Cha Thé Tea

Indrani Dutta

Plans to open outlets across the country in the next five to seven years

OF A NEW KIND: A view of a Tata Tea ‘Chai Unchai’ outlet in IIM Bangalore campus.

KOLKATA: Tata Tea is eyeing the retail sector which has the potential to become a large business, Executive Director Sangeeta Talwar said here on Saturday.

Talking to The Hindu, Ms. Talwar said: “We want to make it a large business for Tata Tea — it has that potential and the FMCG market is large.” Tata Tea had ended 2006-07 with a total income of Rs. 1,146 crore.

At present, the company, which is trying to derisk its business by scaling down its exposure to plantations, is testing the waters by marking a presence in the ‘out-of-home’ segment. It has already opened outlets in Bangalore called ‘Chai Unchai’, including the one in IIM Bangalore.

Unique retail space

“Within four to five years, we will become a leader by the number of shops,” Ms. Talwar said, adding that these shops, which were positioned in between the roadside tea stalls and the upmarket coffee-chains, would sell freshly-made tea at prices starting from Rs. 17 with variants like teabags and other mixed flavours. Coffee too would be available at these stores which can walk! That is, they can be dismantled and taken from place-to-place depending on the demand generated by a particular location. Ms. Talwar said the outlets had been crafted as a unique retail space, which connected with youth in an exciting and differentiated manner. The outlets offered tea and non-tea beverages with a range of snacks. Research conducted by the company showed that this segment had a huge opportunity.

Tata Tea plans to open outlets across the country in the next five to seven years and attain the market leadership position in this segment. These outlets will be opened at strategic locations in shopping malls, colleges, university campuses and public places.

Tata Tea has five major tea brands and is now the largest tea company in volume. With the acquisition of the Tetley Group in 2000, the combined entity now represents the second largest global branded tea operation with product presence in more than 40 countries. The current business interests include branded tea and tea extract business.

Tata Tea Inc., a subsidiary company in the U.S., is involved in marketing and value addition of tea extracts.