DUBAI, UAE
Tea and coffee consumption in the Arab world has more than tripled in the past decade with residents of the United Arab Emirates registering an 85 percent increase since 2009.
Consumption is general is on the rise according to the International coffee Organization (ICO) which reports an estimated 1.4 billion cups of coffee are poured daily.
The UAE has been the fastest growing market by volume for coffee in the world with coffee volume sales expected to register an 80 per cent growth from 2009-2014, or a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 12 per cent year on year over the same period.
The UAE has likewise been a key tea trading partner, with nearly 18,000 metric tons of tea re-exports in 2010-2011 alone.
With a per capita consumption of 3.5 kg each year, UAE residents drink nearly twice as much coffee as people in any other GCC country, while tea consumption in the country has likewise achieved a robust growth rate of 47 per cent.
Tea drinking habits in the UAE and across the region have also evolved over the years with the introduction of a much wider variety of teas, including new tea blends that combine more than one type of premium tea and the discovery of the health benefits of tea for people suffering from cancer, heart disease, diabetes, weight problems, cholesterol and other illnesses.
These insights are provided by the International Coffee & Tea Festival, the only dedicated event for the coffee, tea and café industry in the Arab world. The event will be held from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2 at the Meydan Grandstand and Convention Centre in Dubai.
Jose Settee, head of operations at the ICO, said: “It is that new customers are being turned onto the bean. Even when times are hard, people still drink coffee. The growth in coffee consumption these days occurs much more in emerging markets, which are bearing up much better under this economic turbulence than in the developed world.”
Source: Trade Arabia News Service