Overtaking Tea

From the MT:

“Tea-Loving Russians Become Coffee Drinkers: Research”

Russia is no longer a tea country, according to industry experts who say coffee drinking overtook tea for the first time last year. Russians consumed 40,000 more metric tons of coffee than tea in 2019, according to data from the RusTeaCoffee association cited by the RBC news website Thursday.  They drank 180,000 tons of whole bean, ground, instant and coffee mixes compared with 140,000 tons of tea, excluding herbal infusions, RusTeaCoffee director Ramaz Chanturiya was quoted as saying.  Coffee drinking tipped the balance in 2019 after staying neck and neck with tea at 160,000 tons for two years straight, Chanturiya said. “Over the past 10 years, coffee consumption has increased by 97%... The market growth for 2019 was almost 12%,” the state-run TASS news agency cited the association as saying. Major retail chain Auchan confirmed that coffee led tea in sales last year, and supermarket chain Magnit said demand for coffee in monetary terms was double that of tea. Federal customs data that tracks raw materials imports backs up RusTeaCoffee’s findings, showing that Russia imported 100,000 more metric tons of coffee, with the exception of instant brands, than tea last year. Market research group GfK said coffee purchases topped tea for the past two years in the 20,000 Russian households it tracks.

^ Every time I went to Russia (especially the 2 times I lived there) I was forced to drink tea non-stop. I think I drank more tea in Russia than when I was in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland or Ireland combined. Unlike tea time in the UK (where you get good tasting, elaborate things to eat while drinking your tea) in Russia you get hard cookies that have no taste.  Drinking hot tea in the Summer was worst (when it was hot and humid and no place had air conditioning.) I never saw iced tea when I was there.  I'm glad to see Russians move away from their tea and onto coffee. I like to drink iced coffee. I only drink hot tea now when I am sick. ^

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/05/14/tea-loving-russians-become-coffee-drinkers-research-a70275