Growth brew

Calcutta, Oct. 5: Tata Tea is expanding in the US by widening the reach of its American brands and launching Indian flavoured tea bags.

Tata Tea had acquired Good Earth Tea Corporation of the US in 2005.

It plans to launch the Good Earth brand in the eastern parts of the country. “Good Earth Teas are a specialty herbal and green tea company, but we are launching the Good Earth organic coffee first,” said Sangeeta Talwar, executive director (marketing), Tata Tea.

The Tatas will take Eight ’ Clock Coffee, its other US acquisition, made in 2006, to the western parts of the country.

One-hundred-and-fifty year-old Eight ’Clock Coffee is the largest branded player in the bean coffee business in the US.

Since 2006, Tata Tea has been concentrating on building synergies between its tea and coffee operations in the US.

This not only involves cross-utilisation of distribution channels but also product development and co-ordination.

Talwar said Indian-tea-flavoured bags had been launched in the US.

The plan is to leverage the distribution channels of the American brands and Tetley. The UK’s Tetley is a Tata Tea company and sold in the US.

Other plans

Tata Tea is exploring ways to enter the Russian market. “We are looking at launching our brand in Russia and are most likely to do so with an acquisition or a joint venture,” Talwar said.

The company is planning to test market iced teas, as part of its plans to foray into the ready-to-drink market in India. If the upward trend in inflation continues, the company will be forced to hike the price of packaged tea, Talwar said.