Tripura to sell tea under ‘Tripureshwari Tea’ brand name

In a mission to expand the tea market of the country, Tripura Tea Development Corporation (TTDC), along with Tea Board India and a couple of other stakeholders, have been working on designing a logo and branding of tea produced in the state of Tripura. Hence forth, the tea produced in this north-eastern state would be sold under the brand name ‘Tripureshwari Tea’ — a reference to Goddess Tripura Sundari.

On wednesday, Santosh Sah- TTDC chairperson told reporters that steps would be taken to ensure efficient marketing of Tripura tea and revive the industry in the state.

Mr Shah also said, “It is the age of branding and marketing. So, we have decided to market 100 gram and 50 gram packets of tea produced in Tripura under the brand name Tripureshwari Tea. We have already got government’s approval on this proposal.”

He wishes that ‘Tripureshwari Tea’ would gain its place in the regional and national tea markets and create a niche for itself like ‘Assam Tea’ or ‘Darjeeling Tea’.

Originated at Hiracherra tea estate in present Unakoti district, Tripura’s tea industry dates back to 1916. Even after a century, tea from the state had to depend on auction centres in West Bengal and Assam. Further more, with no banner for its produce, the tea was smuggled in bulks into Bangladesh and sold under other brands.

In the meantime, the TTDC has already started working on setting up an auction centre at Agartala and start competitive bidding to take the state’s tea produce at par with those sold at Kolkata or Guwahati based auction centres.

Mr Saha added that branding as ‘Tripureshwari Tea’ will help in creating its market across India and beyond. He said, “We have proposed to sell our tea at Srimangal auction market in Bangladesh. It will cut down on the cost to send tea to different states and also give us a potential market. The proposal is now being considered by the governments of India and Bangladesh.”

Saha also informed that tea tourist circuits would be made centring tea gardens in west Tripura and north Tripura districts.

Currently, Tripura has 58 operational tea estates, among which three are run by the TTDC, 13 are operated under cooperative societies and 42 are individually owned. Also, almost 3,000 small tea growers also run their small tea estates with government support. According to government estimates, there are 6,885 hectare land area which is under tea cultivation in the state, out of which 3.58 crore kilograms green tea leaf is produced annually.

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