Chinese tea tastes success in Moroccan market

RABAT－About three years after entering the Moroccan market, Chinese tea brand Le Mont Yoto has gradually gained popularity in some areas.

Zhang Daiquan, general manager of Cathaysian Tea Company, which is responsible for the production of Le Mont Yoto tea, said annual sales volume of the first Chinese tea brand to enter the Moroccan market has exceeded 100 metric tons.

Although Morocco is a big market for green tea in terms of consumption, Chinese tea brands have to strive hard to succeed here, said Zhang.

Morocco has a long history of tea culture and local enterprises have established a stable market structure after decades of intense market competition, which means it is challenging for a new brand that wants to share a slice of the cake, Zhang said.

Zhang said that due to different tea drinking habits, Moroccan consumers have their own preferences for tea taste and flavor.

Tea has become a part of life of most Moroccans. They drink several times a day the mint-flavored tea made from green tea, fresh mint leaves and white sugar, usually served in traditional handmade pot.

According to the Association of Moroccan Tea Professionals, local consumers on average bought more than 2 kilograms of tea each in 2018.

As the world's largest importer of green tea, Morocco imported 77,600 tons of tea from China in 2018, as stated by the association.

Zhang explained that in 2015, Morocco adjusted its import tariff policy for tea. The import tariff on large-packaged tea has dropped to 2.5 percent, while the import tariff on the small-packaged (below 3 kg) has risen to 32.5 percent.

Under such policy, Cathaysian Tea Company's parent company Lichuan Jinli Tea Industry Co decided to register a subsidiary in Morocco and establish a tea packaging factory, so as to directly export large-packaged tea to Morocco, and distribute the small-packaged tea with self-owned brand in the local market.

In 2016, Cathaysian Tea Company set up a tea packaging factory in the Mohammedia industrial zone and registered the first Chinese tea brand Le Mont Yoto in Morocco.

Zhang said that the factory currently employs more than 70 Moroccans.

China is a large tea exporting country, and China's own brands should have a place in the overseas market, which is very important for the future of Chinese tea, he said.

After more than three years of hard work, some Moroccan people began to recognize the Chinese tea brand. Consumers in regions like Mohammedia have become accustomed to drinking Le Mont Yoto tea.

Zhang admitted that compared with Moroccan local tea brands, the market share of Le Mont Yoto is still limited.

"Chinese tea companies still have a long way to go before they can get more Moroccan consumers to recognize and consume Chinese tea," he said.

Zhang believes that letting more Moroccan young people understand China will help the long-term development of Chinese brands in the Moroccan market.