The Hindu Business Line : `Tea competition has potential to sustain penchant for quality'

THE Golden Leaf India Awards, Southern Tea Competition 2005, jointly organised by the United Planters' Association of Southern India (Upasi) and the Tea Board, was the first tea cupping competition held in the country, and was, therefore, a novel initiative.

Business Line spoke to Mr N. Dharmaraj, Convener, Organising Committee, on the prospects, objectives, process and the benefits of the competition. Excerpts:

You conducted the tea competition for south Indian tea at Coonoor last month. What made Upasi hold such a competition?

The south Indian tea industry has been facing stiff national and international competition in recent times. In its efforts to redeem and fortify its position, the industry has had to re-format its field practices, re-engineer factory parameters and re-define its business policies.

One of the major manifestations of these efforts has been the much improved quality profile of our teas and we felt a time has come to position the improved profile of our teas, backed by its colourful heritage, to the national and international clientele.

The Golden Leaf India Awards, Southern Tea Competition 2005, was a result of this vision. The Tea Board came up with ready support for what they believed to be a significant initiative.

Are you optimistic about the prospects, would it boost the sales of tea in India and exports to world markets which are currently dominated by teas of other origins?

With the event being successful, we are optimistic that it would definitely create a positive impact on the sales of south Indian tea in the domestic and world markets in the days to come.

Most of the international jury expressed surprise at the range and depth of quality. The internal trade has also been supportive What are the main objectives?

The prime objective of the competition is to showcase the southern teas from the various agro-climatic regions, possessing unique quality attributes and each supporting a unique eco-system.

The second objective is to portray the quality of social and natural capital that forms the edifice of this agro-industry. What were the various categories of teas in which the competition was held?

The competition, open to Upasi and non-Upasi members, was split into 6 regional categories (Nilgiris, Anamallais, High Ranges, Travancore, Wayanad, Karnataka and other minor districts) as well as one general category for Bought Leaf sector. Further classification was made as orthodox, CTC, organic and green teas.

What are the criteria used for selecting the best teas?

The process of the competition was exhaustively detailed to ensure total transparency. Samples were personally drawn by officers of the Upasi's Tea Research Foundation, coded and decoded using random numbers. First level screening was done by 27 national experts from various segments of the trade. Out of 227 entries, 130 teas were selected for the finals. These were subjected to technical analysis on the basis of PFA (equivalent to 1SO 3720) as well for pesticide residue analysis as a per EU guidelines. The teas were then screened by a panel of 9 international jury representing various parts of the world, before selecting the winning teas.

Do you think it will boost the image of south Indian teas?

Sure. We are planning to showcase the winning teas in all the international fairs, exhibitions and buyer-seller meets.

Is this phenomenon going to be a regular annual affair?

The Golden Leaf India Awards will be a movement, not an event, as we believe it has the potential to uplift the quality of the whole region.

What is our position in the world tea market?

The crisis in the tea industry has underpinned the need to continuously strive to compete both on costs and quality: on both counts the potential (against heavy macro environmental odds) is beginning to yield results.

Do you think the competition would motivate the growers to improve the quality of their product?

Judging from the response and the enthusiasm, this competition has the potential to sustain the penchant for quality amongst the producers.

Will it also be beneficial in terms of price of the produce?

Some business has already taken place, both internally and internationally, of the price winning teas, at higher prices.

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