Laituri – Tea Company to Export Over 6 Tons of Georgian Tea in 2021
Laituri – Tea company engaged in the state project of Georgia Tea in December 2016 to rehabilitate tea plantations on 24 hectares.
The total value of the rehabilitation project is GEL 61,950, of which the co-funding portion from the Agriculture Projects Management Agency constituted GEL 43,365. At this stage, the company operates under the brand of Greengold and the company makes focuses on export markets. As noted by the company founder Baaka Babunashvili, Georgia tea was already exported to the Czech Republic and France as a test batch and the process was frustrated amid the pandemic, but now, the company has resumed negotiations.
“In 2018, we issued our first test product and launched our own enterprise in 2019. The test product was fully purchased by a domestic company, whose tea will appear on the market soon. As for exports, we sent our first batch to France and the Czech Republic in 2019, only 600 kilograms. This deal has brought the confidence of our customers and now the demand is growing. Furthermore, negotiations are underway with Ukraine, France, Russia, and Germany. We have sent samples to all countries and now we are waiting for their reaction. This year we plan to export over 6 tons of tea, she said. The tea price on the Georgian market remains the same, while the export price has increased to around EUR 13 in Europe. The company will supply only 10% of total production to the domestic market, Babunashvili said. Laituri – Tea company manufactures premium-class tea, Babunashvili added.
“We pick high-quality tea and use cutting-edge technologies and machinery to produce premium-class tea leaves. During the season we expect to pick 50 tons of tea leaves. We hold our own enterprise, our own plantations and we do not buy raw materials from other companies”, she said. As for the problem with the skillful workforce that used to go to Turkey for season jobs, the 2020 pandemic has resolved this problem, because the borders were closed and the domestic workforce stayed in Georgia. Salaries depend on hardworking. Namely, the price of 1 kg of tea is GEL 2.50-3.00. On average, we employ 30 persons a week”, Babunashvili noted.