Premium brew Darjeeling tea falls 28% YoY

Kolkata: Prices of premium second-flush Darjeeling teas have plummeted by 28 per cent year on year as Japanese tea bag manufacturers have stayed away from Darjeeling tea. Also, less demand from Germany has also impacted prices of the premium brew.

The second-flush tea, which is a revenue earner for the Darjeeling tea industry, has been auctioned at a price of Rs 403.92 per kg this week, compared with Rs 560.56 per kg a year ago.

While prices remain a concern for the trade, heavy rainfall in July may affect its production as well. The 87 tea estates in Darjeeling annually produce around 8.5 million kg of tea.

“The four-month agitation in the hills by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) in 2017 that crippled tea operations is now being felt. The tea bag makers from Japan have moved away from Darjeeling tea and are sourcing teas from other countries,” said Binod Mohan, chairman, Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA).

Industry executives said that Japanese buyers became jittery after supplies dried up in 2017 following the agitation. They still believe that production in Darjeeling may again suffer some kind of a setback, so they have started sourcing tea from other countries.

The DTA chairman admitted that demand from Germany is less this year as some planters attributed the reason to Germany stocking up last year, which is why it isn’t buying more this year.

“First flush teas had fetched lesser prices this year. We were hoping that the second flush will get higher prices, but to our dismay, second flush prices too have fallen,” Mohan said. He also pointed out that the domestic demand for Darjeeling tea this year is not showing any significant increase.