Famed tea brand triggers emergency complaint in Egypt

El-Arosa Tea Company, Egypt’s famed tea producer, filed an urgent official complaint with the Council of Ministers and the Minister of Supply in order to secure the dollar required for tea import operations to meet local demand.

Tea, along with coffee, is one of the most important strategic commodities for Egypt’s citizens, with Egyptians spending approximately 5 billion pounds annually on tea and coffee, according to previous data.

The company lodged a complaint with the Council of Ministers and a number of banking institutions, led by Al-Ahli, Alexandria, Qatar National, and Commercial International banks, demanding that officials provide dollars to ensure tea imports. 

According to the complaint, the company imports 60 percent of the local market’s tea needs, which is a strategic supplying commodity for Egyptian citizens, especially since tea is not grown in Egypt.

The El-Arosa Tea Company requested that the officials manage the foreign currency in the banks mentioned in the complaints so that the company could receive the shipping and clearance documents for the import of approximately 6,000 tons of tea that had been in Egyptian ports for more than a month now. 

According to the letter, the National Bank of Egypt has 80 percent of the documents related to the shipment of 6,000 tons of tea.

The memo warned of the crisis’s continuation and its consequences, including a severe shortage of tea in the Egyptian market, particularly because Egypt’s tea stock is only enough for one month.

According to International Tea Committee statistics, Egypt ranked third among Arab countries in tea and coffee consumption, with an annual per capita consumption of 0.9 kilograms. Egyptians consumed approximately 273 billion liters of tea and coffee in 2021, with a total value of more than 5 billion pounds.

Government data released by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) reveal that Egypt’s total tea imports during 9 months totaled $231 million, representing the value of the tea import bill.

Tea imports were valued at $15 million in January 2021, $34 million in February, $48 million in March, and $62 million in April, according to the Agency.