‘Tea’thing trouble in city as Hills unrest rages on

Kolkata: For connoisseurs of Darjeeling

tea

, the crisis in the Hills threatens to turn their favourite cuppa bitter.

As tea production in the Hills remains suspended for over a month, retailers of Darjeeling tea are beginning to turn queasy about depleting stocks that they hold. The world’s largest and oldest tea auction house, J Thomas & Co, is left with only 170 packages of Darjeeling tea to be auctioned. Around this time last year, it had 4,500-5,000 packages to be put under the hammer with more supplies flowing in.

The limited availability at auctions has also led to a sharp rise in Darjeeling tea price. The crisis hasn’t yet reflected in retail prices, primarily due to Nepal tea being passed off as Darjeeling tea by smaller retailers who have run out of stock and cannot afford to replenish it by paying a higher premium.

“Darjeeling tea is selling at a 50% higher price in auctions. What would usually fetch Rs 1,000 is being grabbed for Rs 1,500 due to dearth of supplies and uncertainty over when the situation will normalise. At this rate, we expect retail prices to go up around mid-September, just ahead of Durga Puja. If the gardens stay in a limbo for another month, Darjeeling tea will disappear from most retail points by November,” said

Souvari Modak

of Dhruba Tea Centre that sells 1,000 kg daily, of which 35% is Darjeeling tea, both leaf and fannings.

Companies that purchase loose Darjeeling tea and then sell in packets are beginning to suspend supplies. Poobong packets have disappeared from the shelf.

Makaibari

is unable to supply loose tea.

Sandeep Biswas

of New Orphan Tea says there is enough fannings from the first flush in the market right now but the situation will change as the crisis deepens. “Small retailers will run out of Darjeeling tea soon. That is when price will increase while quality will become inferior. A consumer will lose at both ends,” he says.

Biswas has bought tea at Rs 6,000-7,000 a kg, more than what he has paid in a long time. “Most of the second flush tea that sell for fancy prices are exported. But now, tea produced in monsoon is getting affected and that is a cause of concern. The domestic market consumes tea in the range of Rs 1,000-1,500. It is becoming a challenge to cater to this market,” he said.

Krishan Katyal, CMD of J Thomas & Co that handles 95% of Darjeeling tea, estimates all Darjeeling tea to disappear in a month-and-a-half. “I have been in the business for 40 years but I haven’t seen such a crisis. Even during the Gorkhaland agitation in mid-1980s, supply was affected for six weeks but gardens continued to function. As soon as the bandh was lifted, supplies normalised. This time, we are in the midst of a deepening crisis,” said Katyal.

If the Hill parties don’t lift the strike from the gardens at a meeting on Tuesday, the tea supply crisis will spill over to next year because the entire year’s tea will be lost.

Anshuman Kanoria

, chairman of Calcutta Tea Traders Association, says even if the gardens are allowed to open on Tuesday, it will take a month-and-a-half before tea production resumes. That will mean a minimum loss of two and a half months. Darjeeling Tea Association chairman Binod Mohan says even if gardens resume production, quality will be compromised.