After train and bus, Tea to Pakistan

“Pakistan consumes about 140 million kg tea procured mostly from Kenya. The Tea Association of India has been pursuing the matter with Union commerce minister Mr Kamal Nath to facilitate tea export to Pakistan in view of the improved bilateral relations, but we are yet to observe any improvement on this front.”

“TAI has also suggested the inclusion of tea in the list of items for export through the Wagah border and to urge Pakistan to import tea free of duty. These measures should reduce the landed cost of Indian tea in the Pakistan markets and help it compete against Kenyan tea. But again no development in this front.”

The statement came from the TAI president, Mr AK Kothari, during the organisation’s 35th AGM on 11 February.

The industry admits sotto voce that around 70 million kg tea used to furtively find its way to the Pakistan markets from India prior to 1999. But all that changed after the Kargil War.

According to the TAI official, the lack of an aggressive marketing strategy to promote tea in the global arena is hurting export and Indian tea is steadily loosing ground to Kenya and Sri Lanka. “The Tea Board, with cooperation from the producers and merchant exporters should take the lead in this direction,” the TAI official said.

His alternative suggestion is to fall back on the domestic market.

“With performance at the export front way below expectation, the alternative left is to concentrate on the domestic market. And for that, a strong and sustained generic campaign is the need of the hour and here, too, the Tea Board should in conjunction with the industry take a leading role,” Mr Kothari said.

The prolonged depression in the industry has exposed the stakeholders to some stark realities and the tea barons are at pains to get to the root of it all.

“The traditional model of tea-making is no longer sacrosanct. Marketing has occupied centrestage and it is a buyers’ market out there,” the TAI president said.

Source > The Statesman