October 19, 2007

  • Beijing 2007

    Hong Yan, a pretty student was my interprator in Beijing this year and I had several important business meetings there with China Tea Marketing Association, Indian Embassy, Tea Net Group in Malindao Tea market and Yuan Tai black tea people from Fuzhou.

    We attended China Tea Expo in China World Trade Centre from 14th to 17th October 2007. Justin, Chen, Nicky & Tana helped me there. Gaurav Varshney, my nephew, who lives in Aligarh, went to Guangzhou to attend Canton Fair. We also went to Qingdao for textiles.

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October 12, 2007

  • China, October 2007

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    Mr. Rajiv Lochan has reached Beijing, and is preparing with his team for the China Tea Expo which will take place at The World Trade Center, Beijing.

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    This expo will take place from the 14th till the 17th of this month (October, 2007).

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    His aim to make every Chinese drink a cup of Darjeeling Tea has started seeing some light at the end of a tunnel which we thought would be a very tough journey. It has been five years since he launced his campaign in China, it is rightly said ‘Hard work does pay off, the later the better.’

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    We are proud to have him as our CEO of Lochan Group of Industries.

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    Kapil Sibbal (IT Minister of India) with Ms. Xiao (Dongli, China) and Mr. Lochan

October 9, 2007

  • Tea – The Quality of Life

    An e-mail from our client that touched us…

    anne

    This is made to inform the public concerning tea. For 95% of the consumers, tea is synonymous with the name Lipton. 3% use teas in bulk but it’s generally a bad quality (with aroma’s adjunctions, they don’t know the origins of the tea …). The remaining 2% seek very good teas. In the French-speaking countries, two famous brands take the market by the means of stores and luxurious restaurants. They have a luxurious packaging and, for example, sell false teapots from Yixing at +/- 50 Euros whereas in China, they are sold for 0.5 Euros.

    One day, the public will understand that and it will be a problem for all those who work around these teas because it will be necessary to gain the confidence of the consumer once again.

    On the level of the wholesale prices, I don’t understand well how that is possible, but I find better prices if I buy in Europe that if I buy in Asia. I think that there are many false teas of origin.

    In catalogs you can find the same tea, with the same packaging but at 10 Euros/100g or 30 Euros/100g. There is no recommended price for the reseller. It’s not good for the market and the consumer. I know charges and expenses are different if I work in France or in Belgium but I think that the producers should try to define a margin of price recommended to the sale and ask the retailers to sign a charter which obliges to remain in this margin. Everybody works at a price which is normal to pay for the retailer and to reflect on the sale – but to sell 30 or 40 times more expensive, it is to steal from the consumer. When the consumer realizes that, the whole chain becomes a robber, not only the retailer.

    On eBay, you find lot of teas. See here: http://stores.befr.ebay.be/Bucher-Tee-und-Afrika_Darjeeling_4400-g_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ4642373QQftidZ2QQtZkm
    and look at the prices. Retailers are in difficulty with this type of shop. It’s easier to place a bid for 4.4 kg at 100 Euros and receive the package 3 days later. I put only “Darjeeling Tea,” say what I want to the consumer and the next year, I can go in holiday with my children. Lot of resellers does that. I think that the producers should offer a “label of confidence” that the retailers who buy and respect the products could obtain. That would give guarantees to the consumer and would justify the prices charged.

    Quality is quality. A good product needs to have a good seller. All the chains have to keep the same way. Or, in French-speaking countries, there is not enough knowledge about tea. My wish is to create a new world around the tea: tea waiter like wine waiter. A wine waiter has to study all the wines, since the quality of the ground and the best producers to the translation of the wish of the consumer. Time will tell me if the dream for which I work is possible. I believe it. Your support will help me.

    In general, tea is health for people. Teas are linked with a “good quality of life”. It’s a good first point :)

October 7, 2007

  • Qingdao calling….

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    Luck takes me to Qingdao, a beautiful port city in northern China, like I went to Xiamen, another beautiful port city in southern China in May this year. It is said that this city is more German then Chinese, though it is being naturalised now.

    This trip is to access textile market in China and particularly to visit Jide group’s setup on invitation from my friend Li Qian there.

    Later from 12th to 17th we shall be in Beijing to attend CTE 2007 and meet tea crowd there. We are in booth number L21 there.  

    So untill 18th there will be probably no uploads since blogs are not operable in China. 

  • Estate take-over plan set to roll…
     
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    Siliguri, Oct. 7: The tea board has told the owners of closed gardens to explain within October 16 why the Centre should not take over their estates by invoking Section 16 (E) of the Tea Act of 1953.

    The owners have already missed two earlier deadlines (in August and September), though this is the first time that they have been showcaused.

    “We are not sitting idle,” Union minister of state for commerce and industry Jairam Ramesh told The Telegraph yesterday. “Showcause notices have been served to them (the owners) on October 5 and if they do not respond within the specified date (October 16), we will go ahead with the acquisition.”

    Section 16 (E) allows the Centre to take over the management of a tea estate and give it to another entrepreneur without any inquiry if the garden remains closed for three months or more.

    The minister, who was on a two-day tour of north Bengal, added that the showcause notices ask for specific information from the owners. “Like what liabilities they have, how they plan to settle their provident fund dues, the discussions they have had with the trade unions, whether they have found new investors and when they can reopen their gardens,” Ramesh explained.

    From bankers, the tea board has asked for an assessment of the capacities of the existing owners, viability of the gardens, possibility of financial restructuring and details of liabilities.

    “We cannot say that the gardens will open before the Pujas but there will certainly be a major change in the next one month,” Ramesh said.

    Fox Mandal, a Calcutta-based law firm, has been also asked to draft an advertisement seeking expression of interest from entrepreneurs willing to take over acquired tea estates. “Some prerequisites will also be mentioned in the advertisement to be released in various newspapers,” Ramesh said.

    The minister added that the board has received at least five proposals from new entrepreneurs, including some “big tea companies” and “local businessmen”.

    For the 18,000-odd workers of the 13 closed gardens in north Bengal, Ramesh announced a festival grant of Rs 1,500-Rs 2,000 per family. “The money will definitely be disbursed before Diwali.”

October 6, 2007

  • The Lotus Tea

    The Spirit of Lotus Tea…

    Blue Lotus Farm

    How far a man can go to promote teas can be seen at this endeavour in America. Despite all of his disadvantages John Mcpherson alongwith his wife Siming in Hagerstown near Washington DC, is competing with all the bigwigs of Tea in America.

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  • Assam floods, pests hit Indian tea production

     

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    Guwahati, Oct 5 – India’s tea production has been hit with heavy floods in the northeastern state of Assam inundating plantations and rampant pests eating away the crop in some areas, officials said.

    ‘Floods have had an impact in some areas where plucking was suspended for sometime with plantations under water, besides erosion hitting a number of gardens,’ Dhiraj Kakati, secretary of the Assam branch of the Indian Tea Association, told IANS.

    According to estimates, there is a production loss of about 4 million kg of tea until August compared to the corresponding period last year, the official said.

    India is currently the world’s largest tea producer after China with a record crop of 955 million kg last year, Assam accounting for about 55 percent of the total produce.

    At least 70 plantations of Assam’s 800-odd gardens have come under floodwaters.

    Three waves of flooding since July left over 100 people dead and nearly 12 million people displaced in 25 of Assam’s 27 districts. The worst hit districts Are Cachar, Karimganj, Hailakandi, Dhubri, Morigaon, Barpeta, Lakhimpur, and Nalbari.

    Close to 10,000 villages in an area of 825,000 hectares were affected by the raging floods that cut a swath across the state.

    ‘Some of the factories were hit by the floods forcing the managements in those plantations to shut down operations,’ said K. Sharma, a senior planter.

    Adding to the woes of the cash-strapped tea industry are rampant pests that are eating away tea crops. A tea mosquito called helopeltis has attacked some 100 plantations in various parts of Assam.

    ‘We saw a sudden outbreak of blisters in some plantations and have been battling the helopeltis outbreak ever since,’ Sharma said.

    ‘This time too, like in the past, there have been seasonal pest attacks in certain areas although the problem is not widespread,’ Kakati said.

    According to tea growers, the bugs tend to attack plantations when the young leaves brown.

October 3, 2007

  • India’s malnourished tea workers

    Until they put someone in to manage them our lives will be miserable
    Community leader Prahlad Sharma

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    It’s just after dawn on the Ramjhora estate in northern Bengal. In this remote region, not far from India’s border with Bhutan, tea has been the bedrock of the local economy for more than 150 years.

    But five years ago this estate was shut down when the owner packed up abruptly leaving unpaid salaries and no alternative employment.

    Weeds are now infesting the tea bushes, buildings are abandoned, and estate workers say that they have been slowly dying because they are not eating enough food.

    Exact numbers are hard to pin down. But one study released recently estimates that more than 700 people have died in this region in little more than a year from malnutrition.

    Not enough food

    One of the community leaders at Ramjhora, Prahlad Sharma, says local people want to work, and they’re desperate for help.

    “Due to malnutrition people started falling sick,” he says. “In the last five years more than 200 people have died on this estate alone.”

    He puts most of the blame on the owner who abandoned the estate. And he also wants the state government, which has taken possession of the land, to make some effort to use it properly. “Until they put someone in to manage them our lives will be miserable.”

    Lakshmi Gosain is getting her early morning supply of water – she’ll feed her three children with bread and tea.

    Her husband died three years ago, and she’s had to give her fourth child to an orphanage. Last month there was more bad news – her tiny house was trampled by an elephant, a constant threat in this region.

    Occasionally she works, breaking stones by the river. But she says she feels weak most of the time. It’s the same for everyone, Lakshmi says, and the reason is simple – they haven’t had enough to eat.

    “They don’t have any rice,” she says. “They’re hungry and then they work with an empty stomach – so they fall ill and die. All of them died due to hunger and malnutrition.”

    “That’s how my husband died,” she adds. “He worked hard without enough food – and he died because the tea garden was shut down.”

    Some younger people have left, looking for work in Calcutta and Delhi. Others cross the border into Bhutan, working for a pittance at local construction companies. But the majority remain on the estate, waiting for better times, and hoping that sudden death won’t strike their families.

    Constantly sick

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    These aren’t deaths caused by catastrophic famine – this is a green and fertile land. Instead, the insidious effects of malnutrition have weakened entire communities – making them vulnerable to anaemia, tuberculosis and severe dysentery.

    When we arrive at Shamilla Gwala’s house it’s obvious that she has to make an enormous effort just to get to the front door.

    A severe deficiency of iron has made her joints swell and she can hardly walk. Her eldest son died shortly after the estate was closed, and two of her other children are constantly sick.

    The doctors want her to eat more green vegetables but she can’t afford to buy them.

    “I have to rely on my younger son now,” she says, “to earn any money he can get.”

    Like many others on the estate, Shamilla’s son still plucks tea. But the factory is closed – in fact it’s falling down – and there’s no investment coming in at all.

    The quality of the leaves is deteriorating fast and people here have to sell what little they can pick for far less money than they used to receive.

    Many of the estates which have shut down fell into disrepair after a fall in tea prices a few years ago.

    Owners who’d come into the market to make a quick profit rapidly abandoned the estates when times got a little tougher.

    Thriving

    Ramjhora alone provided money and other benefits for more than 7,000 people. All that’s now gone.

    The state government has stepped in with offers of help – providing food and medical aid. But workers say they get less than half the amount of food they used to have, and for some it simply isn’t enough.

    Many government subsidies are creamed off by corrupt local officials, and promises made aren’t kept.

    “The next few months is the worst time,” Prahlad Sharma says. “It’s cold, there are no leaves to sell, there’s no temporary work on other estates, and no-one can buy any food.”

    But it doesn’t have to be that way. Drive up into the hills above Ramjhora towards Darjeeling, and the rain starts to beat down. But most of the tea estates here – like dozens of others across West Bengal – are thriving.

    At the pristine Makaibari estates, Rajah Bannerjee started Darjeeling’s first organic tea production back in the 1980s – now he sells some of the most expensive teas in the world.

    “Try this one,” he says, “it’s quite peachy. And this is ‘first flush’ – a very delicate tea. It’s eagerly sought after by most buyers globally.”

    As we taste some of his most delicate brews, Rajah says there’s no reason why estates like Ramjhora can’t recover and prosper – if only someone would care.

    “If we can do it up here in the hills, they can do it down there, they’ve got much more top soil. All it needs is a little bit of consolidated, concerted thought.”

    But that’s in short supply at Ramjhora. And the people who live there feel trapped.

    So this is a story which typifies the contradictions of modern India. On the one hand there’s innovation, creativity and progress; on the other there’s outright neglect, and a callousness which still has the capacity to shock.

October 1, 2007

  • To Russia with love

    ‘Indian tea has potential to recapture Russian market’

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    Coimbatore, Sept. 29 Indian teas are set to recapture the Russian market, the Tea Board Chairman, Mr Basudeb Banerjee, said here on Friday.

    He was in the city in connection with the 25th Annual General Meeting of the Tea Trade Association of Coimbatore.

    Recalling his recent visit to Russia and the discussions he had with the Russian Agriculture Ministry and the trade associations there, Mr Banerjee said, “We will soon be able to restore the No.1 position.”

    “The board has signed an agreement for joint promotion of Indian tea in Russia. Under this agreement, at least 75 per cent of the packaged teas should be of Indian origin. Russia is proposing to pass a law on these lines and this is expected to be in place next year.”

    The Russian offtake has, in the meanwhile, improved considerably for the orthodox and quality CTC grades of tea during the current year.

    Asked when it would touch 100 million kg, Mr Banerjee said, “We are not looking at volumes, but in supplying quality teas, as quality appears to be the prime concern out there.” The board would encourage marketing of packaged teas, he added.

    While the Russian offtake showed signs of improvement, he admitted to the declining trend in exports to Iraq. “It has been a difficult market and we have encountered payment problems.”

    Tea exports to Pakistan have also slipped during the current year, but the country has managed to overcome the mental block about importing teas from India. There is a lot of pent up demand in Karachi and the North West Frontier region.

    Reverting to the domestic scenario, he said, “There is a marginal improvement in the per capita consumption (to 3-plus per cent), but the poor consumption in tea-producing regions of Assam and West Bengal is a matter of concern.”

    The board has proposed to launch an ‘Iced’ tea campaign soon to trigger consumption.

    Mr Banerjee said the new electronic auction system would be introduced in a year’s time.

    The consultative committee comprising a technical expert, broker, buyer, vendor and board representative are expected to meet in November for working out the strategy.

    The TTAC Chairman, Mr C. Sreedharan, while expressing concern about the poor performance on the export front attributed it to the change in taxation (VAT), appreciating rupee, non-availability of adequate quantities at auctions and difficulties encountered by exporters in realising payments from overseas buyers.