LondonBad news for compulsive tea drinkers. In the most famous lounge of the Ritz Hotel in London, in the city centre, they may not notice. Or, to put it another way, they may not want the price of a cup to go up a little: 10%, 20%, 30%.
The Palm Court is one of the most magnificent spaces in the Piccadilly establishment. It is designed in the Louis XVI style, lavish and sumptuous, giving a degree of elegance and at the same time of decadence that all the excessively wealthy love. They serve tea there, but not only that. Every day, in five different shifts, guests staying there and travelers who wish to sit can take what is called Traditional afternoon tea, Traditional afternoon tea. The presentation is dazzling, much more so than the golden pigeons that adorn the chairs. Because in addition to twenty different types of tea, the menu includes fresh brioche filled with Cornish cream and strawberry preserves and a wide variety of mini cakes and pastries in endless colours and flavours: chocolate, orange, ginger, apricot, etc. The minimum payment is 76 pounds for adults (90 euros) and 55 pounds for children (65 euros).
On the contrary, in a popular institution like Regency CafeAlso in central London and not far from the Ritz, a cup of tea or a mug of stale tea costs no more than £2 – that’s a lot – and a basic breakfast is included. Good English (beans, eggs, toast, grilled tomatoes), With teaIncluded at a cost of no more than ten or fifteen depending on the additions added to the dish.
But the Ritz and Regency offerings could become more expensive in the coming weeks if prices per kilogram in the Indian tea market remain as they have been. In the last week of June, they rose to 217.53 rupees (2.41 euros), an increase of nearly 20% compared to the previous year, according to official data compiled by the bank. tea boardThe Bank of England was controlling inflation, but its efforts had no effect on teacups.
Logistical problems
The cause, as with olive oil, is multi-factorial, but drought, high temperatures and heavy rains in India’s main producing regions, such as the Assam Valley, are at the root. However, production has been affected by a ban on the use of 20 different pesticides that had hitherto been common on farms. In addition, “geopolitical tensions that have impacted the supply chain” have played a role, says Jas Khairy, associate professor of operations and project management, of Manchester Metropolitan University. The effect has been a shortage of stock in UK stores earlier this year, according to the Retail Consortium. Khairy points to the disruption of Red Sea shipping due to the Houthi threat in the wake of the Gaza war.
And a country like the UK, which annually consumes around 50 billion tea bags (one hundred million cups a day) and which imports the vast majority from India – the Indian subcontinent is the leading producer of black tea and the UK is the largest consumer – is sensitive to all these factors.
India produced 1,346,990 tonnes of black tea last year. But this year’s forecast is for a harvest that will be down by at least 100 million kilograms (about 7%). The decline was particularly pronounced in May. Heavy monsoon rains caused major problems, even in cities like Delhi. Tea production was down more than 30% compared to the May 2023 harvest, and heat waves made work on the plantations extremely difficult. More than half of the leaves are harvested between July and October, and rains and floods in May and June made this partly impossible. As a result, May’s production was the lowest in a decade: just 91 million kilograms.
All tea readings
The result is the current price. But it is raining on the wet as a result of other inflationary tensions. Because the cost of tea on the shelves of supermarkets in the British Isles has already risen by 11% in the past year. The average price of a pack of 80 tea bags is now €3.90, compared to €3.51 in 2022, according to the Office for National Statistics, taking into account the standard quality that is always used to make blends.
Whether or not it rises further in the coming months will depend primarily on how much the cost increase the processing and packaging industry and retailers are willing to absorb, and on the prices at which major importers have bought it. So, as has always happened with anyone commodity (raw materials), In this case, a cup of tea might explain the global economic situation; it could also talk about climate change, and obviously a history lesson is also being read on the papers.
Tea was not known in Europe until the middle of the 16th century. In England, it received its first impulse through Catherine of Braganza, the ambassador of the infusion to the islands, since her marriage to Charles II of England in 1662. It was an exotic and expensive drink, consumed mainly by the nobility and high society. The East India Company had a monopoly on its trade. The problems that arose with China, and the need to ensure its supply, were another reason for English colonial expansion. Because London wanted to extend its influence and control in the production areas outside China: it established large plantations in Assam and Darjeeling (India), which, with the benefits of trade, contributed to the strengthening of the empire.
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