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“Rize tea”, which has been registered by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TÜRKPATENT) and received a geographical indication certificate, will be offered for sale in the first period of 2022.
Chair of Rize Commodity Exchange (RTB) Mehmet Erdoğan said that as a result of their work with the National Tea Council (UÇK) for three years, Rize tea was entitled to receive a geographical indication certificate.
Stating that companies that want to use geographical indications have started to apply, Erdoğan noted that the inspection will be carried out by the representatives of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Rize Agriculture and Forestry Directorate, Chamber of Agricultural Engineers and National Tea Council under the coordination of RTB.
Emphasizing that the unique taste, smell, colour and aroma of Rize tea will be examined in future studies, Erdoğan explained that products complying with the standards can be offered for sale with geographical indications by considering the amount of dust, total ash, water extract, cellulose, caffeine, moisture and brew together with geographical factors.
Erdoğan underlined that geographically indicated Rize tea should be dark copper in colour, should not contain fibre and tea stem and its brew should be dark red and reddish in appearance.
Indicating that the tea should be bright, Erdoğan added that it is important to feel the bitterness on the palate and that tea tasters continue to work in this area.
Reminding that the geographical indication will lead to an increase in quality, Erdoğan said, “Geographic indication will allow higher quality products to reach the citizens. It will change the general perception of Turkish tea both in Turkey and abroad. We have the goal of using geographical indications in our exports abroad. We have also started our work to get it.”
