VISIT TO RUSSIA
The tea industry, for quite some time, has been hunting for new grounds to export its produce. Along with that, it has also simultaneously felt the need to reclaim its stronghold in earlier-held bastions Pakistan and Russia. While a successful visit to Pakistan was organized in June, a much-needed second such producer-exporter visit was made to Russia in October 2003.
An eight-member team of industry representatives, led by ITA Chairman Mr. C.K. Dhanuka, visited Moscow and St. Petersburgh over 12-17 Octo-ber, 2003. Other members of the team were Mr. Ashok Kumar Bhargava of AFT Industries Ltd, Mr. Hari Prasad Chakravarti of Methoni Tea Com-pany, Mr. Ajay Kumar Jain of Goodricke Group Ltd, Mr. Jagjeet Singh Jandal of Hindustan Lever Ltd, Mr. S. Lakshmanan of Tata Tea Ltd, Mr. Azam Monem of Eveready Industries Ltd and Mr. Monojit Das Gupta of ITA.
The team members' interactions with their Russian counterparts yielded impressive results by opening up new routes to regaining what the Indian tea industry lost in its erstwhile stronghold.
MEETING WITH ROSTEA COFFEE
ROSTEA COFFEE President Mr. U.G. Steiman, who appreciated ITA's ef-forts to bring together the Indian tea community and the Russian import-ers, warmly greeted ITA Chairman Mr. C.K. Dhanuka and his team.
Mr. Steiman mentioned that with steady economic recovery, consumers in the Russian Federation are now beginning to mature into a "brand and quality conscious segment". Hence, to get back lost ground in Russia, In-dian producers and exporters have to keep in mind that "quality" is the key.
ROSTEA COFFEE regarded the visit as an important one for it helped in educating and familiarising Russian tea importers with the nuances of In-dian teas. It also provided insights into the seasonal quality patterns aimed at helping the Russian importers plan out their purchases.
Outlining the aim of the visit, Mr. Dhanuka said ITA represented producer-exporters whose core competence was to produce quality teas and that they were looking to promote bulk offtake by Russian companies. He also said that ITA would seek to supplement the efforts of merchant exporters servicing the Russian market.
ITA would look to target the quality segment led by Orthodox teas and as-sure timely and efficient servicing of exporters' requirements, he added.

MEETINGS WITH RUSSAN IMPORTERS
The ITA team met officials from several top-level Russian tea importers in-cluding Grand Tea House, Sapsan (Vostochny-Kupets), Zolotoy Slon (Golden Elephant) Company, Orimi Trade, May Tea Company and Tea World Company. The interactive sessions were highly fruitful as the team gathered vital knowledge of the Russian tea industry, sales channels as well as the preference trends of consumers in that country to be dissemi-nated to the Indian exporting community.
Originally though all tea imports in Russia were sourced by centralised buying agencies, now 55 per cent of the trade is dominated by four private players _ Orimi Trade (20%), Grand Tea House (15%), Maieski Chai (11%) and Unilever (9%). The subsequent 20 per cent (of imports) is shared by 10 operators, namely Nitin, Moskovskiy Chai, Teastan, Uta, Dilmah, Madhu-jayanti, M.K. Shah, Vostochniy Kupets, J.V. Gokal and Ahmad Tea. The remaining 25 per cent is accounted for by over 200 medium/small traders.
Russian tea drinkers have a distinct preference for black tea, which com-prises for 95 per cent of the brew consumed. The rest is accounted for by the green variety. Russia has traditionally been an Orthodox market (whole leaf and broken). However, it shifted to CTC on price considerations, with a preference for the medium-sized variety. But CTC demand has been steadily falling and Orthodox, specially the brew sourced from Sri Lanka (considered "too expensive" 20 years ago), is currently the preferred vari-ety.
Many Russian buyers like Grand Tea House are looking to source bulk tea for the medium/upper segment at Rs 140/150 per kg. The Indian exporters must note that it is easier to push premium packets and margins are healthier too.
About 90-92 per cent of tea sold in Russia is primarily through grocery stores, super markets or the wholesale route. The rest is sold through spe-cialised tea shops, cafés and restaurants. It was heartening to know