Guwahati, May 2: The Tea Board of India will carry out a study to determine domestic consumption of tea to draw a specific strategy to promote sales in the segment.

Though the Indian tea industry is the second largest producer in the world, more than 80 per cent of the tea is consumed domestically.

The board says the consumption of tea varies from state to state and Union Territories in terms of quantity, preference of tea and others. The pattern also differs from urban to rural areas.

The consumption is also attributable to lifestyle changes, disposable income, health benefits of consumption and others.

The board is looking for organisations to conduct the study and they should have experience and understanding of the Indian tea sector, designing promotion strategy and market assessment.

Tea consumption per capita in India is 800gm whereas the highest is Turkey (3.14kg) followed by Afghanistan with 2.44kg.

"A survey on domestic consumption of tea is necessary in order to formulate the future production plans to align with the domestic demand and boost consumption," the board said.

The board in its 2015-16 annual report said though per capita consumption in the country is lower here as compared to other countries, because of its population, tea consumption in the country accounts for 19 per cent of global consumption. This distinct position is in sharp contrast to other tea-producing countries, particularly Kenya and Sri Lanka, which hardly have any strong demand and hence they are able to export most of their production.

The study will capture through questionnaires key consumption patterns like penetration level at household (male/female, age, education, income, time of drinking, intake (specifying size) per day, preferred habits (hot/cold, liquor, flavour, masala-spices, with/without milk, sugar) and intake/preference of other beverages, including health drinks vis-à-vis tea.

Besides, it will also find out what kind of tea is being consumed (black/green, orthodox/CTC dust), price share of tea in total household budget, frequency and quantity of purchase (da-ily/weekly/monthly).

It also intends to find out the factors (including health benefits) influencing tea drinking, institutional consumption and source of purchase (local market or direct seller).

The study will also carry out research to benchmark tea consumption patterns of India with major tea consuming countries and understand the interplay of different factors affecting the tea-price movement.

It will suggest key interventions required by the Tea Board to ensure demand-supply match with increase in domestic demand for tea.