JAKARTA : Tea is a tough sell in the United States - a country that drinks cola and coffee almost obsessively - but India is trying to break through the barriers. Although India's exports to the US have more than doubled in the last five years to touch a little over seven million kg, it represents only about nine percent of the total tea that reaches American homes.
Considering that India is among the world's largest tea-producing countries, the $21 million worth of Indian exports, out of a total of $190 million, is minuscule.
"The US is the most important tea market for India and we are doing everything that we can to tap it," Anandita Ray, deputy director tea promotion, Tea Board of India, told the media.
Ray was in New York to attend the 51st National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT) International Fancy Food and Confection Show between July 10 and 12.
Seventy-five per cent of the total tea imports into the US are accounted for by Argentina, China, India, Indonesia, Kenya and Sri Lanka. China, where the beverage originated, exports about 18 million kg, while Sri Lanka manages to sell 3.5 million kg to this country. Sri Lanka has also been able to brand its teas better than India.
"You should remember that the tea industry in Sri Lanka is almost entirely focused on exports. Ninety-two percent of its produce is exported. In India's case, given the size of the domestic consumption, only 25 per cent is exported. But we are changing that strategy," Ray said.
Madhav Sarda, managing director of Golden Tips, a leading retailer and packager of tea from Darjeeling, said, "The quality of Sri Lankan tea is inferior to Indian tea. However, they are very aggressive in marketing it. We somehow are just not able to push our teas as much."
Joe Simrany, president of the Tea Association of the USA, said, "Although tea was not found in India first, it has done so much to promote the beverage. Darjeeling is a very unique beverage. It is known as the champagne among teas." Simrany was referring to the special tea grown in the hills around Darjeeling close to the Himalayas. Tea connoisseurs regard Darjeeling as the world's best tea.
Simrany said it was important for US tea dealers to know the distinctions between different kinds of teas produced in India. "Assam tea, for instance, which is grown barely 204 km away from Darjeeling tea, is more full bodied. Nilgiri (tea), grown in south India, is completely different," he said.
On how the Indian tea industry can achieve a major breakthrough in the predominantly coffee and cola market of the US, Simrany said, "It is a gradual process. We have been focusing on the health benefits of drinking tea. If we had the kind of budget that the cola industry has we would be talking only about tea."
According to statistics maintained by the Tea Board of India over half a million hectares of land is used for tea cultivation by more than 100,000 estates which employ a million workers.
"An important point about the Indian tea industry is that 60 percent of the workforce is women. So it also serves a great social cause as well. In addition many tea estate and garden owners ensure that their workers get free education, free electricity, affordable housing and cheap health care," Ray said.
A new trend in tea cultivation has been the growth of the organic tea sector. Organic tea is grown without using any chemical fertilizer and has a growing market in the West. Over 10,000 hectares of tea estates are now devoted to cultivating organic tea.
Tea estate owners say that the use of chemical fertilizer leads to soil erosion, which in turn causes landslides on the hills. India is now the largest producer of organic tea, according to Ray.
India is now taking care to see that the brand Darjeeling denotes the specific geographical region where it is grown. "The quality attributable to Darjeeling is specific to the region. It cannot be replicated elsewhere," Ray said.
Quite like the basmati rice, Darjeeling tea has many imitators but estate owners from this region, with the help of the Tea Board, have been campaigning to establish the uniqueness of their product."
Tea is the world's most consumed beverage next to water and is found in 80 percent of American homes. According to the Tea Association of the USA, on any given day 127 million Americans are drinking tea. (mes)
Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com
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