A study of the Georgian tea sector’s competitiveness has been undertaken to reveal the potential for investment.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has been increasing its support for private sector development in Georgia which, alongside recent government reforms, is expected to improve the investment climate, giving further momentum to the EBRD's diversifying portfolio.

The significant processing and packaging capacity in Georgia’s tea sector, coupled with the know-how acquired over time at all levels of the value chain and the buoyant international and domestic demand for tea, is a good basis for increasing tea production in this country. Reviving domestic tea production will, however, require careful analysis of the current limitations and challenges along the value chain and the identification of required improvements in efficiency, quality and sustainability, amongst others. Global trends in the tea market will also have to be taken into consideration.

ISET researchers were part of the FAO research team – in particular, the institute’s agro-economists were assigned to collect background information on the tea sector of Georgia in order to perform an economic analysis of the sector, identify areas of possible improvement, and assess potential investment attractiveness.