STiR coffee and tea magazine

To ensure that growers remain on the farm, Iran provides price support. During the harvest fresh leaf is purchased direct. Farmers received a 70% subsidy until two years ago when the subsidy was reduced to 62%. Prices are higher now are will likely be adjusted in the new year. Economic conditions are improving and a reform plan will eventually replace subsidies with targeted social assistance in a move toward free market pricing. TURKEY GEORGIA UKRAINE MOLDAVIA BULGARIA IRAK AZERBAIJAN ARMENIA CYPRUS SYRIA LEBANON SAUDI ARABIA KAZAKHSTAN TURKMENISTAN UZBEKISTAN I R A N Gilon Tea was first cultivated in 1882 with seeds brought from India but it was not until 1899 that Prince Mohammad Mirza (known as Kashef Al Saltaneh) succeed in growing commercial quantities in what is now Gilan Province in the Mazanderan region. Mirza was from Lahijan which remains the heart of the growing region along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea. Kashef's mausoleum is part of the Iran National Tea Museum. Iran's first modern tea factory was established in 1934. Tea Growing Regions of Iran Land use permits to grow tea on at least 7,000 hectares in Gilan were changed to grow more essential crops. Tea imported from India, Africa, and Sri Lanka, priced at competitive rates, far exceeds domes- tic production and smuggling, which has been prolific over the past 20 years, re- mains a serious issue. Rouzbehan estimates 80,000 tons of tea is brought into Iran every year of which 30,000 tons is contraband. In January, to discourage smuggling, the government lowered import tariffs for eight basic commodities, including tea, by as much as 55%. Modernizing factories Only small quantities of tea are exported. Rouzbehan estimates domestic growers can at best meet only a quarter of the nation's domestic demand. Iran's first modern factory was built in 1934. Fac- tories remain small and remote, process- ing from 200 to 2,000 metric tons but all three locally produced brands: Lahijan, Fooman, and Amlasht are growing. Last year production rose by 60% which has spurred investment. Now that they have access to foreign equip- ment, local growers are modernizing and repairing as many of the nation's tea factories as practical. One downside is renewed consumer interest in imported tea. Importers like Golestan Co., which had a 39% market share of retail sales in 2016, will now face more intense com- petition in grocery outlets. London-based market research firm Euromonitor observes that "consumer attitudes towards tea changed signifi- cantly (once sanctions ended). Many households switched to branded pack- aged tea in line with increased availability of different brands on store shelves. Tea bags, once a product for affluent con- sumer groups, became widely available in line with the more hectic lifestyles of tea consumers especially in key urban areas," writes Euromonitor. Euromonitor predicts the conver- sion from unpackaged tea to high quality branded tea will continue at a faster rate. Mechanization Tea workers are largely uneducated. They learned the trade from experience not academic training. The ministry of agri- culture wants to introduce modern, more efficient and earth-friendly practices. It's

• Cover