The Hindu Business Line : Tata Tea mulls acquiring more global brands

KOCHI, which was looking after the erstwhile south Indian plantations business of Tata Tea, will be transformed into its export hub, while Bangalore will be elevated to the position of the marketing and supply chain centre of the company.

The company, which was in the process of divesting its plantations operations, will be focusing solely on extending its brands reach, marketing and exports in future. Going forward from the acquisition of Tetley, Mr V. Venkiteswaran, Executive Director, Tata Tea, said the company was looking at more global brands for acquisition.

"With the acquisition of Tetley, we are an active player in around 35 countries, spanning the US, Europe and Australia and we are thinking of consolidating our global market share through fresh acquisitions."

The company which deliberated whether to continue to focus on plantations and remain the largest integrated tea company in the world during the late 90s, finally decided to divest its plantations operations and focus exclusively on its brands. Fresh acquisitions of plantations that were contemplated in the 90s in some African and South-East Asian countries are now out of the question and the joint venture in Sri Lankan plantations can be viewed purely as an investment. These moves are designed at making Tata Tea a truly multinational FMCG company in the branded tea business, Mr Venkiteswaran said.

Restructuring has become imperative since the company may not be able to sustain the present integrated plantations model. Today, over 80 per cent of the company's turnover comes from the branded tea business alone, while the rest comes from its plantations, exports and other commodities. The company plans to pursue the organic and inorganic models for future growth, both in India and abroad.

The company will continue to increase its product range.The introduction of flavoured tea bags: masala, ginger, cardamom and lemon in the north Indian markets have elicited encouraging response. The company will soon launch the product in the south Indian metros and cities as well, targeted mainly at the middle class urban households.

The international operations of the Tetley brand are being mainly pursued from Kochi and the export focus will continue to rest here, he said.

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