Central America Coffee & Tea
The tea retail market is divided into five major product segments: regular, instant/mix, RTD, specialty, and herbal. Similarly to coffee, each tea segment is further divided into subsegments—caffeinated/decaffeinated and non-flavored/flavored, Once again various segment-specific product niches also exist. Natural and organic teas, health teas, alternative tea/juice blends, powdered mixes based on chai varieties, and liquid tea concentrates all have a solid market presence.
Coffee and tea share many fundamental similarities. Both naturally contain significant amounts of caffeine, and both tend to taste bitter rather than sweet (in their natural, non-flavor enhanced states). Together they form the core of the hot beverage market.
The above similarities duly noted several striking differences exist between coffee and tea. In terms of the actual natural plants, three basic dissimilarities are apparent. Coffee is much stronger than tea in caffeine content, with tea containing one-half to one-third the caffeine of coffee. It is important to note the stimulative and diuretic ramifications of both beverages, which is part of their fundamental allures.
Coffee plants are much more sensitive than tea plants. Coffee plants are difficult to grow and harvest, require an abundance of nutrient resources as well as intensive maintenance and labor. They also require extremely specific ecological conditions (geography, climate, environment) in order to thrive. Tea plants, on the other hand, are easier to grow, produce frequent yields that are easier to harvest, and are more ecologically flexible. These differences have ramifications in contrasting price structure and price consistency.
The final difference between coffee and tea relates to health properties. While coffee has some proven health benefits, tea bestows far more benefits, primarily because of its antioxidant attributes.
