Comparative Analysis of Tea And Non-Tea Consumers In South West, Nigeria

Abstract

African nations that produce tea include Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Nigeria. Tea drinking is widespread across all demographic groups in Nigeria. Revenue from tea production is US$4.62bn in 2023 and the market is expected to grow yearly by 11.04%.  The study did a comparative analysis of tea and non-tea consumers in Southwest, Nigeria. The study was carried out in the South west geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Two states were selected (Oyo and Osun States). Information was obtained from 252 respondents using a well-structured questionnaire. Descriptive analysis and linear regression analytical techniques were used in this study. The mean age of tea consumers is 40.1 ± 13.8 while the mean age of non-tea consumers is 40.8 ± 15.6. Females consume tea compared to their male counterparts in South west. The mean household size of tea consumers is 4.4 ± 3.6, for non-tea consumers it is 3.7 ± 2.0. Fifty-one percent of tea consumers reside in rural areas and 60% of non-tea consumers reside also in rural areas. The brand of tea mostly consumed in South west is Lipton. The variables significant at different levels are age, educational level, income, price of tea, brand of tea and tea affordability. The reasons why respondents were not consuming tea were high cost, availability, causes harm, low/no knowledge, taste and no/low budget. It is recommended that the public should be sensitised on the need to consume tea and companies should produce tea of different tastes and flavours for consumers to choose from.