Guwahati: The Jorhat Tea Auction Centre in Assam, managed by mjunction services limited, India’s largest B2B e-commerce company, plans to offer bigger quantities and introduce key value additions.
The platform, which was launched during the pandemic in May 2020, has brought Assam tea closer to medium and small buyers across the country. More than 100 buyers across the country have benefited from the platform.
Company sources say buyer finance has already been put in place and seller finance at a very competitive return on investment would be rolled out as the new season begins.
“Logistics support to buyers is another attraction planned out soon,” a source said.
What makes Assam tea so special?
In a statement issued by the company, mjunction MD Vinaya Varma said, “This year, we plan to offer bigger quantities and introduce key value additions. These could include technical know-how to blend for tea start-ups and easy finance and logistics for buyers.”
The platform, which was launched amid the pandemic in collaboration with the Tea Board of India, braved the complexities and business challenges to bring about a sea change in the trade, especially for small buyers.
Convenience and ease of operations have drawn a large number of medium and small buyers to this platform. “Sales have improved with each weekly sale, and in Q3 of FY22, the platform sold more than 1.2 lakh kg of tea to this segment of buyers,” the company says.
“By FY 23 we plan to onboard more than 300 buyers to our platform. We have plans to offer more than 15 million kgs of teas in FY23,” company sources say.
Any buyer with a valid Tea Board licence can login to register. After registration, the company reaches out to these buyers promptly and arranges for demonstrations and provides any other support that may be needed.
Rs 1 lakh for a kilo: This Assam tea is India’s most expensive
“With digital platforms fast overtaking traditional buying and selling, even more so because of the pandemic, both sellers and buyers are using the junction e-marketplace that offers fresh tea, quick turnaround, transparent finance and logistics support. All major transporters, tea buyers and tea factories of Upper Assam are enlisted on the platform,” Varma added.
The best orthodox tea price fetched has been Rs 4000 a kg, while the best CTC tea price has been Rs 510. The best price for green tea has been Rs 1000 a kg.
“The present warehouse at Jorhat can handle 1.5 million kg of tea at any given point of time. Once volume increases, we would increase capacity by way of expansion and satellite warehouses,” sources said.
“We hope that by 2024 we can break even.”
Darjeeling tea is calming and relaxing, Japanese research finds