The Hindu Business Line : India targets premium tea market in Australia

Kolkata, Oct. 2 India will adopt a multi-point strategy to boost tea export to Australia and the essence of the strategy will be to establish a long-term trade relationship by providing “value for money” to Australia’s tea drinkers.

Also, the supplies of Darjeeling tea, orthodox tea (black), CTC and green teas as well as quality tea in tea bags, packets and in bulk form will be stepped-up as per the country’s requirement.

Giving this information to Business Line, Mr Basudeb Banerjee, Chairman of Tea Board, said the thrust would be to make the best use of the changing market dynamics. Mr Banerjee, who has just returned after attending the Fine Food Fair at Melbourne in Australia, along with representatives of five Indian tea exporting firms, pointed out that the consumption of tea bags in Australia was increasingly rapidly.

Also, the consumer preference was changing more in favour of premium and speciality teas. The affluent and discerning consumers were looking for high quality teas. Underscoring the importance of the Australian market, the Tea Board Chairman pointed out that since 2003-04, India had been the major supplier of teas to Australia, accounting for 34 per cent of the market, followed by Sri Lanka at 23 per cent, and Indonesia at 20 per cent.

Australia imports about 15 million kg (mkg) of tea annually. “It is basically a black tea market but the market is quality conscious, origin sensitive and tea-bag consuming,” he observed.

Exports

In 2007, India exported, 5.08 mkg of teas to Australia, comprising 4.2 mkg in tea bags, 4.85 lakh kg of bulk tea, 3.32 lakh kg of packet tea and 8,000 kg of instant tea.

The corresponding figures for 2006 was a total export of 4.3 mkg comprising 3.33 mkg in tea bags, 3.44 lakh kg in packet tea, 1.85 lakh kg of bulk tea and 4,000 kg of instant tea. “In the current year, our export should rise by 1 mkg and the bulk of it will be in tea bags,” Mr Banerjee said.

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