GUWAHATI: Consumption of tea in the Northeast, a prime tea growing belt, along with eastern India is lower than northern and western parts of the country, a study on domestic tea consumption trends commissioned by the Tea Board of India revealed.
“Tea consumption in India is skewed towards the northern and western parts of the country with the contribution from the northern states and western states accounting for 32 per cent and 31 per cent respectively. The relatively low consumption belts of East (including North East) accounts for 19 per cent while the southern states contribute towards 18 per cent of the total domestic consumption,” the study said.
The study was undertaken to understand the consumption trends and purchase behaviour of consumers in the Indian tea market, which could be used as inputs for formulation of a domestic promotion strategy.
The Board had engaged a private consultant, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP to conduct the study last year.
The findings also suggest that while there has been an increase in per capita consumption compared to that estimated in the last survey, conducted in 2007, the overall per capita consumption figures seem to be low when compared to global benchmarks.
Close to 88 per cent of the total households (based on the samples in the survey) in India have reported consumption of tea.
“Within the potential tea drinkers within a household, the penetration of tea is around 96 per cent. Overall around 64 per cent of the total population in India is the tea drinking population,” it said.
The study found that the awareness levels of Assam tea is highest across India followed by Darjeeling tea. “Assam tea and Darjeeling tea are the most recognized tea by place of origin. Awareness about origin of tea is correlated with the proximity of the states with the producing region. As a result, awareness about Darjeeling tea is high in East while awareness about Nilgiri tea is high in the South,” it said.
“Green tea is fast becoming a popular drink across age due to its perceived health benefits, and is fast becoming one of the popular products in the health and wellness segment. The awareness levels are especially high in the metro cities or in regions where non-milk tea consumption is more than national average,” it added.
The study also revealed that consumption of tea varies with seasonality and increases during winters and festive occasions across the country by and large.
Besides, the study also pointed out that close to 80 per cent of the households in urban India and around 75 per cent of the households in rural India have shifted to buying packet tea.
“The driving force behind the transition can be linked to consumers preferring packet tea because of its perceived quality and better storage options. The proportion of loose tea is comparatively higher in the eastern and central states compared to the rest of the country,” it said.