October 29, 2007
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SPECIAL: India to cash in on Dragon’s crave for tea
Prakash Dubey/Commodity Online
SILIGURI: China, which is supposed to be the cradle of tea, is turning into a major consumer of India’s black tea grown in Darjeeing and Jalpaiguri region.
Even though tea came to India from China over 150 years ago, Chinese tea relishers have been traditionally known for their preference for green tea drinking. But, of late, the Chinese have begun evincing a taste for the black brew and this was a good news for India which is a major producer of black tea.
On his return from Beijing where he had gone to attend the China Tea Expo recently, Rajiv Lochan, a senior functionary of the Siliguri-based Lochan Tea Limited, a famous tea trading company, has revealed that China is now emerging as a major market for
Indian brew.
Locahn has said : “We have been participating in the expo since 2004, when it was first held, and since then, every year, our sale of Indian black tea has been increasing.”
He claimed that China’s black tea market was on an upswing and “if we are able to woo the Chinese importers to buy our Indian produce, we can accomplish milestones in our tea export prospects.” “Darjeeling tea would be the major gainer if China showed a penchant for our black tea. Darjeeling black tea is indeed unique.”
According to the official, his own company had been reaping “the bounties of a phenomenal rise in their sales in China” for past three consecutive years.
He said: “In 2004, his company’s sale was very nominal. But in 2005 our export hopped to around 10 tonnes and in 2006 we sold over 50 tonnes of black tea to the Chinese consumers. The current year is witnessing a real phenomenal growth. To date, we have
exported nearly 200 tonnes. And during my trip at the Expo we could mop up deals for 500 tonnes.”
He further said China has been primarily importing black tea from Sri Lanka despite the fact that India’s black tea “is far better in quality and taste”.
“So it is imperative for the Indian exporters to strive hard to promote our tea sale in China. But I am sure we would leave Sri Lanka far behind if we sincerely work,” Lochna added.
Currently, Unilever was the major marketing source of the Indian black tea in the Chinese market. But others were gradually making a debut there. Even Tata Tea has now entered the Chinese tea consumers sanctuary.
