Guwahati, Dec. 26: Small tea growers of the Northeast can now get a fair price with an Assam tea portal agreeing to provide them a platform.
The e-commerce marketplace TeaOrb Services, headquartered in Guwahati, now has registered suppliers (small tea manufacturers) not only from all tea-growing districts of Assam but also from Arunachal Pradesh.
"We endeavour to promote hand-rolled teas, dheki (mortar and pestle) teas and phalap (tea of Singphos) apart from CTC, orthodox and Oolong teas. The idea was to offer them remunerative prices to enable them to pay higher wages to workers. One has to subscribe if they wish to participate in the venture," Bahniman Kakati, co-founder of TeaOrb Services, said.
For example, dheki tea has been procured from the Kingly group of small tea growers of Darrang. It is prepared by pounding tea leaves in a dheki - a big pestle. It is a traditional process of making tea which is almost similar to CTC but the difference lies in its taste and appearance. "Its taste is smoky and it has a mild earthy note," Kakati said.
The concept was shared with the Tea Board of India office in Guwahati, which gave support, and the company presented it to small tea growers in a workshop in March last year. Another presentation was made at a second workshop on market sourcing of organic tea, organised by the Tea Board in January. More interest was generated before the venture became a reality.
"The organised sector includes more than 800 tea gardens in Assam. But the problem is with the unorganised sector, which goes unnoticed in the competition due to low visibility and other problems. We are giving shape to the unorganised sector and trying to create a niche market for small tea manufacturers," he said. The company will be exploring Meghalaya and Nagaland in future. The other founder is Jayanta Kakati, former secretary, Guwahati Tea Auction Centre.
Tea-tasting of some samples sent by small growers was carried out by a leading tea-broking house. The small growers send their product in small quantities, which helps retain the freshness.
Small tea growers in Assam contribute 33 per cent of the total tea production. Cultivators with an area up to 10.12 hectares are considered small growers.
