Darjeeling tea hascharmed the hearts of its admirers across the world but it seems to have lost thepecuniary charm, as more than 10 per cent of the 87 estates in the “Queen of the Hills” are up for sale.

Estate owners claim that the Darjeeling tea industry had been grappling to survive for quite a few years now. But the 104-day strike in the hills in 2017 by the GorkhaJanmuktiMorcha (GJM) for a separate state of Gorkhaland, followed by months of lockdown in March 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak proved to be the last nail in the coffin for most garden owners.

However,the recent acquisition of the tea gardens of Jungpana and Goomteeas well as the remodeling of the Selim Hill tea estate proves that Darjeeling tea, also known as the “Champagne of teas”, stillhas a stronghold over its connoisseurs.

“It was a battle between the heart andmind where the former won. Everyone knows that this investment has no financial logic. Viability of the Darjeeling tea gardens aredefinitely in question, given, the current situation and outlook, “ said AngshumanKanoria, who recently bought the coveted Darjeeling tea estates of Jungpana and Goomtee. He added that his career as a tea exporter began with Darjeeling and the industry has always identified him with Darjeeling, although 95 per cent of his current business comprises of Assam tea.

Kanoria, who also owns theTindhariaestate in Darjeeling,claims,“In any given year we roughly purchased almost 40 per cent of the produce of these two gardens. It goes without saying that Jungpana is the Louis Vuitton of Darjeeling tea, although the quality has deteriorated lately.” At present, Jungpana produces about 65,000 kg annually while Goomtee yields 75,000 kg.

KaushalDugar, Founder of Teabox, had a similar opinion, “ Over the course of the last 3-4 years, we have found the quality of Jungpana rather dwindling. It lacked somewhat in the distinctive muscatel taste and texture for which Jungpana was renowned. Although climatic patterns are somewhat to blame, we have seen some other estates make good quality teas despite the inclement weather conditions.

“Goomtee on the other hand has been able to make comparatively better teas over the prime flushing seasons of Spring and Summer in the last few years.  This year, however, has been a kind of a whirlwind for Goomteetoo with Spring being good whilst Summer witnessing a downtrend owing to uncertain conditions because of Covid.”

Another tea estatewhich has a similar survival story, owing to the emotional bondingwithayoung fourth-generation owner, is the Selim Hill Tea Estate.

Sparsh Agarwal, a former student of political science and international relations at the Ashoka University had juststartedworking in New Delhi, when his family decided to sell off their Darjeeling tea estate. However, Agarwal’s strong attachment with his childhood memories at the family gardenled him to convince his family to offer him a final chance to save the estate.

“My great grandfather had bought this garden 30 years ago. I know all the people here as well as every nook and corner of the garden. But we needed to find a way to support the estate financially and when my friends heard about this crisis they came forward to help as I cannot do this alone,”said Sparsh Agarwal of the Selim Hill Tea Estate. Heonboarded his friend Ishaan Kanoria, who waspreviously an investment banker, as the co-founder of his tea brand- Dorje teas.At present, the estate produces around 60,000 kg in a year.

Factors Affecting the Tea Gardens

Darjeeling teagarden owners cite climate change as the major concern for the slide in yields. Reports show a dip in production from around 8.5 million kg of made tea in 2019-20 to 6.5 million kg of made tea for 2020-21, decline in imports from 4.2 million kg in 2019-20 to 3.1 million kg in 2020-21along with a stagnant price.

“Extreme bouts of heavy rainfall in Darjeeling during the second flush harvest and rising temperatures during the first flush harvest severely affects production and unless this challenge is addressed immediately, we will only see a rise in problems,” opines Kanoria.

To add to these woes,labourabsenteeism, is at 40 per cent in Darjeeling which also led to lower production.

“Over the last decade, the Darjeeling tea industry has been going through tough times and 2020 was one of the years which saw a record drop in tea production in the region. In spite of this massive drop in production, there was hardly any demand for Darjeeling teas primarily owing to Covid-induced lockdowns in destination markets. The region got affected badly in 2017 owing to the Gorkhaland agitation whereby there was no production for a period of almost 3 months and many European buyers shifted their preference to Nepal teas. This was a big loss to the industry, which is still being felt. So, the political situation needs to stabilize,” states Dugar.

“When I had bought Jungpana and Goomtee in 2018, I had big plans for it. In fact, I had even focused on developing tea tourism in both the gardens but then the pandemic hit us andit became financially unviable to maintain these high cost gardens,” expressed Sanjay Agarwal, former owner of Jungpana and Goomtee Tea Estates, and Managing Director of Kacharigaon Tea Estate in Assam.

Survival Strategy: Focus on Marketing

Tea industry veterans believe that a brand new way of marketing is the way ahead for Darjeeling tea estates. Although most Darjeeling gardens make quality teas yet where they lag is exposure to newer markets and lack of adequate marketing.

“With the majority of EU markets closing down through most of last year owing to  lockdowns, the Darjeeling industry really struggled last year. There is a desperate need to identify and promote Darjeeling teas in newer, upcoming markets coupled with marketing that is in tune with the new-age millennial generation. Consumers nowadays are looking to experience tea in brand new ways.

“The estates need to drive engagement with this new, younger audience, educate them about the different varieties of teas and in a way, make them realise the intrinsic value and joy of drinking single-estate speciality teas. India in itself is such an upcoming market for Darjeeling teas. With the right messaging and customer interactions, there is so much that can be done in this “Chai”-loving country of ours,” articulates Dugar, CEO of Teabox, an e-commerce company that is disrupting the tea industry with its innovations in technology and the supply chain.

Meanwhile, Sparsh Agarwal, who is also the Founder of Dorje teas, have begun penetrating the vast Indian audience with it’s subscription model.This model offersseasonal harvests of spring (first flush), summer (second flush), monsoon (third flush) and autumn (fourth flush) directly from the Selim Hill Tea Estate.

Most Darjeeling estates export the majority of theirfirst and second flush produce while the monsoon and autumn flush fail tocompete with the first two flushes in terms of prices and hence are sold in the domestic market.

“The Darjeeling tea industry publicly says that monsoon and autumn flush teas are of lower quality but in reality, all four flushes have their unique characters in terms of aroma andflavour. The monsoon flush tea ranks the lowest because of its unique bold colour and smoky flavour. One can even add a drop of milk to it,” expressedAgarwal.

“Hence our subscription model allows consumers to book their annual supply of tea and we pledge to deliver farm fresh teas at their doorstep. As soon as an order isplaced, we roast the tea leaves, pack and ship it. This Is how we trybalancingout the prices as the third and autumn flush arecheaperthan the first and second flush.

“The annual subscription starts at Rs 2,100 per kg, where the customergets 250 g each of the four flushes,” explained Agarwal.

At present, Dorje Teas, which was launched in June this year,has a subscriber base of 600 and their goal is to onboard atleast 50,000 subscribers in the next two years. In addition, Dorje teas have laid out an extremely active social media strategy and have created a tea community to keep them engaged with the daily life of the tea garden.

A new roadmap is also being charted by AngshumanKanoria, the new owner of Jungpana and Goomtee tea gardens. “Although my first focus will be to restore discipline in the gardens yet what is actually required for these gardens is great marketing.

“Marketing wasn’t the forte of any of the previous owners of thesepremium gardens. Hence, despite producing some of the best teas and having a dedicated client base they couldn’t recover the high production cost which is anywhere between Rs 700-900 a kg. Now, I will use my marketing to knowledge to add the value these teas deserve,” said Kanoria, who is also the Chairman of Indian Tea Exporters Association (ITEA).