Georgian rehabilitates an abandoned tea plantation with the support of the EU, Sweden and Austria

2022, 07 June
გააზიარე

Tariel Chubinidze was only seven years old when he picked his first tea leaf on a plantation in the village of Kvatsikhe in Imereti Region. Then the Soviet Union collapsed and collective farms disappeared along with it. The plantation where Tariel worked as a kid lay abandoned for the next 30 years until he himself decided to give new life to his favourite tea gardens.

When Chubinidze, the director of the Kvatsikhe Tea Bouquet Cooperative, decided to rehabilitate the 13 hectares plantation, people thought he would fail. But he proved everybody wrong. Chubinidze is now getting ready to introduce his Tifli tea to Georgia and the rest of the world.

Chubinidze sees high value in bioproduction and thinks that it wills open doors to international markets. All of Kvatsikhe Tea Bouquet Mountain organic teas are single-estate, grown using only organic fertilizers, and processed without

Tariel Chubinidze was only seven years old when he picked his first tea leaf on a plantation in the village of Kvatsikhe in Imereti Region. Then the Soviet Union collapsed and collective farms disappeared along with it. The plantation where Tariel worked as a kid lay abandoned for the next 30 years until he himself decided to give new life to his favourite tea gardens.

When Chubinidze, the director of the Kvatsikhe Tea Bouquet Cooperative, decided to rehabilitate the 13 hectares plantation, people thought he would fail. But he proved everybody wrong. Chubinidze is now getting ready to introduce his Tifli tea to Georgia and the rest of the world.

Chubinidze sees high value in bioproduction and thinks that it wills open doors to international markets. All of Kvatsikhe Tea Bouquet Mountain organic teas are single-estate, grown using only organic fertilizers, and processed without artificial additives, emulsifiers or dyes. The result is an ecologically clean Georgian product that has a distinctive aroma and a unique taste.

The harvest season begins in April and lasts until October. During this period, more than 55 locals work at the plantation daily and pick tea by hand. To get the best products, Kvatsikhe TBC pays enormous attention to the quality of the leaf: to maintain their original properties, tea leaves are picked only at a certain stage of ripeness, processed for 3-5 hours after harvesting, and kept in a highly ventilated storage facility.

Through GRETA’s assistance under the EU, Sweden and Austria co-financing, Kvatsikhe Tea Bouquet Cooperative was able to buy the necessary equipment, including tea-picking, withering and rolling machines, as well as a black tea fermentation machine. They also received a partial subsidy for bio certification.

“As a result, we are now able to produce a variety of teas, not just black, but green and white as well,” explains Chubinidze. “And it’s very important for our company’s future development.”

As for the future, the Cooperative needs about 10 tonnes of the final product to be able to export it outside Georgia. Currently, they are at 3.5 t, but Chubinidze is optimistic that the company will get there in 3-4 years. He also plans to offer blueberry, forest berry, herbal and Phyto-tea products to tea enthusiasts in Georgia and beyond.

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GRETA | Green Economy: Sustainable Mountain Tourism and Organic Agriculture in Georgia’ is supported by the European Union, Austria and Sweden, and is implemented in Georgia by the Austrian Development Agency. The project aims to facilitate the improvement of the business environment and increase opportunities for generating additional income for the Georgian economy in two important sectors, mountain tourism and organic agriculture. The project is implemented in close cooperation with the local government and involves the regions of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, Racha-Lechkhumi-Kvemo Svaneti and upper Imereti, where the entrepreneurs are involved from the municipalities of Mestia, Lentekhi, Tsageri, Oni, Ambrolauri, Sachkhere, Chiatura and Tkibuli.

This material has been produced with the assistance of the European Union, Sweden and Austria in the frame of the GRETA project and with the collaboration of the EU4Business umbrella programme. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the GRETA project and EU4Business umbrella programme and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union, Sweden and Austria.

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Georgian rehabilitates an abandoned tea plantation with the support of the EU, Sweden and Austria
Georgian rehabilitates an abandoned tea plantation with the support of the EU, Sweden and Austria
Georgian rehabilitates an abandoned tea plantation with the support of the EU, Sweden and Austria
Georgian rehabilitates an abandoned tea plantation with the support of the EU, Sweden and Austria
Georgian rehabilitates an abandoned tea plantation with the support of the EU, Sweden and Austria
Georgian rehabilitates an abandoned tea plantation with the support of the EU, Sweden and Austria