Packaged tea eating into market of loose tea, says traders’ association
Amritsar, April 22
The packaged tea is usurping the market of loose tea, says the newly appointed president of the Amritsar Tea Traders Association, Rajinder Goyal.
Goyal, among other office-bearers, was elected for the next two years, 2023-25.
He accused big brands of being big blenders of tea. He said most of the packaged tea being sold in the market was of blended quality. So they are offering tea at a lower cost than the one sold loose. They are usurping market of loose tea which is sold at a higher rate.
He said a majority of the tea used to be loose about 20 years ago. Now, the share of both packaged and loose is equal. The market has become highly competitive and the norm of the survival of the fittest is guiding. So, even small whole sellers are also packaging their tea.
He said there was a time when the local market used to be a hub of green and regular tea for markets of the entire Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. Now, only the markets of Jammu and Kashmir buy from the local dealers. Both varieties of tea come from Assam, West Bengal and Southern states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Other elected members of the association were senior vice-president Madhukar Talwar, junior vice-president Nitin Arora, secretary Manpreet Singh, finance secretary Roopesh Goenka and executive members Ashwani Aggarwal, Harsh Kapoor, Harish Mehra, Navneet Singh, Pawan Pawa, Rahil Bhatia, Rajan Makhija and Rishabh Kapoor.
‘Market used to be a hub of green tea’
- Amritsar Tea Traders Association president Rajinder Goyal has accused big brands of being big blenders of tea. He said most of the packaged tea being sold in the market was of blended quality. So they are offering tea at a lower cost than the one sold loose. They are usurping market of loose tea which is sold at a higher rate
- He said a majority of the tea used to be loose about 20 years ago. Now, the share of both packaged and loose is equal. The market has become highly competitive and the norm of the survival of the fittest is guiding. So, even small whole sellers are also packaging their tea
- He said there was a time when the local market used to be a hub of green and regular tea for markets of the entire Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. Now, only the markets of Jammu and Kashmir buy from the local dealers. Both varieties of tea come from Assam, West Bengal and Southern states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu
- Other elected members of the association were senior vice-president Madhukar Talwar, junior vice-president Nitin Arora, secretary Manpreet Singh, finance secretary Roopesh Goenka, among others
