Oct 22, 2020
Darjeeling tea demand has gone down 80-90% year-on-year partly because the Covid-19 pandemic has put a stop to the evening tea parties in the upscale locales of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata said retailers. At the same time, the common black tea from Assam and Dooars has seen an uptick in domestic consumption.
While Darjeeling tea sells for Rs.1,000-1,200 per kg, the common black tea costs Rs. 250-400. This also explains the slide in Darjeeling tea sales at a time when many people have cut back on discretionary consumption.
Tea lounges and cafes have not started functioning fully across the country, which too has impacted the consumption of Darjeeling tea in the domestic market. Disruption in the supply chain is also a reason for the drop in domestic consumption of Darjeeling tea, Also a section of the middle class had developed a taste for Darjeeling tea over the years, not for daily usage but for occasional purposes, according to Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA). Economic insecurity is keeping this section away from Darjeeling tea. Also, the smaller tea shops which used to sell Darjeeling tea have not opened up yet, affecting the availability of this premium brew.
Production of Darjeeling tea has also taken a beating this year, down 20-25% from last year’s level of 7.8 million kg, and experts are also saying that the closure of gardens in 2017 for four months impacted production in the last three years. They say production will be back to 8.5 million kg by next year.
Not only domestic consumption, but exports of Darjeeling tea have also declined 18-20% this year. The first flush teas could not be shipped as the lockdown was announced due to the outbreak of Covid-19. The situation has not improved much for the second flush teas either. Nearly 60% of Darjeeling tea is exported to the world markets, mainly to Europe and Japan. The US and China picks up Darjeeling teas in small quantities.
Also the European markets the tea boutiques that sell Darjeeling teas have not fully opened up.