2017 KPBN Will be Focusing on Tea Export Sales

Iriana Ekasari, Director of KPBN, admitted that since 2008 the competitiveness of Indonesian tea has declined compared to Russia, England, the United States and other countries. In 2008, tea exports still accounted for 70% of all tea products in PTPN traded through KPBN. However, in only 8 years, exports had dropped to only a third of that amount. This decline was caused by the weakening of Indonesia’s market control over tea prices in the global market. Then, there was a decrease in tea auction activities abroad and a decline in the quality of Indonesian tea. In the domestic market, the price of tea sold by KPBN was priced at Rp18,944/kg, whereas in the export market, Indonesian tea was priced at Rp23,155/kg, 22.5% higher than the local price. “The Indonesian market is filled with grade 2 tea, because the Indonesian market is not yet able to value the price of grade 1 tea. As for grade 1 tea, we export it because overseas markets are willing to value the price of grade 1 tea,” said Iriana. That is why this year KPBN will focus on exploring export markets. Last year, 27% of the tea traded by KPBN was exported to Malaysia. However, Iriana confirmed that this year she will focus on export destinations where Indonesian tea exports were once glorious, such as Russia, Pakistan, America, Germany, England, and Poland. Today, KPBN held the first tea auction in 2017. Currently, the tea being auctioned by KPBN is tea that is produced from PTPN, namely the CTC and Orthodox. A total of 24 foreign companies are taking part in today’s tea auction. The tea auction will be held once a week, every Wednesday. In the future, KPBN will cooperate with other plantation producers to sell their tea through KPBN. By Maria Hudaibyah Azzahra Editor: Eva Martha Rahayu http://swa.co.id/swa/trends/marketing/tahun-2017-kpbn-akan-fokus-penjualan-teh-ekspor