The ecological construction model of tea gardens, covering tea varieties, cultivation, soil, biology, plant protection, fertilizers and other fields. Adhering to the human-centered rational ecological ethics, and working hard for the revival of the tea industry.
Tea is Kuwait’s most important drink. It is essential for daily meals, meetings, offices, and meetings. Although there are no special teahouses in sight, tea is sold in restaurants and cafes. The author found that the Kuwaiti can see the tea cup where he sits down.
1. Drink at home. Because of the wealth, the locals have good living conditions and have a lot of free time, so they will drink tea at parties. In the two local homes I have visited, there are a set of exquisite tea sets in the open living room, which are put together with , date palms, and snacks, so that the guests can use them at will.
2. Drink in public places. Slightly higher-end banks, telecommunications, automobile 4s shops and many other service establishments provide free tea.Some also take dates with tea. It is mainly Atobo tea mixed with cinnamon and saffron, which is spicy but refreshing. When I first came, I was not used to drinking, and after drinking too much, I still remember it. Although unlike China, there are special teahouses, but cafes in Kuwait basically also sell tea.
3. Drink outdoors. Desert camping and outdoor picnics, tea sets and tea are essential, almost every family has outdoor tea drinking suits. It is usually a rattan box, which is packed into the stove, fuel, tea leaves and tea sets in an orderly manner. One time when the author was working abroad, the car punctured halfway and called for rescue. The other party asked for the specific location. Fortunately, two Kuwaiti brothers who were making tea and drinking under the trees on the roadside enthusiastically saved the author’s ignorance of Arabic writing. I heard that the author has a sense of tea. Interested, and generously took out a pack of more than one catty of bulk black tea from the rattan box as a gift. This episode made the author feel the warmth and friendliness of Kuwaiti people, and also saw their love for tea.
Black tea is the favorite mainstream
is still the largest consumer in China’s domestic market. Unlike Chinese people who mainly consume green tea, Kuwaiti people mainly drink black tea. Traditional Kuwaiti tea is black tea mixed with cinnamon and saffron. This slightly spicy drink is very refreshing. Kuwaitis has been dealing with black tea almost all day. At the beginning of work, foreign workers make black tea for them. Around 10 am, when it’s time for "work break", no matter how busy they are, they will temporarily stop their work. A few colleagues gather together and drink black tea with exquisite snacks.Relax your tight nerves. When I got home from get off work, my own maid served black tea to relieve the fatigue caused by the day's work.
When the lanterns first came on, the Arab men would greet their friends in their own "Diwaniya" (the Arabic "living room" means an outdoor place to sit and chat. , Generally located next to your own villa), while sipping black tea, while talking about astronomy and geography. Although it is known as Arabian black tea, this tea itself is not produced in the Arabian Peninsula, but is named after the Arabs love to drink it. Kuwait's black tea is basically imported from Sri Lanka . For a long time, this black tea has evolved into an indispensable part of the lives of Kuwaiti people. After the United States helped Kuwait recover from Iraqi occupation in 1992, American coffee has gradually entered the lives of Kuwaiti people in the past 20 years, and American coffee has now become a new "genre" parallel to black tea.
The way of drinking is different
1. Many etiquette. Because of their wealth, Kuwaiti people drink tea at home and are served by foreign servants, who are very particular about it. The utensils for making coffee and tea are long-mouthed copper pots. After being boiled, they are poured into very small cups. When drinking, they are drunk one after another. The waiter will refill the cup immediately after every drink. If you don’t drink it, shake the cup. Signal.
2. Like "adding ingredients". Generally, you put sugar cubes and milk in the tea, and squeeze some lemon juice or orange juice for the more delicate ones.The most amazing thing is to put in fresh beef and mutton, which is said to relieve greasy fluids. When drinking, a handyman will bring a glass of white water to rinse the mouth.
3. Served with dim sum. At home and in slightly more sophisticated social occasions or even business places, tea will be served with snacks, usually dates, biscuits and local snacks, which are placed on exquisite plates and covered with transparent lids for guests to use at will.
4. Coffee soil tea. There is a kind of folk "coffee soil tea" in Kuwait, which is always kept at home. "Coffee soil tea" is made of coffee bean bran and a fragrant plant leaf. The two are mixed and crushed, put in a pot and boiled until it is yellow-brown, and it is ready to drink. This kind of tea has a refreshing sensation and a slight coffee taste. I am not used to drinking it at the beginning, but I slowly learn to enjoy it with dessert.
Sales by agent
Although the per capita consumption of Kuwaiti tea is not dependent on the imported tea, all of the Kuwaiti tea is mainly imported from saline-alkali tea. Most of the black tea is imported from Europe and Sri Lanka.
According to the statistics of the Kuwaiti Bureau of Statistics, in 2015, the black tea imported through customs was 14.3971 million dinars, 317 million yuan, and the per capita import value was more than 200 yuan (others) The quantity of tea leaves does not meet the bulk commodity standard,No separate statistics).
According to Kuwaiti law, foreign investment cannot set up a wholly-owned sales branch in Kuwait, and must adopt a commercial agency system. If a joint venture is established, a Kuwaiti enterprise or citizen must hold more than 51% of the shares; all The tea sales in China adopt the brand sales agency system. Generally, a company acts as an agent for one or several brands, and then the general agent is responsible for commercial promotion, distributing goods in major shopping malls, cafes and bazaars or continuing to develop secondary distributors. Currently, there are no agents for Chinese tea brands in Kuwait.
A long way to go in market development
Judging from the tea sold in supermarkets, most of them are black tea bags. Green tea is relatively rare, mostly in the form of teabags, and the price is lower than black tea. Cafes sell functional teas that are popular among young people (such as beauty, weight loss and other concepts).
1. Have a preference for European and American tea. Because of their wealth, Kuwaiti people are never short of money, and they have the habit of only buying the most expensive. Black tea needs British brands, functional teas like German brands, and generally black tea is made in Sri Lanka, which has become a tradition for the locals.
2. Little knowledge about Chinese tea. Many people think that Chinese tea is jasmine tea , probably because of its strong aroma, which is more suitable for intellectuals and women in Arab countries. There are many kinds of tea in the market,However, most of the tea sold in the market is tea from Europe and Sri Lanka, and there is no Chinese tea. This is not commensurate with the trade status of the two countries. (In 2016, China was the largest trade importer and exporter of Kuwait. This is also true of local tyrants such as span3span and Qatar).
3. Do not understand or accept Chinese tea culture . Although the use of tea culture as a medium to open up the international market of Chinese tea is a very advantageous method, because there is no tea production, the tea culture of Kuwait is very different from China. In 2003, a delegation from Zhejiang Province went to Kuwait to perform tea art performances, but the rough Kuwaiti people got bored for a long time, and the form of tea art performances involved Muslim men and women, and it was not easy to be accepted by the locals. Although Kuwait is a small country, its population structure and consumption habits are very representative among the oil-rich countries in the Gulf.
In summary, there is still a lot of work to be done for Chinese tea companies to enter a market like Kuwait, especially for consumers in these countries to understand Chinese tea. . At this stage, the conditions for directly entering these markets may not be mature. There is a certain realistic possibility to use the well-known European and American brand OEM (OEM) or try to develop the sales of jasmine tea. These all need to be further investigated and studied by tea experts.
(An root team extracted from Liu Xu etc.: Kuwait tea market and consumption)
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