It’s just over a year since we discussed the efforts being made by the tea industry in South Korea to raise people’s awareness of tea and to increase production, consumption and exports. 

The country’s program of activities has included the construction of new factories, educational activities in schools and universities, tea festivals and competitions in tourist destinations, research into the health benefits of tea, and the development of food and cosmetic products that incorporate tea as one of the ingredients.

The overall picture emerging from South Korea is mixed. Some reports suggest that sales of green tea have declined while others say that the country’s green tea market is booming. Consumption of green tea may have been offset by an increasing interest in black imported teas. Jiyu Yang of the Association for the Korean International Tea Culture explained that, “Tea consumption in Korea is constantly increasing but from their interest in green tea, consumers are now favoring other varieties of tea, especially oolong, puerh and black tea.”

But the very high taxes imposed on foreign teas are still making life very difficult for importers and retailers alike. Heejib Byun, who owns a teashop in the centre of Seoul that specializes in imported black and flavored black, said, “Although the tea business in Korea is not growing fast, it is slowly moving forward. But, my shop is such a small business and last time we analyzed the business, we realized just how much the foreign tea tax is costing us. Hopefully, the Korean market is getting bigger and more powerful and change will happen soon.”

And Lee Changho, owner of Happy Tea Shop tea company, says that the business has increased its volume by 15% in the last year: “Korea’s back tea market is growing slowly but steadily among the ‘new young’; tea consumption is going up slowly but not in Korean green tea, only in Chinese tea and English-style black teas. It’s very similar to what has been happening in Japan. Also, new coffee shops are popping up everywhere and coffee shops sell black tea and milk tea made with Assam and other black teas, so green tea sales are down.”

The high foreign tea taxes are an obvious hurdle for foreign companies hoping to open stores in South Korea and so far, only a few, including the East India Tea Company, have opened here. Lupicia from Japan did open a retail unit and online business but these were closed down last year and the company says it has no further plans to open another store in South Korea at the moment.

The expansion of the coffee bar business is drawing some consumers away from tea, but there are other factors at work too. Tea drinking is very seasonal in South Korea and from March to May each year, everyone takes advantage of the good weather and stays outdoors. And this year too, there was the added attraction of the World Cup, which meant that a lot of people stayed at home or joined friends in the pub to watch the football!

Because domestic green tea consumption is not growing, few new factories have been constructed since last year but the Association for Korean International Tea Culture and Wonkwang Digital University are still making every effort to popularize Korean tea and tea culture through a program of education, events and export. 

Formal tea education is now mainly being coordinated and carried out by South Korea’s universities. Whereas in the past, study sessions and symposiums were held mainly at Seowon University in Seoul and Iksan University in Iksan City, the aim now is, in Jiyu Yang’s words, “to broaden the program and offer more detailed courses throughout the country. The earlier ambition to take tea education and tea culture into elementary schools is also now developing with the hope that it will fit positively into important aspects of moral education.”

As elsewhere in the world, individual tea businesses are also playing their part in educating customers about tea and tea cultures from around the world and some are now writing for local magazines and newspapers. Heejib Byun is delighted that “my publisher says readers like my articles and they have extended my contract for another year. I think more and more Koreans are becoming interested in tea and want to increase their knowledge.”

In terms of raising consumers’ awareness and enjoyment of tea drinking, and of different world teas as well as locally grown traditional green teas, the most significant impact is being made at events that take place through the year at various key locations. In May 2010, the Association for Korean International Tea Culture held its ‘World Tea Culture Festival’ at Daegu, South Korea’s third largest city. The two-day event was designed to appeal to people of all ages (including children) and both male and female visitors, and included presentations on tea science, tea and health, tea therapy, Korean tea culture, tea ceremonial dress contests, tea flower arrangement, green tea food competitions and an exhibition hall filled with booths showcasing teas and tea culture, tea foods, ceramics and pottery, and other tea products from around Asia. 

At this year’s annual Boseong Green Tea Festival (held in one of the country’s oldest tea growing regions), visitors were offered the opportunity of picking tea leaves, processing green tea by the traditional manufacturing method, tasting tea, making pottery tea bowls, cooking with tea, making green tea rice cakes, baking green tea bread, planting tea seedlings, making green tea soap, and sampling snacks made with tea. There were also torch-lit parades, fireworks, exhibitions of traditional, ceremonial tea costumes, displays of fine tea cups, stalls selling various teas, and the opportunity to meet celebrities. 

In Hadong, also an important traditional tea producing area, this year’s festival offered tourists and tea lovers the chance to hand-roll freshly picked tea leaves to make the traditional green tea, and an opportunity to taste various tea specialties including locally made green tea ice cream and strong green tea liquors. The five-day event attracted both Koreans and foreign visitors (including from the US, Canada, China and Japan) but they had to put up with unexpectedly cold weather (the late spring caused problems here as in other parts of the northern hemisphere this year), and the consequent slow growth of the tea bushes. 

South Koreans are also eager participants in the annual wu-wo festivals that take place in the US and Taiwan. These festivities bring together people who love brewing and sharing traditional Chinese and Korean teas at large-scale, community events that involve hundreds of tea aficionados.

The various cultural and industry associations are continuing their quest to find foreign customers for the country’s traditional green teas, but the high price makes this difficult, and exports so far are limited to a few customers in Germany and the US.

And while all the cultural and educational activities are going on around the country, the research institutions in Boseong and Hadong are continuing their work to develop new ways of breeding planting stock, to research tea’s constituents and benefits to human health and all other aspect of tea. Their important role is to offer technological development, knowledge and support to tea companies, support for tea education and educationalists, and to provide relevant new information as it becomes available.