India's tea consumption extected to reach $7.2bn by 2016
A recent report by IMARC Group suggests good times ahead for India's domestic tea market. National tea consumption, which is already the highest in the world, is expected to reach $7.2 billion by 2016. This represents a compounded annual growth rate of 11%. High penetration of tea in both rural and urban areas will push companies to create value-added products and increase differentiation. According to the report, penetration of tea in the cold beverage segment will also drive the market. So far, tea is considered to be a predominantly hot beverage in India, yet popularity of iced tea has started to gain pace in recent years. The report expects iced tea to account for more than 10% of the entire cold beverage sector in the coming years.