Tea drinkers are on the rise as health consciousness grows in the U.S.

HONG KONG, October 6, 2009 – Trade in coffee and tea and related products such as coffee machines and tea sets has experienced a spike since April 2009 as economies are regaining strength after the global recession, according to data collected by Alibaba.com, the world’s largest business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce company.

The number of online searches reached a historical high in August 2009, representing a leap of 137 percent for coffee searches and 111 percent for tea searches compared with the same month last year. This also suggests that buyers worldwide are increasingly sourcing these two staple beverages online.

Despite the global spread of chain coffeehouses in recent years, tea products are more sought after than coffee products for bulk purchase on Alibaba.com. In the past two years, tea searches on the online marketplace were 9 percent higher than coffee searches made during the same period. The U.S. was above the global average, with 15 percent more tea searches than coffee searches over the past two years.

The U.S. is seeing a surge in the number of tea drinkers as average Americans are becoming more aware of the health benefits of tea over coffee. In March 2008, U.S. searches for tea and coffee products on Alibaba.com were almost even, but since April 2008 tea searches were 21% higher than coffee searches on average.

“Tea was a brand new concept here 10 years ago, but more people are switching from coffee to tea these days as they become more conscious of the food and drinks they consume. Some of our customers were told by their doctors to stop drinking coffee and others just noticed that too much caffeine was not good for their body,” said Marcia Lam, co-founder and manager of L’Amyx Tea Bar in Oakland, Calif. “In the past, you just got one type of tea bag at restaurants but now there are a lot more choices and better-quality tea available from ordinary restaurants as well as specialty tea retailers.”

According to The Tea Association of the USA, studies have found that tea drinking may help promote cardiovascular health and lower the risk of certain cancers. These potential benefits have contributed to the rising popularity of tea products in B2B trade. Health teas including herbal tea, green tea, slimming tea and organic tea are among the most sought after tea categories in the U.S., accounting for 13 percent of all tea searches on Alibaba.com.

Slimming tea in particular seems to be taking off in the U.S. Despite the economic recession, which led to an overall 8 percent year-on-year drop in total tea searches by American buyers on Alibaba.com in the past year, searches for slimming tea has gone against the trend by increasing 4 percent during the same period.

“Our turnover of tea products has been increasing at an average annual rate of 70 percent. Green tea and slimming tea are currently our best selling products, with demand for organic tea growing steadily,” said James Ho, vice president of Suizhou Suifeng Tea Co., Ltd. in Hubei province of China, which generates the majority of its business from tea exports to the U.S., Europe and other overseas markets.

China is the largest supplier of tea products to the U.S. market, accounting for more than 50 percent of all tea-related inquiries on Alibaba.com. Other important sources of imported tea are Hong Kong, India and Japan. The most popular supplier markets for coffee buyers in the U.S. are Colombia, Brazil and China.

About Alibaba.com
Alibaba.com (HKSE: 1688.HK) (HK.1688) is the global leader in business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce and the flagship company of Alibaba Group. Founded in 1999, Alibaba.com makes it easy for millions of buyers and suppliers around the world to do business online through three marketplaces: a global trade marketplace (www.alibaba.com) for importers and exporters, a Chinese marketplace (www.alibaba.com.cn) for domestic trade in China, and, through an associated company, a Japanese marketplace (www.alibaba.co.jp) facilitating trade to and from Japan. Together, its marketplaces form a community of more than 42 million registered users from more than 240 countries and regions. The company also offers business management software solutions targeting small businesses across China under the "Alisoft" brand. Founded in Hangzhou, China, Alibaba.com has offices in more than 40 cities across Greater China as well as in Europe and the United States.

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Linda Kozlowski
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Email: lkozlowski@hk.alibaba-inc.com

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Appendix

No of coffee and tea searches made on Alibaba.com by global buyers

 

No of coffee and tea searches made on Alibaba.com by U.S. buyers only