COMMENTS from Exhibitors and Buyers
Hear what the exhibitors say
Sri Lanka is the world’s fourth-largest tea producer with a share of about 10 per cent of the global tea production. We’re also the first country to produce ozone friendly Ceylon tea. This is the third year we’ve participated in the Hong Kong International Tea Fair and we’ve come with 12 leading Sri Lankan tea exporters. The Hong Kong market is a very important one for us. We see a continuous growth of tea import from Sri Lanka to Hong Kong. The fair provides a good platform for us to reach out to international buyers. It is professionally run and well organised, and we are happy with the services. Our businesses have met many potential buyers from different places of the world including Russia, Poland and the Chinese mainland.
Premala Srikantha, Assistant Director (Promotion), Sri Lanka Tea Board, Sri Lanka
This is our third-year participation in the Hong Kong International Tea Fair. We’ve come with eight tea companies from India this year to promote our great variety of teas from Darjeeling, Assam and Nilgiris. There is a great potential of growth for the trade of Indian teas to Hong Kong. This is a wonderful fair to promote tea trade and to interact with buyers from all over the world. At present, Indian teas’ export markets include Russia, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Iran, USA, Germany and UK. We are exploring new markets in Southeast Asia. Hong Kong is really a tea trading hub. The fair is very well organised and our booths are attracting a lot of interest.
Roshni Sen, Deputy Chairman, Tea Board of India, India
This is our first exhibition in Hong Kong International Tea Fair. We are here introducing the popular South African herb teas such as Intaba Rooibos and Honeybush to the Asian market. In business since 1996, our company sells teas mainly to Europe, USA and Canada. We are now developing our presence in Asia, and that’s why we’ve come to Hong Kong. This is a lovely fair and the seminars have been wonderful. It’s very exciting to be here and we’ve met many serious buyers from different markets such as Hong Kong, Hungary, Denmark and Sri Lanka. So far, a Hong Kong buyer has already placed an order. We will certainly come back next year to expand our presence.
René Wolfaardt, Marketing and Sales Manager, Cape Natural Tea Products (Pty) Ltd., South Africa
With a business history of 71 years, Tae Tea Group is a leading producer of quality Pu’er tea as well as red and green teas. The majority of our products are sold domestically and our export markets include Hong Kong, Malaysia, Korea and Australia. We’ve established a strong distribution network with about 1,600 points of sales in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. This is the third year we’ve participated in the Hong Kong International Tea Fair. The fair is an excellent place to promote our brand internationally. We have met a large number of serious tea traders and exhibitors for fruitful exchanges. We’ve attracted very positive responses this year, with more than RMB200,000 worth of tea products traded shortly after the official opening of the fair.
Zhang Yongfu, Manager, Tae Tea Group, the Chinese mainland
This is our third-year participation in Hong Kong International Tea Fair. We’ve come with 20 tea enterprises from Guizhou Province to showcase our green tea, red tea and blended tea products. The fair provides an excellent platform to raise our profile and promote Guizhou teas to local and international buyers. It also enables us to reach many end-users in Hong Kong as the fair is open to the public and tea experts in the industry. This is now a must-attend event for our tea producers every year. It is our long-term strategy to exhibit in Hong Kong International Tea Fair.
Wang Yong Xin, Deputy Chief of Agricultural Cooperative Management Office, Agriculture Committee of Guizhou Province, the Chinese mainland
We have come with 20 tea companies from Fujian Province to showcase their products at the Hong Kong International Tea Fair. We offer a variety of tea products from organic tea to white tea and health-conscious tea. This is a fair with international appeal and that’s why we’re here to extend our reach to overseas buyers. We really appreciate the scale of exhibition and services provided, and hope to conclude more deals with serious buyers.
Ye Kailin, Deputy Director General, Ningde Bureau of Foregin Trade and Economic Cooperation, the Chinese mainland
We strive to provide a good variety of high quality teas for customers. This is the third year we’ve exhibited in Hong Kong International Tea Fair. We have been very satisfied with the exhibition results. On top of the Founder’s Series and the Herbal Infusion Series released in the last two years, we are introducing the International Collection this time that comprises English breakfast tea, Earl Grey, Darjeeling green tea, Jasmine pearl white tea and Genmaicha. Buyers have expressed strong interest in our offerings. We’ve met a number of international buyers including those from Sri Lanka, Russia, Italy and USA, and some of them are ready to place orders. This is a well-managed and successful fair, and a great place to raise our profile internationally.
Nicholas Tung, President, World Essense Holdings Ltd, Hong Kong
Hear what the buyers say
In business for 15 years, Euro te is a tea distributor in Mexico. This is the first time we’ve visited the Hong Kong International Tea Fair. We are very impressed with the fair. The scale of exhibition is bigger than our expectation, with so many exhibitors from different parts of the world. We are particularly interested in green tea and white tea, and hope to find some new suppliers at the fair. In Mexico, people don’t like strong tea so subtle tea is more popular. Demand for Chinese tea is growing steadily. We will visit the Hong Kong International Tea Fair again to enrich our merchandise.
Magnus Jönsson, Director, Euro te, Mexico
Misr is a leading government company in Egypt. We import and export a great variety of goods. Since 1958, we’ve been dealing in the trade of tea. We mainly import black tea from India, Sri Lanka, Kenya and Indonesia. In Egypt, people like to drink black tea but the popularity of green tea is growing. This year, we are here looking for suppliers of green tea to meet market demand. The Hong Kong International Tea Fair is a good place to meet people and establish trust with them. We’ve found two potential suppliers from the Chinese mainland at the fair. Further discussions will be conducted and we will consider placing up to 100 tonnes of green tea from team later.
Mahmoud El Nahas, Head, Import Sector, Misr Import & Export Co., Egypt
Bell Tea & Coffee Company has a history of over 100 years specialising in tea and coffee businesses. Tea accounts for about 60% of our business and we maintain a 45% share in the New Zealand market. This is the second time we’ve visited the Hong Kong International Tea Fair. I am here looking for black tea, green tea as well as packaging and tea ware. I really enjoy my time here to meet and interact with people in the industry. The fair is well organised and it allows me to learn more about Chinese tea. Through the effective business matching service provided by HKTDC, I’ve identified four potential suppliers from India and the Chinese mainland, and we will consider placing orders for black and green teas with them after the fair.
Lynne Banks, Sales Director, New Zealand & International, Bell Tea & Coffee Company Ltd, New Zealand
Tazo is a tea brand within Starbucks. Our teas are prepared for all the 17,000 Starbucks coffee stores worldwide. We also offer localised-type teas to meet the preferences of individual markets such as Japan, Taiwan and the Chinese mainland. Hong Kong International Tea Fair is a good fair. It has a good cross-section of tea traders here. I am visiting the fair to find more Chinese tea suppliers. The fair really provides an opportunity to explore potential business, and I've met some of our existing suppliers from India and the mainland here. I've found a potential supplier of Chinese green tea and it is possible to make some deals between us. It’s been also interesting to have the chance to meet and interact with different international tea players here.
Keith Hutjens, Director, Tea Procurement, Tazo Tea, USA
Uni-President Enterprises Corp. is a leading food conglomerate in Taiwan. This is my first-ever visit to the Hong Kong International Tea Fair. I am deeply impressed with the scale of the exhibition. In particular, the fair features a large number of quality tea producers from different parts of the Chinese mainland such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. I am very interested in the production of organic tea that presents tremendous opportunities for growth in future as consumers are increasingly health-conscious. The fair allows me to learn so much more about the market trends in the tea industry.
Su Kun Lu, Manager, Tea R&D Division, Uni-President Enterprises Corp., Taiwan
Our company specialises in the import and export of Chinese tea, and we buy directly from our Chinese mainland suppliers. This is my first visit to the Hong Kong International Tea Fair. It’s an eye-opening experience for me as the fair features a diversity of exhibitors and teas from all over the world. Besides Chinese teas, I’ve found some Korean teas that may appeal to our customers. I will pursue further discussions with 10 exhibitors from the Chinese mainland and Korea for the supply of teas and tea ware. I will definitely visit the fair again next year.
Yan Donghai, Manager, Yan Import & Export, Germany |
