Jorhat, Oct. 3: Assam's traditional handmade organic tea has received tremendous response at the ongoing World Tea and Coffee Expo, 2015 at Mumbai, with buyers, both from India and abroad, showing keen interest in this unique variety of tea.

This is the first time that handmade organic tea has been displayed at the expo, an initiative of the Tea Board.

Already 15kg of tea, which was displayed at the stall, was sold as samples in the two days of the expo, which began at Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon, from October 1.

While a kilogram of special superfine organic green tea sold at Rs 6,000, normal organic green tea was sold at Rs 3,000 per kg.

"We are getting a very good response from the buyers. Several Indian brokers have ordered our tea for next year. International buyers from Thailand and Canada have also booked our tea," Bhabendra Mohan Borgohain, secretary of the Organic Small Tea Growers Association, told The Telegraph over phone from Mumbai today.

Three members of the Association, Borgohain, working president Debandra Gogoi and vice-president Dilip Gogoi have been taking part in the expo, where 25 brands of organic tea from Assam have been displayed.

Borgohain said such has been the response from buyers that the organisers asked him to deliver a special lecture on handmade organic tea from Assam. "I was privileged to deliver a talk on handmade organic tea from Assam, where I briefed the audience about the process of making this particular variety," he said.

No chemicals are used in the plantations and local machines are used to produce this particular variety of tea, which has been exported to several countries for years but in small amounts as lack of proper marketing has failed to attract more buyers. At present, the association has 45 members involved in making handmade tea.

Handmade tea fetches between Rs 1,200 and Rs 2,000 per kg in the domestic market and up to Rs 3,000 when exported. Hence, the association, with support from Tea Board of India, has been promoting organic tea production in Assam. Borgohain said organic small tea growers have been looking for such a platform to advertise their product and were "thrilled to receive such a good response".

"It was because of lack of proper marketing that we are not being able to sell our product. Displaying our product at an international platform where buyers from all over the world are taking part has made our dream come true," Borgohain said.

He said going by the response from the buyers, organic small tea growers from Assam would be able to do brisk business in future. "A few Indian brokers have assured they will export the product from next year," he said. Participants from eight countries and visitors from over 10 countries are participating in the expo.