Georgian tea producer company Buetea, has temporarily suspended its exporting activities. The company’s sales manager, Ketevan Kakauridze, told BM.GE that the company had been exporting to Germany on a test basis, but the product was not attractive to this market due to its high price: “We had exports to Germany, which were tested several times, but we stopped entering this market. Our product turned out to be quite expensive for importers. Germany was not a segment that would buy expensive tea,” she said.

The company has not added any new exporting markets, although negotiations are underway in various directions. Accordingly, as the representative of the company notes, at this stage they are focused on developing the local market. It is worth noting that the Okriba plantations in Tkibuli are located on an area of ​​50 hectares. The company produces a total of 9 types of tea, including: black and green tea, black tea with forest berries and citrus, green tea with medicinal herbs, wild cranberry tea, as well as the newly added black tea with bergamot, lime and spices. The latter are mainly aimed at the HoReCa sector. Also, “Buetea” products are represented in such retail chains as “Europroduct”, “Goodwill”, “Ori Nabiji”, “Tsenti” and “Tsiskvili Bazaar”.

Speaking about the increase in demand, Kakauridze notes that the social media campaigns activated in the last three months have created a positive trend: “A growth trend is observed, although we cannot talk about specific numbers yet,” she noted.

The company does not plan to expand production in the near future because, according to Kakauridze, it is still not possible to fully utilize existing volumes.