IITI Commodity Project

Commodity - TEA

Presented By:
B65 - B75
 Introduction
• Tea origins – China (4th century AD).
• 350 A.D. Kuo P’o’ – described tea as, “a
beverage made from boiled leaves.”
• People - interior part of China pressed tea
into brick “currency” to barter with other
tribes.
• From 350 to 600 A.D., the demand for tea
dramatically increased and outstripped the
supply of wild tea trees.
• Farmers began to grow tea plants in the
Szechwan district – soon spread to whole
China.
• Western world – tea introduced by
Venetian writer Ramusio (16th century).
• 1st public sale of Tea – England - Thomas
Garway in 1657.
 Introduction of Tea to India and
beginning of Tea trade
• In 1780 – Tea cultivation
experimented in India with
seeds from China by
Robert Kyd.
• Robert Bruce(1823) –
discovered wild tea plants
growing in Upper
Brahmaputra Valley.
• May 1838 – Tea from
Assam sent to England for
public sale for 1st time.
 Tea in India
• Major 3 tea producing regions:
1. Darjeeling (North-Eastern India)
2. Assam (far North-East India)
3. Nilgiri (South India)
• All 3 differ in style and flavour.
 Darjeeling
• Found in the foothills of
Himalayas.
• Grows at altitudes of 600m
to 2000m.
• Cool moist climate, rainfall
and sloping hilly terrain –
give the ‘Muscatel Flavor’
to the Tea.
• Called ‘Champagne of
Teas’ – finest and most
uniquely flavored.
 Assam

• Rainfall - 100 to 150 inches per year.

• Offer rich, full-bodied, bright tea liquor.
• A bright, strong cup of tea.
• Assam is the single largest contiguous tea
growing area in the world.
 Nilgiri
• Blue Mountains of Nilgiri in
South India.
• Tea grown at an elevation of
1000m to 2500m.
• Rainfall varies from 60 inches
to 90 inches annually.
• Fine, elegant flavor and brisk
liquor.
• The combination of fragrance
and briskness makes Nilgiri a
truly unique tea in the world.
 Apart from the above three distinct tea growing
regions tea is also grown in:
• Kerala • Arunachal Pradesh
• Karnataka • Tripura
• Himachal Pradesh • Manipur
• Nagaland
• Uttaranchal
• Mizoram &
• Sikkim Meghalaya
• Orissa • Dooars and Terai of
• Bihar West Bengal
 Indian Tea
• Tea Act,1953 - ‘Tea’ means the plant
Camellia Sinensis (L) O. Kuntze.
• Tea leaves during manufacturing ‘Made
Tea’ in factories generate ‘Tea waste’.
• Tea Waste – Unfit for human
consumption and used for:
1. manufacture of caffeine.
2. manufacture of Instant Tea.
3. using as manure in the tea field.
 Green and Black Tea
• Made tea or Tea
manufactured from
green tea leaves is
generally classified
into two types:
1. Black Tea
2. Green Tea
 Black Tea
• Two types:
1. Orthodox Tea

2. CTC Tea
(Crushing, Tearing &
Curling)
• Green tea is different from Black tea since
fermentation of green leaves is arrested in
manufacturing green tea.
• Again black tea is of two types viz. Orthodox tea
and CTC tea.
• Orthodox teas are manufactured with the help of
orthodox roller in the process of rolling.
• CTC machine/Rotervan is used in rolling
process in manufacturing CTC teas. CTC stands
for Crushing, Tearing & Curling.
• Most of the teas produced in Sri Lanka is
of ‘orthodox’ variety.
• Kenya produces mainly CTC teas.
• The tea processing in any factory in the
traditional way comprises the following
phases:
1. Withering 2. Rolling 3. Fermentation 4.
Drying 5. Sorting & Grading
 Instant Tea
• “Instant tea”: is also being manufactured in
India and in few other tea producing
countries of the world like Kenya and Sri
Lanka.
• The raw materials used for manufacturing
Instant tea are green tea leaves and/or tea
waste.
 Tea Bags
• Tea, mainly the black tea is also being
further processed to manufacture ‘tea
bags’.
• “Filter papers” is being used as packaging
material for manufacture of tea bags.
• Instant tea and Tea bags are generally
known as ‘convenience tea’ since these
are convenient for consumers to get the
liquor with less hazards.
 Quality of Tea
• The characteristic of the beverage like
tea is determined by the major
components of the leaf:
1. polyphenols,
2. the peptic substances,
3. the flavouring constituents and
4. caffeine.
• The caffeine is known for its stimulating
effect.
• So quality means the summation of the
desirable attributes comprising internal
and external characters like:
1. aroma/flavour,
2. strength,
3. colour,
4. briskness and
5. character of infused leaf.
 Primary Factors affecting Tea
Quality
• The quality of ‘tea’ depends primarily on:
1. the nature and chemical composition of
the plucked leaf
2. the type of bush,
3. the growing conditions and
4. the kind of plucked leaf like coarseness
and fineness etc.
 Secondary Factors affecting Tea
Quality
• The factors affecting tea quality apart from those
involved in processing can be distinguished in 3 groups
viz. genetic, environmental and cultural.
(i) Tea quality is primarily determined by the genetic
properties of the tea planting and those of the tea bush
in particular.

(ii) Both soil and climate are influencing the quality of tea.
Climatic condition including temperature, humidity,
sunshine duration, rainfall are important in determining
quality.

(iii) Field operation like pruning, fertilising, shading, plucking

round and plucking standard are also playing the
important role in determining the quality of tea.
 Tea Definition
• In order to prevent tea from any possible adulteration, the
Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 is in existence. Tea
therefore shall conform to the following specifications as indicated in
the PFA Act, 1954.
a) Total ash determined on tea 4.0 to 8.0 percent by weight
dried to a constant weight at
100° C
b) Total ash soluble in boiling Not less than 40.0 percent of
distilled water total ash
c) Ash insoluble in HCL Not more than 1.0 percent by
weight on dry basis
d) Extract obtained by boiling Not less than 32.0 percent
dry tea (dried to constant
weight at 100° C) with 100
parts of distilled water for one
hour under reflux
e) Alkalinity of soluble ash
f) Crude fibre determined on tea
dried to constant weight at 100° C
Not less than 1.0 percent and not
more than 2.2 percent expressed
as K2O on dry basis
Not more than 17.0 percent

Note:-
1. It shall not contain any added colouring matter or added flavouring
matter.
2. Provided that tea for export may contain added flavour under proper
label declaration.
3. Provided further that the tea used in the manufacture of flavoured tea
shall conform to the standards of tea.
 Tea Tasting

• The made tea of an estate, is tested by the

commercial tasters (generally known as
broker) for determining the quality and its
value.
• Tea tasting is aimed at describing and
evaluating teas in the form of individual
grades or as blended product.
• The description and evaluation include the
appearance of the dry tea, of the infused
leaf and of the infusion obtained by
brewing the tea with boiling water, the
taste characteristics of the infusion,
commonly called the liquor, etc.
• During tasting the various characteristics
that make up a tea liquor viz. briskness,
strength, colour, body, quality and aroma
or flavour, are assessed individually.
 Tea Grades
• On the basis of the physical appearance of the made tea, different
grades are maintained.
• The type of different grade and its description is indicated below :
BLACK TEA GRADES [ORTHODOX TEA]

Kind of Tea Grade Name Nomenclature

Whole Leaf FP Flowery Pekoe
Broken FTGF OP Fine Tippy Golden Flowery
Orange Pekoe
TG OP Tippy Golden Flowery
Orange Pekoe
TGF OP 1 Tippy Golden Flowery
Orange Pekoe
GF OP Golden Flowery Orange
Pekoe
 FOP Flowery Orange Pekoe
OP Orange Pekoe
Broken BOP 1 Broken Orange Pekoe one
GF BOP Golden Flowery Broken
Orange Pekoe
BPS Broken Pekoe Souchong
GBOP Golden Broken Orange
Pekoe

• These are just some of the grades and

nomenclatures.
• Similar grading and nomenclature is done for
all tea types.
 Marketing of Tea
Primary marketing
• Teas grown in the tea estates reaches to the
traders of either domestic or of importing
countries.
• The tea planter has the following four options
to dispose the output through sale:
i) Sales through Indian auction.
ii) Sales through overseas auction by sending
teas on consignment basis.
iii) Sales as ‘direct export’ to the importer of
importing countries.
iv) ‘Ex-garden’ sales.
Secondary marketing (with reference to India)
• Teas from the traders reaches to consumers of either
domestic or overseas.
• Indian Traders who purchase tea through Indian
auctions or directly from the tea planters have the
following options:
a) Export in bulk packages in original form and/or export
in bulk packages in blended form.
b) Export after further processing as tea bags and/or
packaging in consumer packs.
c) Sale to Wholesaler/Retailer in loose form to reach
Indian consumers.
d) Sale to Wholesaler/Retailer in packet form after
packaging in consumer packs to reach Indian
consumers.
 World Production
1200
1000
Quantity
800 (M.Kgs.)
600 2004
2005
400
2006
200
0
China India Sri Kenya
Lanka
 Tanzania
1%
World Production (2006)
Malawi Others
1% 11%
Bangladesh
2% China
China
Vietnam 28% India
4%
Sri Lanka
Indonesia
4% Kenya
Turkey Turkey
4%
Indonesia

Kenya
Vietnam
9% Bangladesh
Malawi
Sri Lanka Tanzania
9% India
27% Others
 World Export
350
300
250
Quantity 200
2004
(M.Kgs.) 150
2005
100 2006
50
0
Sri Kenya China India
Lanka
 World Export (2006)
Zimbabwe
Tanzania 1%
2%
Others
7%

Argentina
4%
Malawi Sri Lanka Sri Lanka
3% 19%
Kenya
China
Indonesia
6%
India
Vietnam
Vietnam Indonesia
7%
Kenya
Argentina
20%
Malawi
India Tanzania
13%
Zimbabwe
China Others
18%
 Production of Tea in India
800 980

960
700
940

600
920

500 900

880 North India

400 South India
860 Total

300 840

820
200

800
100
780

0 760
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Consumption of Tea in India

Population
(Millions)

Domestic
Consumption
(M. Kgs.)

Per Capita
Consumption
(Grams per
head)

2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

Years
 Tea Exports from India

250

200

Quantity 150
2004
(M. Kgs.)
100 2005
2006
50

0
North South All
India
‘Thank You’