The broken tea leaves and tea flakes separated during refining are not waste, but rather a high-volume, low-profit, and fast-turnover parallel economic chain in the price-sensitive West African market. Source and Scale During the refining process of gunpowder tea and chunmee tea, a large amount of tea dust and flakes are separated through processes such as round sieving and winnowing. Historically, these green tea flakes have a stable export record, mainly to Niger and Nigeria, with annual exports exceeding 2,000 tons. Outlets and Uses The West African market primarily utilizes three channels for tea consumption: Street Tea Stalls: Small vendors purchase broken tea in bulk, brew it at extremely low cost, add sugar and mint, and sell it to meet the daily needs of low-income consumers. Low-Income Families: As an economical substitute for genuine gunpowder tea, they seek the basic functions of ""taste of tea and invigorating the mind.
