International Tea Day Convention held at Vanijya Bhawan
A convention consisting of panel discussions and deliberations on the present outlook and way forward for the Indian Tea Industry, along with an exclusive Indian Tea Appreciation zone was organized on the occasion of International Tea Day on 21st May, 2025, at Vanijya Bhawan, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, New Delhi.
Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, Government of India, Shri Jitin Prasada, graced the occasion as Chief Guest and spoke words of encouragement for the stakeholders of the tea industry during his Keynote Address. He emphasized on recognizing the importance of tea in the socio-economic fabric of the country and the need to explore innovative avenues of branding and marketing Indian teas, so as to reinforce its position as a world leader in tea export. He exhorted the Indian tea industry to achieve greater heights in the export scenario and to reinvent itself with new and innovative varieties of teas, especially targeted towards the youth and niche markets. He also stressed on the fact that we need to ensure the best facilities for all the stakeholders in the entire supply chain from the grower to the consumer.
Secretary, Ministry of Commerce & Industry,Shri Sunil Barthwal, while giving a Special Address on the occasion, shared interesting anecdotes about his visits to the different tea-growing regions of the country, such as Kangra, Assam, Darjeeling, Uttarakhand etc. He stressed on the need to increase ‘tea literacy’ through various promotional and awareness programmes among the general masses so that they are able to better appreciate the various specialities and nuances of Indian Tea. An exclusive Tea Tasting Session was organized for the esteemed audience, including senior Government officials and stakeholders of the Tea Industry, wherein a renowned professional tea taster, enthralled the audience with an enlightening session, speaking about the finer points of professional tea tasting. He also gave a practical demonstration to the Hon’ble Minister of State for Commerce & Industry and the Commerce Secretary and invited them to try their skills at tea tasting.
After the interesting and interactive tea tasting sessions, Panel Discussions were organized on varied topics, such as “Organic Teas: The Sustainable Way Ahead”, “Global Consumption Patterns – New Age Teas and Youth Connect”, “India Teas – Looking Ahead” etc. Numerous points were brought up during the discussions and innovative ideas were deliberated upon in a bid to shape a brighter future for Indian Tea through extensive branding and marketing initiatives in addition to quality control measures. The panelists and delegates projected an overall upward curve for Indian teas in the world tea scenario.
An India Tea Appreciation Zone was set up on the sidelines of the convention wherein many stakeholders representing different sections of the tea industry, such as Producers, Exporters, Small Tea Growers (STGs), Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), start ups etc. were invited to showcase and display their wide array of teas and also conduct tea sampling sessions. The tea stakeholders in the Tea Appreciation Zone displayed myriad varieties of teas including single origin teas from different regions of the country, such as Darjeeling, Assam, Nilgiri, Kangra, Sikkim etc. as well as innovative blends and variety of flavoured teas, masala chais to cater to the palates of all kinds of tea lovers. The India Tea Appreciation Zone was highly appreciated by all the participants of the convention and it witnessed high footfall throughout the day, thus bearing testimony to the enduring popularity and love for the amazing variety of Indian teas
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