The biggest foreign buyer of Turkish tea this year is Belgium, of all places, a country far better known for what it does with cocoa. In the first six months of 2026, Belgian importers took about $5.4 million worth, more than any other market, according to figures the Eastern Black Sea Exporters' Union compiled and Anadolu Ajansı reported.
Belgium led a wider run. Türkiye sold roughly 2,602 tons of tea abroad in the January-to-June period, earning about $17.5 million across 108 countries and zones. Behind Belgium came the United Kingdom, at about $3.5 million, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, at about $1.2 million.
Almost all of it flows out of one province. Rize, the steep green coast on the eastern Black Sea where the country's tea is grown, accounted for 44 percent of the export value by itself, some $7.7 million, shipping about 1,575 tons to 20 countries with Belgium at the front of the line. The weather makes the crop. Turkish tea is often called the only tea in the world that gets snow on it, grown on slopes that catch both the mist off the sea and the cold off the mountains.
The exporters want the habit to spread. Mustafa Okutan, who chairs the tea committee at the exporters' union, said the first half had run in line with expectations and that the aim now is to push branded, higher-value products rather than bulk leaf. Interest is rising in Europe and the Far East, he said, and the union is eyeing the Gulf states and North America as the next markets to crack. "We aim to carry the quality and brand value of Turkish tea to wider audiences," he said, adding that he expects exports to keep climbing through the rest of the year.
For a drink Turks mostly keep for themselves, poured from the double çaydanlık at every kitchen table and shop counter, $17.5 million abroad is a modest sum. Half the charm is the customer: a country with its own strong coffee-and-cocoa culture, coming back for more of the little glass tulip from the Black Sea.