Assam tea industry sees potential in Patanjali to make green tea popular

Baba Ramdev has said that he felt green tea was good for health and the company had undertaken steps for research on green tea

With Patanjali Ayurved Limited (PAL) taking up research work to find out the health benefits of green tea, Assam tea industry is of the view that if Patanjali sources and markets such teas under its label, it would give a fillip to production of speciality teas in the state and provide much-needed market linkages to the small tea growers. 

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev had said on Sunday that PAL had not given much thought on black tea (CTC and orthodox teas) but felt green tea was good for health and the company had undertaken steps for research on green tea. 

“Patanjali is into fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector in a big way. Selling speciality teas produced in Assam such as green tea, green CTC (crush, tear, curl) tea, white tea etc. under Patanjali label will help create demand for such good-for-health teas in the market and in turn will help small tea growers of Assam,” said Bidyananda Barkakoty, advisor to North Eastern Tea Association (NETA). 

The state’s tea industry is all set to meet Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna this month to take up the matter with him. The tea industry would make available to the duo the various researches already made worldwide which prove the health benefits of drinking tea. The tea industry would also request the Tea Research Association to do an in-depth study on health benefit of tea. 

More than 100 small tea growers in Assam are producing speciality teas like green tea, white tea, handcrafted tea, organic tea, traditional tea etc. They are doing it at the cottage industry level and some of them have also been able to export their teas. However, many of them are finding difficulty in marketing their teas. The present production of such teas in the state is around 5 lakh kg annually. 

Assam mainly produces CTC tea and 90% of Assam’s production is black tea. But by using new technologies, some producers have started producing green CTC tea of late as demand for such teas has been on a rise among the health-conscious customers. 

The tea industry is also of the view that with China venturing into producing CTC tea in large scale, Assam tea had a serious competitor in the international market. To withstand such competition, the answer would be in diversification and creating a demand for such good-for-health teas in the market. Though the demand for such teas in the international market is on the rise, the tea industry feels, the Patanjali label could be the answer for creating the demand in the domestic market. 

“There is a big potential market for speciality teas in India. The Assam Agricultural University has come forward to provide the technical know-how to the small tea growers willing to produce speciality teas. The marketing side could get a fillip if Patanjali comes into the scene,” added Barkakoty. 

Baba Ramdev on Saturday attended a ceremony where Assam chief minister laid the foundation stone of Rs 1,300 crore Patanjali Herbal and Mega Food Park at Balipara in Sonitpur district. The food park would give direct employment to 5,000 people and benefit 1 lakh farmers.