| Tea selling for less than Rs 145 per kilogram, classified as the economy segment, constitutes nearly 62 per cent of the Rs 6,200 crore Indian market. And Agni is Tata Tea's lone offering in the market dominated smaller unorganised players. |
| According to Percy Siganporia, managing director, the renewed marketing efforts would help the company double its market share in the economy segment to 10 per cent in a year. |
| The product has been rebranded as Tata Tea Agni and the company claimed that it had changed the blend of the tea to offer better value to the consumer. |
| "We felt that the brand equity of Tata Tea had not been leveraged well in several key markets. With the re-launch we would now have a strong presence in all categories," said Siganporia. |
| "Our market research showed that within the economy segment consumers were willing to pay a Rs 5 premium for a product that is superior in quality and has a certain aspirational value attached to it," said Sangeeta Talwar, executive director (marketing) Tata Tea. |
| In the 300,000 tonne per annum branded tea market, the share of the economy segment has been growing consistently at the cost of the mid-market segment. |
| Currently, the company's core strength lies in the mid-market segment where it has a share of nearly 45 per cent through its flagship brand Tata Tea Premium. |
| "The mid-market is facing a decline as it is getting squeezed because of downtrading at the lower end, and consumers upgrading to super premium teas at the top end. Agni would help us to become a dominant player in the economy segment," Siganporia said. |
| Tata Tea is facing greater competition now from its rival Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) as it realigned its tea business recently with the economy products sold under the Lipton brandname while marketing its higher end teas under Brooke Bond. Lipton Taaza is the leading branded player in the economy segment. |
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