Author: Aravinda Anantharaman

Writer, editor, columnist, tea reporter, and running Copac Media, a creative consultancy. Her interests are history and literature, and their influence on contemporary society. Aravinda has published with Penguin Random House (India).

by Aravinda Anantharaman May 8, 2022 0

Market Series Part 2

Tea Retail Powers Perception

Retail must do the heavy lifting in realigning the marketing of Indian tea. While online transactions are more common now than in past years, neighborhood kirana stores are the most common place Indians purchase packaged tea, accounting for 70% of sales. Only 7% of tea is sold at tea shops that specialize in loose leaf offerings.

by Aravinda Anantharaman May 4, 2022 0

Market Series Part 1

India: What has Changed?

When you look back, let’s say 30, 40 years, what has changed in the tea market? That’s the question we need to ask. The image of tea has not changed at all. And that, I think, is the basis of many problems. – Jagjeet Kandal, IDH

by Aravinda Anantharaman April 8, 2022

Frugal Innovation

Q|A Ranjit Chaliha

Recirculating heated exhaust conserves energy and helps to eliminate inconsistencies in drying that lower tea quality. In this installment of Frugal Innovations, Ranjit Chaliha describes Varun, a device named after the Hindu God of Wind that continuously monitors ambient air conditions in real-time and electronically computes the ideal inlet air temperature to reduce energy costs enough to pay for itself.

PK Bezborauh, Chairman Tea Board of India

by Aravinda Anantharaman February 7, 2022

TEAIN22

Reinvigorating India’s Tea Sector

India’s tea industry in 2021 recovered from severe setbacks due to the pandemic. Fortunately, India’s domestic demand remains firm, consuming 75% of locally grown tea.

by Aravinda Anantharaman December 17, 2021

Expertise Series Part 2

Frugal Innovation

Objective data changes the conversation in the factory from vague concepts to thresholds and parameters. It makes operations scientific so that processes can improve, explains Shekib Ahmed of Koliabur Tea Estate.