amount is increasing because tea beverage product are increasing. Consumer has been to shift to convenient style of tea consumption, especially in the younger generation. Source䠖Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Household Statistics 䕿 Change in consumption volume of soft drinks 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 6,138 5,290 3,780 4,627 5,802 7,845 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Green tea (leaf tea) Tea beverage product قJPYك 11,092 10,765 11,625 From 2007, amount of expenditure for tea beverage product exceeds that of green tea leaf. 31.4 person Soda Green Tea Tea beverage product Source䠖Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Household Statistics 䕿 Change in consumption volume of leaf tea per household 䕿 Amount of annual expenditure for green tea leaf/tea beverage product per household 䕿 Consumption trends for green tea and tea beverage product by age (g) Change in consumption volume of leaf tea per household

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