JORHAT:
The inaugural International Tea Day special auction, held on a digital platform in Jorhat, eastern Assam, known as the tea capital of the area, garnered record prices.
More than 93 percent of the tea on offer from at least a dozen speciality tea estates in eastern Assam, according to the auctioneers, was sold to buyers from Assam, Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and West Bengal.
mjunction services limited, India's largest business-to-business e-commerce firm, staged the auction at the Jorhat tea e-marketplace on June 21 — precisely a month after the finest leaves were picked to commemorate International Tea Day on May 21.
Pabhojan Tea Estate's Orthodox tea sold for 4,000 per kg, while Diroibam Tea Estate's specialty green tea and Hookhmol Tea Estate's CTC (crush, tear, and curl) tea sold for 1,000 and 510 per kg, respectively, setting records in their respective categories.
Lankashi, Aideobari Premium, Muktabari, Rungliting Tea Estate, Narayanpur Panbarry, Durgapur, Tirual, Arin, Kathonibari, and Friends Tea were among the other tea plantations that took part.
"With shorter cycle time, teas sold on the mjunction platform are the freshest. We are pleased to have bagged Hookhmol," said Kamal Sharma, one of the directors of Tea World, that paid a record amount for the CTC tea.
According to Bhaskar Hazarika, director of Real Assam Tea Industries, who provided the Hookhmol CTC, "Tea estate companies are the only private sector enterprises that has survived in Assam for two centuries despite all hostilities. Assam tea estates have survived the nationalisation bid, extreme regulation, Land Ceiling Act and agitations of all kinds since 1947, but right now we are facing unprecedented challenges."
"The average price of tea in the primary market (auctions) has not increased from 2012 to 2019. Tea prices remain very low for the most part because all kinds of teas are blended and sold as cheap commodity in the secondary (retail) market," he explained, adding that the internet platform has enabled local merchants to offer finest grade Assam tea in its true form rather than as a cheap mix.
"The special auction was of special significance to us" said Nazrana Ahmed of Diroibam Tea Estate, "as we have received the highest bid for our speciality green teas."
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