Each 21 May is celebrated as United Nations (UN) International Tea Day.
The Thammasat University Library collection includes several books about different aspects of tea cultivation around the world.
As the UN website explains,
Why drink tea?
Tea is a beverage made from the Camellia sinesis plant. Tea is the world’s most consumed drink, after water. It is believed that tea originated in northeast India, north Myanmar and southwest China, but the exact place where the plant first grew is not known. Tea has been with us for a long time. There is evidence that tea was consumed in China 5,000 years ago.
Tea production and processing constitutes a main source of livelihoods for millions of families in developing countries and is the main means of subsistence for millions of poor families, who live in a number of least developed countries.
The tea industry is a main source of income and export revenues for some of the poorest countries and, as a labour-intensive sector, provides jobs, especially in remote and economically disadvantaged areas. Tea can play a significant role in rural development, poverty reduction and food security in developing countries, being one of the most important cash crops.
Tea consumption can bring health benefits and wellness due to the beverage’s anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and weight loss effects. It also has cultural significance in many societies.
International Tea Day
Re-emphasizing the call from the Intergovernmental Group on Tea to direct greater efforts towards expanding demand, particularly in tea-producing countries, where per capita consumption is relatively low, and supporting efforts to address the declining per capita consumption in traditional importing countries, the General Assembly decided to designate 21 May as International Tea Day.
The Day will promote and foster collective actions to implement activities in favour of the sustainable production and consumption of tea and raise awareness of its importance in fighting hunger and poverty.
Tea production and the Sustainable Development Goals
Tea production and processing contributes to the reduction of extreme poverty (Goal 1), the fight against hunger (Goal 2), the empowerment of women (Goal 5) and the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems (Goal 15).
Moreover, there is an urgent need to raise public awareness of the importance of tea for rural development and sustainable livelihoods and to improve the tea value chain to contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Tea and climate change
Tea production is highly sensitive to changes in growing conditions. Tea can only be produced in narrowly defined agro-ecological conditions and, hence, in a very limited number of countries, many of which will be heavily impacted by climate change.
Changes in temperature and rainfall patterns, with more floods and droughts, are already affecting yields, tea product quality and prices, lowering incomes and threatening rural livelihoods. These climate changes are expected to intensify, calling for urgent adaptation measures. In parallel, there is a growing recognition of the need to contribute to climate change mitigation, by reducing carbon emissions from tea production and processing.
Therefore, tea-producing countries should integrate climate change challenges, both on the adaptation and mitigation front, into their national tea development strategies.
Events
First Observance of the International Tea Day: Harnessing benefits for all from field to cup — 21 May 2020 at 14:00 hours (Rome time). Watch the webcast.
The first International Tea Day was celebrated virtually and was opened by FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu. It brought together the world’s countries where tea cultivation is an important source of jobs and incomes. During the ceremony, speakers selected a variety of tea and talked about its properties while linking it to a typical cultural experience in the region. The observance also highlighted four of the tea sites recognized as part of world´s agricultural heritage and linked to the FAO´s Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) programme.
Tea for Sustainable Development — virtual observance in New York — 21 May 2020 at 10:00 hours (ETD). Watch the webcast.
An interactive dialogue with Permanent Representatives from major tea-consuming and producing countries, co-organised by FAO and the Mission of China, focused on tea culture, tea’s role in poverty eradication, as well as sustainable production and consumption of tea in response to COVID-19. It featured the participation of Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, President of General Assembly.
Thailand and tea research opportunities
According to a 2019 report from Euromonitor on Tea in Thailand,
Rising health awareness continues to drive tea sales. Dominated by health-orientated variants, an increasing number of consumers are looking to hot tea for its health benefits, and to cope with their increasingly busy and stressful lifestyles.
With rising disposable incomes consumers are also seeking more premium teas offering higher quality. Twinings, owned by AB Food & Beverages Thailand Ltd, is reopening its Twinings Tea Boutique with more special premium tea menus, seeking to attract more mid- to upper-income consumers.
Players in the tea category are responding to increasing consumer sophistication by launching more variants, such as Ranong Tea green tea latte and Ranong tea Thai mix tea, in order to appeal to younger consumers. Local flavours feature heavily in new product developments.
New Concept Product Co continued to lead the tea category in 2019. However, it saw a slight decrease in retail value share as the introduction of new entrants and niche premium brands led to intensified competition.
Imported tea is widely perceived as premium, and is gaining popularity amongst an increasing number of Thai consumers, both on-trade and off-trade. Growing demand for products of original plantation has boosted the growth of international brands such as Itoen from Japan, and Twining from England.
With growing health awareness among consumers, competition in green tea in Thailand is intensifying. While green tea is widely consumed for refreshment purposes, its wide range of perceived health benefits further supports demand.
An article published in the Journal of Ethnic Foods in 2017 on Recent research advances and ethno-botanical history of miang, a traditional fermented tea (Camellia sinensis var. assamica) of northern Thailand was co-authored by Dr. Chartchai Khanongnuch of the Division of Biotechnology, School of Agro-Industry, Chiang Mai University, among others.
Here is the article’s abstract:
Miang is an ethnic fermented tea leaf (Camellia sinensis var. assamica) from northern Thailand. It has a long history of sociocultural relationship with northern Thai people. Unlike other types of tea, miang is a unique product that is known as chewing tea or eating tea. In addition, it is also a specific food for traditional religious ceremonies and funerals. Although chewing of miang has become less popular among younger generations, there remains a demand for miang in specific areas of northern Thailand. The traditional fermentation mechanism for miang has not been well documented and the information is now being developed. Current studies indicated that the astringent miang possessed higher phenolic metabolites especially epigallocatechin gallate than the sour miang and fresh tea leaf used for making miang in general. The chemical constituents in miang are of interest and the scientific advances to understand and develop this ethnic tea product are rapidly emerging. Miang has many potential benefits and is proposed to be used for many applications such as foods, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals. Other valuable chemical constituents have not yet been widely reported and require further research. The current understanding of miang has been developed from literature on historic and sociocultural relationships of miang, current evidence scientific evidence, and personal interviews with local miang producers. From the plantation areas close to miang production, physiological, chemical, and microbiological analysis of miang were undertaken and integrated with current scientific literature and community surveys to build an evolving body of new knowledge. This paper provides important historic background of miang and its ethno-botanical relationship with northern Thai people. Traditional production of miang and its chemical and physical properties make miang different from other fermented tea leaves. Therefore, this unique miang with ethnic roots in northern Thailand is a potential source of health relevant bioactive compounds that is rapidly gaining research interest and can be advanced for many beneficial food and health applications.
(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)