Karanganyar-Currently, tea production in Indonesia is still not evenly distributed. Tea production itself is still dominated by a number of regions such as Java, parts of Sumatra and Sulawesi. “Most other regions do not yet exist,” said Indonesian spices and tea mix expert, Umar Syarif, to journalists, Wednesday (10/10) at the Gunung Subur tea company, Karanganyar. According to him, the largest consumption of Indonesian tea is in Java. Meanwhile, a number of other areas outside Java Island are still very minimal. “From the culture of the people, in Java it is customary to drink tea,” he said. It’s just that, he did not give an exact number of tea consumption each month.
On the one hand, high quality tea production is enjoyed by foreign consumers. By producers, most of the best quality tea becomes an export commodity for its products. “The orientation is export. Some of the number 1 quality tea in Indonesia is actually exported abroad,” he explained.
It is indeed undeniable. This is because the market for highest quality tea products lies with foreign consumers. It is because people’s perceptions have been wrong. “People think the price of high-quality tea is expensive. But when compared to coffee, it’s nothing,” he said.
As is the case with one variant of tea, white tea, for example. Umar gave an example, the price per kilogram of tea is in the range of Rp. 1.6 million to Rp. 2 million. “People look at the price per kilogram. But don’t see, one kilogram of white tea can be used for how many hundreds of glasses. In fact, the price of tea is actually cheaper than the price of coffee,” he explained.
In terms of quality, according to him, tea produced in Indonesia is superior to other countries. “The average tea produced in Indonesia is Asamica or black tea. This type contains higher caffeine and higher antioxidants when compared to other types of tea,” he said.
According to the records of the Ministry of Trade, the country’s tea production capacity reaches 150 thousand tons annually. Half of it, around 75 thousand tons, is a commodity for export abroad. The average tea exported abroad is high quality tea.
Source: http://www.timlo.net/baca/40318/produksi-teh-indonesia-nomor-5-di-dunia/
