BUSINESS BUSINESS

there may come a time when this brand

Tea, Toast and Great Business of strong “chai” may compete with the
best in the business.
Market analysts have predicted that
Generally, second flush
Assam tea is sweeter in
An indepth analysis of the rise of Assam tea in
tea is going to overtake coffee drinkers taste than first flush As-
the world over by 2017, this means that sam tea, and is the most
tea brands such as Darjeeling tea and
the international tea market Assam tea will have a bigger market
share the world over and finally, north-
prized harvest for im-
porters in Europe and
North America.
-Rajoo Sharma east India will have become exporters

I
of the true flavours of the strong and yet
aromatic Assam tea . The tea plants in the As-
t comes as no surprise that tea is
Now we at TNT think that this news sam region of are native,
the second most popular “bever-
calls for a nice hot cup of chai, don’t as are the tea plants found
age “in the world (good old water
you? in China. It is believed
being the first) and even coun-
tries like the United States of America these countries are the
and Brazil are consuming more tea only two that have origi-
A little higher up in the mag-
than ever before. A long time ago the nal species of Camellia.
nificent Himalayas, we meet the
present editor of the Magazine, the Darjeeling black teas. At these
Rajoo Sharma present HH Maharaja of Tripura was altitudes (above 4000 feet), fine
going to America so he applied for a Black tea is the most con-
black teas are grown. Some va-
visa. Subsequently, when the visa officer asked him, what if sumed type of tea in the
rieties of Darjeeling tea are also
he did not return from America, the Maharaja promptly re- world. Tea overall is the
called the “champagne of tea”
plied, “I cant, you have the worst tea in the world”. (Surpris- second most consumed
for they produce a liquor that is
ing, since they got their independence because of the famous beverage in the world,
light, spicy-sweet, and smooth,
Boston tea party). with water as the first.
which literally falls into its own
This of course is a thing of the past and today the entire category.
world is looking for different flavours and fragrances in tea. In
this world of competition Assam tea has managed to carve out continues to load 48 to 50 tonnes of Assam tea into Singapore
a niche for itself and indeed the pat on the back must go to all Airlines cargo carrier per day. This, till recently, was unheard
those estate owners and workers who have for years worked in of, according to cargo officials at the airport at Kolkata. These
spite of various odds and hurdles. days, more Assam tea has been passing through the airport for
With the trouble brewing in Darjeeling, Assam has, all London, Germany, Japan and Melbourne markets.
of a sudden, captured the ever growing tea market both do- While the demand for Darjeeling tea is still higher, as
mestically, as well as, internationally. The indefinite bandh for
Gorkhaland has choked supplies from the hills of Darjeeling
North Eastern Tea Association chairman, Manoj Jalan puts it,
he also reiterates that the Assam market has managed to cre- With Best Complements from :-
and stepped up demand for the beverage from the north-eastern ate a niche for itself. But there is also a growing generation of
state. This has resulted in a sudden rise in the export graph of new tea drinkers who wants to drink the strong Assam tea as a
Assam tea. Recently Assam tea has gained the momentum and substitute for coffee. “Also the health benefits are plenty in tea
as opposed to caffeine,” says Dr Hazarika from the All India
institute of medical sciences (AIIMS).
In Darjeeling, the annual production is 10-11 million kg,
of which 70 per cent
is exported to meet the
demand in the United

State, United Kingdom,
Germany, Japan and oth-
er developed countries.
Assam’s premium
quality tea is priced at
around Rs 200 a kg in
the international markets
while second flush Dar-
jeeling Tea costs Rs 800
to 1000. But with the
ever growing demand,
OMPRAKASH AGARWALA
Assam tea is the most pro-
ductive tea out of India,
and is the only type of tea
in India that is grown at
sea level. The high day-
time temperatures, mon-
soon-like rainfalls, and BISHOP COTTON ROAD Phone (M) 94361 00927
extreme humidity make SHILLONG-793001 (0364) 2229721, 2223107,
the perfect growing con-
ditions for this malty-fla- (MEGHALAYA) 2226643
vored beverage.

32 August 08 August 08 33