The perfect brew

• Over 250 exhibitors coming from 17 countries and regions participated in the first Hong Kong International Tea Fair.
• More than 9,500 trade buyers from 69 countries and regions, about 80,000 public visitors attended the Fair.
• 96% of buyers were satisfied with the fair.

Hong Kong has no tea production of its own, and thus is impartial in promoting tea. The Hong Kong International Tea Fair combines quality buyers, professional organisations, exciting peripheral activities and good timing to bring you the perfect event to grow your business.

The fair is expressly designed to promote and facilitate global trade but it also serves to enlarge tea culture and encourage tea drinking.

Inaugural fair success
With co-organiser, Chinese Tea Culture International Exchange Association, Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) launched the first tea fair in 2009, with over 250 exhibitors coming from 17 countries & regions, including the great tea-producing centres of the world such as the Chinese mainland, India, Sri Lanka and Taiwan.

An International Tea Party
Coorganised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and the Chinese Tea Culture International Exchange Association, the event is a genuine international tea party of exhibitors, with a focus on tea-producing and tea-trading regions such as the Chinese mainland, India, Japan, Sri Lanka and more.

• About 85% of buyers interviewed said that they have started some negotiation or placed some orders during the fair.
• More than 90% said that they would like to attend the fair again next year.

Covering the industry
The fair provides opportunities for exhibitors in the following product categories:

• Tea
• Processed tea and tea products
• Tea packaging, processing equipment and testing services
• Tea ware
• Tea technology
• Tea organisations
• Tea services and publications
• Friends of Tea (confectionery, bakery products, etc.)

Huge public interest
Further promoting the popularity of tea is the opening of the fair to the public on its final day in 2009. Hong Kong is the tea-drinking capital of Asia, with the highest per capita consumption in the region so the public has a genuine interest in the exhibits. In 2009, about 80,000 public visitors tasted tea and gave valuable feedback to the exhibiting companies, who also benefited from high retail sales. More opportunities The fair will again coincide with the HKTDC Food Expo and International Conference & Exhibition of the Modernization of Chinese Medicine & Health Products in 2010, bringing in more potential buyers.

The pleasures of Hong Kong
The venue for the fair is the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, located in the downtown commercial and entertainment hub of Wan Chai. Participants will be able to enjoy Hong Kong's famed culinary offerings at the many Wan Chai restaurants, and find many opportunities to entertain buyers and other contacts from the fair.

Don't leave it any longer
Make the decision to be part of the Hong Kong International Tea Fair 2010 and enjoy all the advantages of participation, including contacts with motivated international buyers and great market intelligence gathering opportunities. Book now!

Let's hear from exhibitors of the last fair
"This is a perfect place to meet international tea traders and extend business exposure. We've come with 14 tea companies from Hangzhou promoting our branded teas including the world-famous Longjin tea. So far, over 40 foreign traders have indicated intent of placing orders worth RMB250 million. I am pleased to see so many tea events. The organisers have done a great job."
Wang Zhongde, Vice Secretary-General of CPC of Hangzhou & Director of the Agricultural and Rural Affairs Office of CPC Hangzhou Municipal Committee, Hangzhou Municipal Government, Chinese mainland

"We are here with six of our member companies and would like to capitalise on this first-ever international tea fair in Hong Kong to promote our products. Hong Kong is a trading hub in Asia and serves as an excellent platform for us to expand business, particularly in the southern cities of Chinese mainland. We are very pleased with HKTDC's tremendous support to our exhibitors."
Yvonne Kao, Chairman, Taiwan Tea Exporters Association, Taiwan

"This inaugural tea fair offers a great opportunity to promote our sales to local and international buyers while sharing experiences with other industry players. We also explore business cooperation with suppliers. The show is well organised with extensive media publicity, a nicely-designed fairground and a strong presence of buyers. We hope the fair will be as successful as the Food Expo."
Athena Yeung, Sales & Marketing Officer, Ying Kee Tea Company Limited, Hong Kong

"Hong Kong is an international trading centre where people around the world come to do business. We have a wide range of products on offer from orthodox Japanese tea to flavoured black tea and fruit tea. The fair comes as a good opportunity to promote our products to the world. We've met more buyers than expected and the responses are encouraging."
Sangmu Lee, International Trade Department, Japan Greentea Co., Ltd., Japan

"This is a really international fair. A large number of buyers have expressed interest in our tea products including black tea, green tea and herbal tea. The exhibition can effectively help us broaden exposure and reach out to more international buyers. We are very pleased with the results and will come again next year."
Cho Yun Seok, Tea Manager, Cho Tae Yeon Ga Jukrocha, Korea

"We are here promoting our Darjeeling, Assam and Nilgiri teas from different regions of India. This is a very nice and professional-managed fair. It serves as a good platform to do business and we can meet traders from Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland and other places of the world." Hasmukh A. Shah, Chairman, Premier's Tea Limited, India "We are keen to introduce our teas to new markets in Asia, particularly Chinese mainland. At the fair, we've found many potential buyers for our products. This is the first international tea fair in Hong Kong and we are satisfied with the exhibition results."
H.G.P. Tobing, Market Development Manager, KPB PT. Perkebunan Nusantara, Indonesia

"Hong Kong is a good place to distribute our products including black tea, fruit tea and herbal tea. It also serves as a window for us to enter the mainland market. We've established useful contacts with buyers and distributors from different places of the world at the fair. Their responses are very positive and we expect to conclude some deals after further negotiation. We will definitely join the fair again next year."
Naveed Ariff, General Manager, Gold Crown Foods (EPZ) Ltd., Kenya

"We are here to showcase and promote our Vietnamese teas to the world. The exhibition atmosphere is really good and we are able to find international buyers and explore partnership opportunities. We are also pleased with the excellent services provided by the organisers. I anticipate to come again next year with more companies."
Nguyen Thi Anh Hong, Director, Vietnam Tea Association, Vietnam

"Congratulations to all at HKTDC for a very successful tea exposition just concluded. The participants from Sri Lanka are happy with the arrangements and the immediate outcome."
Hasitha de Alwis, Director - Promotion, Sri Lanka Tea Board

Let's hear from buyers of the last fair
"Hong Kong is an international city for business and trade as well as a place where different cultures meet. I am excited to be here learning about the latest trends, packaging and design ideas at this first-ever tea fair in Hong Kong. This is a good platform to do business and to help companies grow. I really appreciate HKTDC's organisation and look forward with confidence to our participation as an exhibitor at the fair next year."
Yin Zhijun, Chairman & General Manager, Laoshe Teahouse, Beijing

"This is a very fruitful visit. I am now in talks with several companies including a green tea supplier from Vietnam for business cooperation. The fair is really successful with so many international exhibitors and traders. It provides a strategic platform to grow business and our company will consider coming as an exhibitor next year."
Otaka Yuki, General Manager, ChineseLife Tea House, Japan

"Tea Guys imports tea and source ingredients from all over the world to create gourmet tea for customers. I am thrilled by the fantastic energy at the fair, which is well organised with outstanding exhibition displays. I've found some raw material and equipment suppliers from Sri Lanka and the Chinese mainland here."
Oliver Rich, Co-Founder & Owner, Tea Guys, the United States

"Tea World is a tea manufacturer. We source tea products from different places such as India, the Chinese mainland, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, add flavours and have them packed for sale in Russia. The fair is very useful and keeps me abreast of the newest market trends including packing and technology for tea products. I've found some new tea products here that may suit our customers."
Alexander Helwer, Strategic Development Director, Tea World, Russia

"We manufacture and distribute a wide range of products including coffee, tea and mineral water under different brands including Twinings and Natureland. I've secured some useful contacts at the fair and it's quite an eye-opening experience. There is a huge variety of tea products on display and I've found some interesting items I've never seen before."
Frederic Tartour, Export & Key Account Manager, Cantarella Bros. Pty. Ltd., Australia

Hong Kong - The Gateway to the Chinese mainland Market
The Chinese mainland is an important market in its own right, which has been growing by leaps and bounds in the past decade. Not only are incomes rising, but people are also becoming more aspirational and desiring better quality, well-designed products. As other markets stagnate or even shrink, suppliers can find new opportunities in the mainland. Rupert Steiner, writing in the UK's Daily Mail, notes, "Firms best-equipped to weather the financial downturn are those in diverse markets that include China..." However, China's size and diversity can be daunting for overseas companies, but Hong Kong offers the perfect stepping stone into this market. Participation in HKTDC exhibitions not only puts you into direct contact with buyers from the mainland, but it also enables contact with Hong Kong companies with expertise in the Chinese mainland market.

Hong Kong Again Ranked World's Freest Economy Hong Kong remains the world's freest economy, for the 12th year in a row, according to the findings of the Fraser Institute of Canada's "Economic Freedom of the World: 2008 Annual Report". It pays tribute to Hong Kong's unswerving commitment to free trade and open markets, and the elimination of barriers to trade and investment. For example, it enjoys low corporate and salaries taxes, no sales tax, and it is considered one of the easiest places in the world to set up a business - all of which make Hong Kong attractive to companies around the world that invest in or trade with the Special Administrative Region. It was also ranked the world's freest economy for the 15th consecutive year by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal.