The Indian Tea Association (ITA) is planning to launch a social media campaign to target the ‘young population’ in between 15 to 35 years age group. The campaign will help boost tea consumption among the ‘coffee drinkers’ which, in turn, will increase demand for the beverage and improve its prices.
Chairman of ITA Vivek Goenka said the campaign will be rolled out on all social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. He said, “We are already in discussion with some marketing firms for designing the campaign. We are confident of rolling it out this year and it will run for at least 6 to 12 months”. He said this on the sidelines of the launch of TRINITEA, a self-assessment app for the small tea growers to allow compliance locally & internationally.
The estimated budget for the campaign can be upward of Rs. 50 lakh. Besides holding talks with the Central and State governments, the Indian Tea Association is also in talks with the Tea Board of India to extend financial support to the campaign.
Goenka said as tea consumption and penetration is high among people above the age of 45 to 50 years, it has not actually “made a mark” among the young populace.
CTC costs for the first flush crop opened lower by Rs. 20 to 30 / kg at the auction this year, in comparison to the same period last year. This is regardless of the fact that production was projected to be lower following the early closure directive of the Tea Board.
The industry was hopeful that about 40 to 50 mkg of teas will be out from the system, which will lead to low carryover stock for this period. This will, in turn, help prices of the first flush open on a solid note. But, only around 10 to 20 mkg was compressed and therefore there was a glut in the market. However, the demand has been largely flat in the past few years, leading to pressure on prices.
Chairman of Tea Board, PK Bezboruah said that as the industry is unable to control supply or production, the only rescue will be to raise demand or consumption & one way to do that will be to prefer generic promotion of tea.
TRINITEA initiative
The TRINITEA programme is a joint effort of ITA & Solidaridad Asia that aims to provide year-round training to develop the agronomical, social & environmental practices of small tea growers. Small tea growers comprise nearly 47 % of the country’s tea output that stood at around 1,326 million kg in 2018-19.
Under TRINITEA programme, the ITA has inked MoUs with major small tea grower bodies in West Bengal and Assam. Solidaridad has made an android-based digital training tool for cultivators in local languages to continue training virtually.
Managing Director of Solidaridad Asia, Shatadru Chattopadhayay said, “TRINITEA intends to provide smallholders a platform to be in line with international & national standards and also be competitive in the market by enhancing quality and realizing better prices for their produce”.
