12 years, 12 months ago-
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Interesting thoughts on why Indian tea is not conquering the international markets, by the UK Tea Council chairman William Bill Gorman.His explanation: “India is losing the global market because the Indian tea industry pushes “rubbish” tea into the world market.”The best part of this article, and I love this; Mr Gorman believes tea marketed with those much hyped up health benefits “seemed to be a failed concept, at least among the tea consumers in the UK.” Instead in the UK the approach is:“We are trying to market tea as a natural product with its fresh and strong aroma instead of a drink with health benefits,” he said.I applaud this!That aside; I don’t drink any Indian “rubbish” tea, I just enjoy cup after cup of excellent Darjeeling!J.
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I am a self-declared lover of Indian teas above all others.
Part of the problem is they taste too good, too indulgent. A thin, grassy contemptible Japanese tea tastes like it must be good for you – or else why drink it? – whereas a Woodlands Nilgiri tastes as hearty as a Steak and Chips.Indian tea should be sold as the tea you have when you feel good, or want to. The indulgence that doesn’t add to the waistline (OK, those two sugars and milk might cause some argument there, though in reality it’s not a big deal).Darjeelings. Assams. Nilgiris. All amongst the best in the world. Even the cheapest tea I buy out of Gujarat for a few cents per kilo is better than most Kenyan teas, perfect for when I’m feeling like slumming it at the cheap end of the market, such as when the Mother-In-Law comes to visit.@lochantea‘s Doke white is a great example of India trying new markets as well.I think the issue in India is systemic corruption. When you build a system of lies, cheating, bribery and abuse, the end product is going to suffer.Most of the world’s tea problems are directly or indirectly caused by giant UK or US corporations pushing us toward cheap tea in cheap teabags – we can criticise India, but do we criticise our neighbour who serves up a Lipton yellow Label on the back of suffering Kenyan tea workers. (Well, I do, but you get my point.)Yet India consumes nearly all of it’s own tea. Many Indians seem perfectly happy with it.I shall now stop before this return turns into an entire blog. -
Bill has a strong anti-indian feelings and the views expressed here are influenced by his personal disliking but the reality is far away from this – indian teas are good and are presented nicely and trying to cope up with very strong internal demand which leaves hardly anything to export…
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@A really interesting discussion on an interesting topic.
I thought the point about the chemical residue levels as an issue for the international markets was of particular note. I also found the last paragraph enlightening:Another disadvantage is the distance factor which Assam tea faces. “Assam tea to reach Dubai takes 45 days whereas Kenyan tea takes 15-20 days. The tea buyers would not wait for so long to buy Assam tea and they take whatever is offered to them,” Sarma, who travels around the world to buy tea, said.’
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@Keyboard on my iPad went a bit funny on me and I couldn’t finish my last comment.
I hadn’t thought about the difficulties still attendant on physically transporting tea from a region like Assam to the areas where the auctions are. Everything seems so instant these days but tea manufacture still takes a lot of time, I guess!I like the British marketing strategy too 🙂 -
@Darn it, stupid keypad keeps messing up on me and now I’m hogging the thread. Whoops. Before anything else goes wrong I will just say that @lochantea‘s insights into the workings of the Indian tea market and the anti-India stance of the UK Tea Council chair are fascinating. Is there a reason for his aversion to India??
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Which makes me wonder what is prompting his commentary. It is known that Unilever is a major buyer of tea and well represented in England (with, no doubt, close ties to Gorman) – however, it’s been reported that Unilever does not own any farms in India like it does in Kenya. In India, Unilever (and others) compete for the price of tea.
Bill’s statement could have an impact on the price of tea, simply because someone with that much influence can cause markets to shift just by opening his mouth. Those are pretty strong words to come from Gorman and could effect the way major buyers make buying decisions. If they feel that Indian tea is of lower quality, then they may shift their money to Kenyan tea, which will in turn lower the price on Indian tea. It some areas, lower prices can cause farms to become unsustainable and then need to sell. Farms up for sale, need to be bought (enter the multinational).This is not a far-fetched idea either, the agriculture business around the world deals with this kind of thing regularly. In countries that have less governmental support and subsidies for farmers to keep them afloat when the price of their product drops, the impact of such statements can be even more profound.Largely, while, if it were entirely true, Gorman made an observation about a decline in quality based on a study or other report it would be one thing, but he seemed to make a unilateral statement that Indian tea at large was of poor quality. That’s a pretty irresponsible statement for someone in his position to make. -
One thing perhaps not to forget, the UK drinks (almost) nothing but tea bags. That’s what everyone pops in their pot.
Of course Darjeelings, Assams, Nilgiris are delicious. But does the average Brit want those quality leaves in their cup? No.It isn’t just a question whether poor leaves are being pushed onto the market, the market in the UK is asking for precisely those. I don’t see the desire for quality leaves Gorman mentions, so don’t blame India for a lack of quality teas. -
i was with Bill from 20th to 27th october in China and we attended an International tea convention there in hangzhou – my feelings emerge from that experiences which I had from him – earlier on many occassions also he has been airing such views…I have no complaints..he says what he feels..but others have to agree with him if his observations are right…I wish him all the best..Indian teas are excellent teas – I agree that they are not rightly presented but they can not be termed “rubbish”…
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