STC launches 'Tohfa' tea in Gujarat through FPS

The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd. (STC), a Government of India undertaking, launched its 'Tohfa' brand of tea through the Gujarat State Civil Supplies Corporation (GSCSC) here on Monday. GSCSC will market the product through 2000 fair price shops (FPS) in Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Rajkot.

The tea is priced at Rs 30 for a 250-gm pouch. The tea leaves are manufactured at the company's facility in Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu.

"We source tea leaves from nearly 900 farmers and process and blend it at our leased facility in Nilgiris," STC CMD Arvind Pandalai told reporters here.

He added that they wished to protect the marginal tea farmers from the clutches of "of domestic unorganised tea processors who have been exploiting them till now."

Initially, GSCSC has ordered three truckloads of tea (7-10 million tonnes each) for the three cities.

Gujarat State Civil Supplies Department Principal Secretary S K Nanda said that 'Tohfa' is priced lower than several brands currently available in the market. The brand will soon be made available in other districts of the state as well.