Who Makes Money From a Cup of Tea?

A 2019 field study traced a kilogram of Assam tea through five pairs of hands and found the factory keeps the largest cut, ahead of the farm. A 2021 study of Vietnam's Thai Nguyen chain found close to the opposite. The arithmetic behind both.

How the Tea Trade Works

The canonical map of the tea business, from garden to auction to shelf. What tea is as a commodity, the path the leaf takes to the cup, how its price is set, and where the money along the way actually ends up.