Georgia’s tea sector, which collapsed after the Soviet Union’s end, is restarting its production and expanding toward higher-end buyers, according to reports. In western Georgia, growers and workers harvest leaves from Soviet-era plantations that were abandoned after the collapse and reclaimed by surrounding forest. Some sites were only rediscovered and brought back into cultivation in the 2010s, when new growers began clearing overgrown bushes and restarting seasonal picking.
The reporting describes the current harvest process on rural estates, where workers select fresh, green leaves from the most recent growth. It also links the industry’s shift to a new market strategy: rather than relying on the broader Soviet-era production model, Georgia’s tea producers are now selling into luxury and premium segments. Sources describe the work as part of a broader “renaissance” in which plantation agriculture is being restored and modernized while keeping the tea heritage rooted in the country’s Soviet-era cultivation areas.
Overall, the accounts focus on the transition from post-Soviet abandonment to renewed harvesting and repositioning for upscale consumers.
