Estate ventures into tea production as region warms

The owner of Sussex estate which is bringing tea growing to the region says he has taken a "large gamble" on the venture due to increasing temperatures in the county.

The Banks Tea Estate in Mountfield, East Sussex, has been growing tea leaves after steering away from previously growing hops, which it says is due to changes in the climate in the South East.

Mark Wyatt, who founded the estate, said growing tea in the UK still remained "very difficult", but Sussex's changing climate made it the "perfect place" to attempt it.

He told BBC Radio Sussex: "The nature of the world has changed, and we are looking at new ways to make use of the land."

Wyatt said: "Seasons seem to have moved on by a month. We wanted to focus on a new crop which takes into account the way the climate is changing."

But he added: "Growing tea is very difficult indeed. It's a large gamble."

The UK Tea and Infusions Association says tea grows best in a "warm, humid climate with a rainfall measuring at least 100 centimetres a year".

The South East has seen increasing temperatures in recent weeks, including red weather warnings and the hottest June on record in England.

Tea is already grown in other parts of the UK, such as the Tregothnan Estate, near Truro in Cornwall.

Wyatt said the climate around the estate had changed to make it suitable for growing tea, and that people were "demanding 'grown in Britain' products which reduce the world's carbon footprint".

He added that the estate had begun looking into growing tea five years ago, and now produces black and green tea at a factory on-site.

Inspiration has also been taken from the sparkling wine industry in Sussex and the South East, which Wyatt said had helped the company learn how to make tea in the current climate.

In 2022, still and sparkling wine in Sussex was granted geographically protected status, similar to Champagne and Prosecco.

Wyatt said the move into tea has also come as increasing numbers of young people turn their backs on alcohol.

A survey from the NHS in January suggested almost a quarter of adults in England do not drink alcohol, with a higher proportion of non-drinkers among 16-24 year-olds.

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