The business associated with the production and sale of leaf tea is highly profitable. Despite the high competition in this market, the segment of expensive natural types of tea is still of great interest to investors. One average Russian consumer drinks almost 120 liters of tea of various types per year.
There are several classifications of this product. In our country, tea, depending on its type and quality used in the production of raw materials and technologies, is divided into:
- leaf (long leaf);
- pressed (leaflets with shoots);
- granulated;
- flavored;
- extracted (dried or aqueous extracts).
White tea, in turn, can be green, red, black or yellow, depending on the degree of fermentation of the tea leaf. This division is connected not only with the difference in appearance or in the color of tea, but also with various production features. For example, during intensive oxidation processes during the processing of fresh tea leaves, a long fermentation takes place, which, in the end, gives black tea.
In the production of green tea, a fresh leaf is heated under the influence of high temperature. As a result of this, at the very beginning of processing, redox processes in the feed are stopped. Red and yellow types of teas are semi-fermented varieties. Fermentation is more pronounced in red teas than in yellow teas.
Pressed tea is produced in the following types: brick (green), tableted (black and green) and tiled (black).
Extracted teas are concentrated liquid or dry extracts of green and black tea.
Granulated tea is produced by granulation of tea crumbs or dust, which are formed during the processing of black tea. Unlike other types of tea, granular tea contains sugar, which is added during the granulation process to enhance the bonding ability.
Often black, red and less often green types of tea are aromatized with jasmine, lemon, cloves and other special additives, which gives them a pleasant aroma and unusual taste.
The following types of teas are distinguished depending on the raw materials and methods of its processing: loose, or loose (usually black, yellow or green), pressed (green and black tiled teas and green brick), tableted (green and black), extracted ( extracts of green and black tea), tea in paper bags for single tea leaves.
Black tea is the leader in popularity in Russia and the CIS countries (about 80-85% of total sales). Globally, green tea accounts for about 25% of the total production of green teas, and red - no more than 2-3%. The growth rate of the domestic tea market is estimated at 20-25%.
The main countries - tea producers: China, Taiwan, India, Indonesia, Ceylon, Kenya. Almost every country has its own "specialization." So, in China there are four main areas of tea production (south, southwest, Yanbei and Yangtze), producing green teas of various varieties. In the provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang, red varieties of tea are grown. However, China exports mainly black and red teas, which are not in great demand in the local market.
Red teas are also produced in Taiwan. A small part of this country's exports is green tea.
In Japan, tea is grown on the islands of Shikoku, Honshu and Kyushu. The country is famous for its best varieties of green tea.
The four main areas in India where tea is grown are: Assam, Darjeeling, North and South India. This country, like Ceylon and Indonesia, specializes in black tea. Kenyan tea is considered the strongest, due to the high content of tinin in it.
In our country, tea is grown only in the Krasnodar Territory.
Please note: each batch of raw materials must have all the necessary certificates of quality and compliance. They indicate microbiological, radiological, physico-chemical, organoleptic indicators, the mass fraction of salts of heavy metals and pesticides.
Tea production is a rather long and laborious process. Consider it on the basis of making the most popular types of tea - black long leaf.
The production technology consists of several stages: drying, twisting, fermentation and drying. Withering is necessary in order to give the tea leaf softness and elasticity. It is natural and artificial. In the first case, the sheets are kept for at least 18-20 hours under the influence of sunlight at a temperature of 20-25 degrees Celsius and relative humidity of 70%. Of course, not every country has the conditions for such a procedure (as a rule, this method is used in Sri Lanka). Therefore, most often manufacturers prefer artificial withering, which is carried out in special chambers with adjustable temperature and humidity.
Then the sheets are twisted in rollers: they are placed in a drum, where by rotation of the mixer and twisting occurs. During this step, cell sap is released on the surface of the leaf, which is exposed to enzymes. From this begins the process of fermentation. In order to completely separate the sheet into fractions, it goes through this procedure 2-4 times. After each of them, the leaves are sorted and sorted.
The premises where the factory is located must meet certain requirements. They maintain high relative humidity and a certain temperature (22-26 ° C). Typically, the room where the tea leaf is processed and fermented is located on the north side of the factory, where direct sunlight does not penetrate.
The final stage of processing the tea leaf is drying in a stream of hot air. This procedure is necessary in order to remove excess moisture and preserve in the tea leaf the properties that are formed in it during the fermentation process. Under the influence of high temperature, the enzyme stops working. Drying usually takes place in two stages: the first at a temperature of 90-95 degrees Celsius, and the second at 82-87 ° C.
The tea semi-finished product obtained after fermentation and drying is sorted - delicate teas are manually separated from the coarse ones, resulting in factory-standard teas. Excessively large particles are crushed. Leaf fractions are used for the production of loose leaf tea, and small fractions (crumbs) are pressed into tiled tea.
Finally, different types of tea, according to the standards of certain varieties, are mixed in a mixing (blending) drum. The upper parts of the shoot go to the production of higher grades of tea.
So, for the production of tea you will need the following equipment: several types of mixers, dryers, presses, machines for crushing dry components, twisting lines, sifters, agitators, homogenizers, blending containers, tippers, as well as filling and packaging equipment and / or processing lines, production and packaging of black and green teas, as well as tea bags. The cost of the simplest tea production line starts from 700 thousand rubles.
Products such as tea are subject to mandatory certification with a declaration of compliance with GOST requirements:
- GOST 3716-90 “Green packaged green tea. Technical conditions ";
- GOST 1939-90 “Packaged green tea. Technical conditions ";
- GOST 12810-79 “Green brick tea for export. Technical conditions ";
- GOST 3483-78 “Green brick tea. Technical conditions ";
- GOST 1940-75 “Black tea for tea. Technical conditions ";
- GOST 1937-90 “Black tea, bulk packaged. Technical conditions ";
- GOST 1938-90 “Black packed tea. Technical conditions. "
To obtain a declaration of conformity, you must contact the certification body and submit the following documents for consideration: the company's charter documents, information about the manufacturer / seller, product catalog and name, technical documentation, laboratory research and examination reports.
At the same time, separate certificates are issued for green and black tea. In addition, it will be necessary to obtain a sanitary and epidemiological report.
Since the tea production and sale business is seasonal, it is necessary to create stocks of raw materials for such production. Therefore, you will need premises of a large area, not only for equipment, but also for the organization of warehouses for storing raw materials and finished products.
The payback period of this type of business is at least two years. Profitability level - not less than 40%.
Sysoeva Lilia
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