KOLKATA: The year 2014 is expected to be a good one for the Darjeeling tea industry. EU is expected to pick up more tea from India as it has to offload its entire inventory of the so called 'Darjeeling tea' and start procuring 100% fresh Darjeeling tea to serve its customers. In 2011, European Commission has registered Darjeeling tea as a Protected Geographic Indication (PGI) product — the first commodity from India to get such a tag.
The status indicates that the tea produced only in Darjeeling can be sold as Darjeeling tea in the European Union countries. Along with this, a section of blenders selling the brew with a certain percentage of the commodity as Darjeeling tea was given a five-year time to shift to the new business. "Darjeeling tea has a shelf life of three years.
If EU has to sell pure Darjeeling tea from 2016, it will have to start buying tea from this year. EU blenders are expected to offload their inventory this year and start buying fresh stock," said Sheo Sankar Bagaria, chairman, Darjeeling Tea Association. Till date, some blenders in the EU countries generally mix 49% of any tea with 51% of Darjeeling tea and still sell it as Darjeeling tea.
The EU notification came into effect from November 10, 2011. However, the blenders were handed out a caveat in the sense that only those people whose products were in the market five years before October 14, 2009, could continue selling their blended product as Darjeeling tea for the next five years. At present, EU imports nearly 3-4 million kg of Darjeeling tea, which accounts for nearly 60% of Darjeeling's tea export.
The 87-odd tea gardens in Darjeeling produce around 9 million kg of made tea annually. The EU buying this year will come as a major respite for the Darjeeling tea industry as 2013 has not been a very good year for Darjeeling tea. While quality of teas suffered due to heavy rains, a number of export orders were cancelled due to the Gorkhaland Janmukti Morcha agitation in the hills.
Source:indiatimes
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| In 2011, European Commission has registered Darjeeling tea as a Protected Geographic Indication (PGI) product — the first commodity from India to get such a tag. The status indicates that the tea produced only in Darjeeling can be sold as Darjeeling tea in the European Union countries. |
If EU has to sell pure Darjeeling tea from 2016, it will have to start buying tea from this year. EU blenders are expected to offload their inventory this year and start buying fresh stock," said Sheo Sankar Bagaria, chairman, Darjeeling Tea Association. Till date, some blenders in the EU countries generally mix 49% of any tea with 51% of Darjeeling tea and still sell it as Darjeeling tea.
The EU notification came into effect from November 10, 2011. However, the blenders were handed out a caveat in the sense that only those people whose products were in the market five years before October 14, 2009, could continue selling their blended product as Darjeeling tea for the next five years. At present, EU imports nearly 3-4 million kg of Darjeeling tea, which accounts for nearly 60% of Darjeeling's tea export.
The 87-odd tea gardens in Darjeeling produce around 9 million kg of made tea annually. The EU buying this year will come as a major respite for the Darjeeling tea industry as 2013 has not been a very good year for Darjeeling tea. While quality of teas suffered due to heavy rains, a number of export orders were cancelled due to the Gorkhaland Janmukti Morcha agitation in the hills.
Source:indiatimes
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