Indonesia is the seventh largest producer of tea in the world. Tea grows mostly in Sumatra and Java. The tea growing areas are West Java, Central Java, North Sumatra, Jambi, South Sumtra, Bengkulu, Lambpung and South Sulawesi. About 81 percent of the tea is located in Java and 18 percent in Sumatra. The island of Java lies between 5 0and 90 S latitudes with its long axis of 950 km along the east-west direction. The breadth of the island varies between 50 and 200 km. Cultivation of tea is mainly confined to the western end of the island at elevations of 300 m to 1800 m. The island of Sumatra lies between 60N and 60S latitudes. Most of the tea estates in Sumatra are located in the northern part of the island at elevations of 200 m to 100 m above sea level.
There are three categories of plantations, i.e. Government owned plantations, private plantations and small holdings. The small growers are assisted by the Government for replanting and construction of the nucleus estate small holder (NES) system. The tea factories of the nucleus estates receive leaves from small holders on the price set by the Government.
In Indonesia, tea plantations were planted with Assam jats. At present clones selected locally and a few clones imported from Sri Lanka have been used for new planting and replanting. Plucking in Indonesia continues throughout the year at 7-8 days intervals. Most tea factories produce orthodox black tea. CTC tea is also manufactured. Small factories produce green tea. Most of the green tea is mixed with Jasmine flowers and reprocessed into aromatic (Jasmine) tea that is widely consumed in the domestic market. Almost all scented tea factories are located on the northern coast of Central Java, especially in the Pekalongan and Tegal districts, where jasmine is grown.