By Aparna DattaThe buzz at Tea & Coffee World Cup/Asia 2008 (TCWC), held at Hyderabad in India on November 20-22, was that the show was unique, particularly on two counts: one, that there were more tea industry participants as compared to coffee industry exhibitors (it's usually the other way round at other venues); and two, that there were more Indian exhibitors as compared to international ones.
Add another aspect - Hyderabad as the venue, certainly not a traditional tea industry location in India, and you have to marvel at the number of Indian tea industry participants that made it there! It all goes to show that the Indian tea industry is big, with a well-developed business ecosystem with a history of some 150 years, and the Indian stalwarts were determined to make use of this opportunity presented by the publishers of Tea & Coffee Trade Journal and Tea & Coffee Asia in hosting an international tea event for the first time in India.
Big theme
The big theme coming out of this show was innovation. Indian tea producers are well on the innovation track, adapting and modifying age-old tea processing techniques and blend profiles to cater to a contemporary Indian market with consumer trends picked up from their export forays. Some 80 per cent of tea produced in India gets consumed at home, while 20 per cent gets exported; yet it's the competitive engagements in the international specialty tea market that's now informing and energizing local tea habits, attitudes and franchise.
With a large stall well-positioned near the entrance at the exhibition venue, you couldn't miss Premier's Tea. A regular at TCWC events, Premier's Tea is a Kolkata-based tea company with global reach. Interestingly, they're relatively new in the industry, having started up in 1988. Hasmukh A. Shah, who set up the enterprise, has an engineering background, is a maverick of sorts amongst the traditional Kolkata tea circuit, and today runs the business along with his son Chayan H. Shah. They have brought in a fresh perspective and built their business based on sound processes and quality orientation, scoring high on presentation values. Premium packaging, a wide variety of blends and formats, and the very latest in infusion techniques such as pods and aluminum stick infusers called 'magic wands' attract attention and invite custom.