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Calcutta, June 27: Orimi Tea Trade, the largest Russian tea importer, is in India to explore the possibilities of picking up substantial volumes of the beverage.

Russia had been the major destination of Indian tea till late nineties, before it faced a severe competition from the Ceylonese tea. Russians also raised questions on the quality of Indian tea.

Indian Tea Association (ITA) deputy secretary Sujit Patra said, “In the early ’90s, some fly-by-night operators became active and sent poor-quality tea to Russia. But the recent visit by Orimi officials and an earlier one by an eight-member delegation have raised hopes of the industry. We expect that exports to Russia will witness a quantum leap in the current season and in the years to come.”

The Orimi Tea officials are visiting the gardens of big tea companies in Assam and Darjeeling, including Eveready, George Williamson, Goodricke, Warren, Tata Tea and Assam Company. At present, Orimi Tea is the leader of the Russian tea market. The company procures tea from Ceylon, India, Indonesia, China, Kenya and Vietnam.

According to the Russian tea trading community, around 30 per cent of all tea sales in Russia fall under the Princess Noori, Princess Gita, Princess Kandy and Princess Java brands, signifying that each third cup of tea in Russia is produced by Orimi Tea.

Patra said the Russian tea importers are eager to know about the quality of Indian tea.

“Once they are convinced about the quality, the image of Indian tea in Russia will get a boost. The eight-member delegation which came down earlier had a tea taster on its team.”

In 2003, the ITA had taken a delegation to Russia to improve trade between the two countries.

The tea companies in Russia had assured help in promoting Indian tea in their country.

In the early ’90s, Russia used to import 100 million kg of Indian tea. The exports dwindled to 60 million kg in the last few years.

The annual volume of the Russian tea market in 2003 has grown. It has demonstrated persistent increase in volume by 3 per cent and in terms of value by 7 per cent.

The source of the growth is an increase in the income level of the population and development of retail chains.

The average annual per capita tea consumption in Russia is one kg. Around 95 per cent of Russians drink tea.

The average Russian drinks three cups of hot beverages daily, with half of the population drinking two cups of tea and one cup of coffee.