The
tea trail
Polypacking
of tea at the plantation itself, introduced 19 years ago, paved the
way for the success of Tata Tea, says Prabhakar Jadhav
Tea
is a highly hygroscopic commodity and is extremely sensitive to odour.
It used to be transported to various countries in wooden chests over
the last two centuries in well-preserved conditions.
Tata
Tea revolutionised the tea market in India by introducing the ‘polypack’,
a pack which aimed to transport garden fresh tea to the consumers at
the same time preserving all the inherent natural qualities at a marginally
extra cost.
The
background
The
company launched the poly pack of Kanan Devan, a Tata Tea brand, in
several parts of South India 19 years ago. Today, the success of Kanan
Devan is taken for granted and it is not uncommon for management theorists
to attribute the success of the brand to several features such as its
peculiar quality of garden freshness and plantation packaging.
But
it was not only garden freshness that resulted in the near dominance
of Kanan Devan in South India. There were several tea companies that
had access to fresh high quality tea. It was the phenomena of consumer
packaging that brought about the vertical integration of production
with the marketing of tea and transformed an old-fashioned stodgy plantation
company to a market savvy seller
of tea.
Such
changes rarely happen, without the support of people and circumstances.
Tata Finlay, as Tata Tea was then called, had made negligible profits
in the early years of the 1980’s and Finlay was even then unsure of
their continued interest in their plantation company. When Tata Finlay
posted a loss in 1982, Finlay made up its mind to leave like a large
number of other major British companies and Tata Tea Ltd (TTL) came
into existence in 1983.
It
was not without a reason that Tata Finlay posted unimpressive results.
The auction market, never even at the best of times, consistent in the
remuneration that it provided to the grower, had been unusually erratic
that year. Tea prices had fallen drastically and Tata Finlay beset
by relatively high production costs was in no position to counter this
adverse auction trend that was gripping the industry.
Winds
of change
Control
of Quality – In the absence of plantation packing, accounting for the
quality of the tea and tracing the source of the adulteration was impossible
and sellers particularly those of loose tea, could mix teas with all
sorts of other add-ons. The creation of accountability has been one
of the greatest benefits of garden packing as it has ensured that the
buyer is assured of the quality standard of the product.
Standardised
product – Packaging of the tea in the garden ensured that the tea from
a limited geographical area and bearing its peculiar characteristics
reached the consumer. This necessitated standardisation of the manufacturing
practices in all the tea factories and ensure that the consumer received
tea of uniform cup quality throughout the season. In an age where the
market was dominated by only a few great brands, standardisation of
the products proved to be an asset.
Garden
Freshness – Customarily tea that was transported from the plantation
to the auction center appeared in the auction after almost 3 weeks and
was later transported to the buyers who sent it to their factory for
packaging. The entire process took about 2.5 to 3 months. This additional
time consumption was also avoided when packaging started in the garden
itself. Packaging in the garden enabled TTL to supply its tea to the
customer within 4 weeks, after plucking and in some cases, as little
as 15 -17 days from the plucking date. The reduction in lead-time resulted
in additional freshness which over the years has become the unique selling
proposition of Tata Tea.
Retention
of freshness – By virtue of its superior barrier properties, the polypack
material provided a double protection – it sealed in the aroma of the
tea and sealed out the smells of the retail store where the tea is often
placed near soap, camphor, incense and similar odorous merchandise.
Price
to the customer – The consequences of a variable auction price naturally
got reflected in the prices of loose and packaged tea sold to the customer.
Often this meant that the marketing companies priced their tea erratically
and the buyers faced highly varying prices for what was a very basic
commodity. Packaging in the garden enables the company to avoid the
additional cost of about Rs 2 per kg incurred during the auction route.
This provides the company with an additional leverage to control prices
and provides the customer with a far lower priced tea.
.....CONTD
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