Guwahati: The tea industry must use its legacy of 200 years but not depend on it for the future, Harish Bijoor said. Speaking at the Bi-centenary Assam Tea International Conference 2024(BATIC 2024) held here to celebrate 200 years of Assam tea, Harish Bijoor, who has had a long tea career and is now a Business & Brand-strategy specialist & Founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc emphasised a forward-looking approach for Assam tea’s bicentennial celebration.
Rather than dwelling on its heritage, he urged a mindset shift towards innovation, recognising the youth-driven market.
“Assam Tea is 200 years young and not old. “Two hundred years gives us heritage and lineage. Keep that as a status, but don’t think old. Think young. The market is young. We have only taken the early baby steps in the evolution of this industry,” he said.
Bijoor had worked for 16 years across Tata and Unilever.
He said one needs to look differently, at the tea industry of India. “The way we look at tea needs to change. We need to build a perspective and narrative for the next 200 years, with Assam Tea as a lead player, along with its cousins from West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka in tow. If Indian Tea needs to lead in the world of consumption, we need to take different steps. Different from what we took in the last 200 years,” he said.
“Tea today stands tall in the hall of fame of beverages worldwide. A staple beverage of choice is defined as a beverage that grows on a plant and is as natural as it comes. A beverage that is not made in a laboratory. A beverage that is not a concoction of artificial additives and flavours. A beverage that is green and as wholesome as every dried, processed and cut leaf is,” he added.
“This industry today offers largely commodity value realizations. We need to aim at higher-end realisations that climb the value chain of being a deeply-dependent commodity ( a quasi-brand status of commodity)for International blends. We need to climb higher still, by offering value-added brands and big consumer brand propositions,” he said.
“We need to attain the status of a cult beverage for the young, craved for across the world. A business plan for the industry to morph its approach to the market altogether. It is time to up the ante on price realizations and margins and tap the great big consumer market out there,” he said.
He said the consumer of tea is changing rapidly. “It is time to understand him, her and them correctly and within precision and ahead of the curve,” he said.
There are three avatars of Tea. There is the solid ( the leaf), the liquid (the brew) and the gas( the zany beverage consumption micro-movements that are new and fashionable). “Assam tea has focused on the solid with great passion and perfection. It has focused on the liquid at the back end of production, but not enough at the front end of consumption. As for the gas, I do believe there are miles to go before the tea industry sleeps with satisfaction,” he added.
“The generations of consumers of tea have changed, but tea has not. The evergreen ability of tea has been taken for granted. Tea quality has been taken for granted, just as consumer consumption patterns have been. It is time to sit up and smell the tea. The Gen Z is well-nigh done and dusted. The Millennials are a rage, but the Alpha Gen ahead is the future. The tea industry needs to gear itself up to the needs of this new generation. A generation that is turning consumption formats into a tumult. Tea must be able to live up to this expectation and deliver,” he said.
Tea’s biggest competitor? Water
Bijoor’s big concern is the way the tea industry defines its competition. “The competition for Indian tea is not China tea, Sri Lanka tea or Nepal tea. The competition of tea is not tea at all. The future competition of tea is water. The beverage with the biggest draw and the biggest positive. If tea can think this, if tea can position itself to be that “infused water” of choice, it can win. The bleeding-edge youngsters of today are shunning tea altogether. They shun the milk and even more so shun the sugar,” he said.
“Water is the one drink that has the largest bladder share. But plain water is boring. Tea-infused waters are an opportunity. People will want to drink more and more water than even now. Therefore, it is a competition to tea,” he said.
“Tea in India today is all about milk and water and sugar and tea boiled together. Milk and sugar are maskers of the taste of tea. If tea must stand out in the long run, it needs to think of itself as not a flavoured milk and sugar concoction. Instead, the big and powerful route is that of being an infused water. A “water additive”, an “enhanced water”. A healthier option even. It’s time to reposition tea as tea in India and indeed across the world,” Harish Bijoor added.
“Indian tea is good at the volume end of the game, and not at the niche end. The market today is turning into a niche. Consumers across the world are going niche. There is a craving for difference. There is a craving for the small plantation produce and the product with a story attached. That estate team that talks of being plot-specific and specific to the type of soil, flora and fauna is making a big hit in terms of premiums. Consumers are looking for the new. Tea must not get lost in the woods of old,” he said.
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“There are 64 tea-producing origins in the world. China leads and India follows. It is time to up the game and Assam tea is best placed to do this. Starting today, the 201st birthday of Assam Tea,” Harish Bijoor said.
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