Trouble in the brew? Darjeeling tea faces existential threats

Falling yields, high costs of production, labour issues have left tea gardens gasping for survival.

Hamro Party chief Ajoy Edwards sprinkling blood on tea bushes to show solidarity with the protesting workers of a Darjeeling tea estate.  | Photo Credit: BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

On September 29, as West Bengal was gearing up for Durga Puja, Ajoy Edwards, the charismatic president of the Hamro Party, walked into a tea garden near Darjeeling whose workers were protesting against the payment of puja bonus in instalments. Edwards drew blood from his hand and sprinkled it over the tea bushes. With this dramatic gesture, Edwards kickstarted the controversial #BloodTea campaign against one of India’s most prestigious products—Darjeeling tea, known across the world as the “Champagne of Teas”.

Edwards’ point was that for all the prestige attached to Darjeeling tea, India’s first geographical indication (GI)-tagged product, the condition of tea garden workers in the 87 gardens in Darjeeling have shown no signs of improvement over the last several decades.

The movement and Edwards’s action were condemned by the Darjeeling tea industry, but nevertheless stirred up a hornet’s nest and brought to the fore key issues around the revival of the industry.

The problems are manifold and complex, and politics is not the least of them. The recent spurt in ownership change of gardens and owners’ growing interest in tea tourism is an indication that they have doubts about the economic viability of Darjeeling’s tea gardens.

An occasional sale of a garden is not uncommon, but in late October six gardens changed hands in a single day. The gardens belonged to Darjeeling Organic Tea Estates Pvt. Ltd (DOTEPL), one of the biggest makers of Darjeeling tea, and were sold to Lemongrass Organic Tea Estate Pvt. Ltd. According to a highly placed source in the industry, several of DOTEPL’s gardens were not able to pay wages and bonus to workers and so some of these gardens were sold. DOTEPL owned 10 gardens before the sale that set alarm bells ringing in the industry.

Falling production

Tea production in Darjeeling has fallen at an alarming pace over the years. A decade ago it used to be around 12 million kg but now it is 6.87 million kg (2021).

According to B.K. Saria, chairman of Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA), one of the immediate reasons for the slump is the 107-day shutdown in 2017 that the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, the then ruling force in Darjeeling, enforced in the hills. “The effect of the shutdown is still hurting us. Tea bushes take seven to eight years to mature. Neglect in the peak growing season damages the health of the bushes in untold ways and they take years to recover. No government agency came to our aid to overcome this crisis. Neither was the administration helpful,” Saria told Frontline.

Around 75 per cent of Darjeeling tea used to be exported, but the shutdown and the interruptions brought about by the violent separatist movement in the region severely impacted that. “Japan imported our top-end teas for decades. This was severely curtailed when supplies from Darjeeling became unreliable. The 2017 agitation was the longest but shorter stoppages preceded and followed it. Other importers also cut down their offtake and some changed to other tea varieties,” said Saria.

An aerial view of the tea gardens in Darjeeling. | Photo Credit: DEBASISH BHADURI

In 2017, production hit a low of 3.21 million kg. Though it picked up to 7.69 million kg the following year, the industry continues to be on the ropes. Certain inherent advantages—climate, altitude, the famous mist of the Darjeeling hills, and a skilled workforce—give Darjeeling tea its unique flavour and aroma, making it the favourite of tea connoisseurs worldwide, but the gardens are also saddled with certain disadvantages. Over the years, the salubrious climate has become a victim of climate change. Droughts during the premium first flush in March and April have affected the crop.

Moonlight Tea, one of the most expensive teas from Darjeeling. | Photo Credit: BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Arijit Raha, secretary general of the Indian Tea Association (ITA), told Frontline: “The fall in production is primarily attributed to declining yields, climate change adversities, and low labour productivity. There is no land for expansion, and financial distress over the years has not enabled the industry to take up replanting, which is a cost intensive and difficult exercise in the hilly terrain.”

Raha pointed to the relatively small size of most of Darjeeling’s tea estates, against the bigger gardens in the foothills of the Terai and the Dooars. “The average size of a garden here is 150 hectares compared to 450-500 hectares in the Dooars and the Terai. The average yield in Darjeeling is 350 kg a hectare against 1,800 kg a hectare in the Dooars and Terai,” he said.

Moreover, from 2016 to 2021 the auction prices of Darjeeling tea have remained virtually stagnant, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of a mere 1.7 per cent. In 2016, the average auction price was Rs.334.56 a kg. In the next two years, it rose to Rs.438.14 and Rs.429.96, then fell to Rs.338.76, Rs.341.60, and Rs.365.45 respectively. “The cost of inputs has grown at a CAGR of 9 per cent to 12 per cent in the same period, causing financial stress to producers. The cost of production here is substantially higher than in the plains,” said Raha.

The Nepal brew

Darjeeling tea now has a new worry: tea from Nepal, which is making inroads into the domestic market. A Parliamentary Standing Committee report in June this year, titled “Issues Affecting the Indian Tea Industry Especially in the Darjeeling Region”, noted that tea from Nepal was trying to take the place occupied by Darjeeling tea.

The report stated: “The committee is distressed to note that the unhampered and easy influx of substandard tea from neighbouring countries, especially Nepal, is jeopardising the tea industry of India. It is further appalling to observe that the imports of inferior quality of teas from Nepal are being sold and re-exported as premium Darjeeling tea, which is not only diluting the global brand image of India, but also affecting domestic tea prices.... [T]he surge in duplicity of Darjeeling tea poses a threat to the production of tea and the livelihood of small tea growers in the region.”

Saria pointed out, “The import [of Nepal tea] is duty free. The cost of production in Nepal is much below costs in India because of social obligations and the age of plantations. As a result, the tea is available at a lower price. Many small and large buyers in India are replacing Darjeeling with Nepal even if the quality does not match....This free flow from Nepal is hurting efforts to protect our image and integrity.”

The tea from Nepal, known as “Himalayan Tea”, is grown at an altitude similar to Darjeeling, and can easily confuse one who is not a connoisseur for its closeness to Darjeeling tea in aroma and taste. Moreover, it is reportedly around 50 per cent cheaper than original Darjeeling tea. A report published in August in The Kathmandu Post, one of the leading English dailies in Nepal, stated that the Nepal tea industry is jittery following the concerns raised by the Indian Parliamentary Standing Committee. “India is Nepal’s largest customer and any move to restrict exports will hit the industry hard, producers say. Nepal ships around 90 per cent of its orthodox tea and 50 per cent of its crush, tear, and curl (CTC) tea to the southern neighbour,” the report stated.

Complacency factor

If weather, politics, and competition are among the more recent problems that have cropped up for the Darjeeling tea industry, complacency of its garden owners has been a traditional problem. According to Pranab Mukhia, the inventor and producer of Moonlight Tea (one of the world’s most expensive teas), the problems started surfacing with the collapse of the USSR in 1991.

Said Mukhia, who is also the deputy general manager of the renowned Thurbo Tea Garden in Darjeeling: “During the 1970s, the USSR was a lucrative market, and the owners were complacent since there was no competition. However, after the disintegration of the USSR, the industry had to enter new markets. Most gardens did not carry out the uprooting and replanting of old Chinery bushes—so necessary to preserve the unique “muscatel” flavour that is produced during the second flush. Uprooting and replanting is an expensive process and the break-even yield takes around 8-10 years, whereas in the plains it takes four to five years. This has led to a continuous decline of yields from around 800 kg per hectare to 450 kg per hectare, which is not economical.”

According to Mukhia, unless some “urgent and drastic remedial measures” are undertaken by the Centre, the State, tea garden managements, and labour unions, “the Darjeeling tea industry will die a natural death by the turn of the century”.

Pluckers face the brunt

In the prevalent situation, with the margin between cost of production and sale price narrowing to a point of almost disappearing in many of Darjeeling’s tea gardens, it is the skilled tea labourers who are facing the brunt of the crisis. As Mukhia put it, “The person who has contributed the most to the Darjeeling tea industry and is the most neglected is the tea picker who has plucked leaves every day with her nimble hands in all weather conditions to produce the best tea in the world.”

Pranab Mukhia, creator of Moonlight Tea and DGM Thurbo Tea Estate, with workers. Thurbo Tea Estate is one of the most prestigious gardens of Darjeeling, belonging to Goodricke. | Photo Credit: BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The 87 tea gardens in Darjeeling hills that are registered under GI employ a total of around 55,000 workers. The present wage of the workers is fixed at Rs. 232 a day. Besides that, the workers are entitled to bonus, Provident Fund, gratuity, housing, fuel, protective clothing, blankets, umbrellas, aprons, food grain compensation, incentives, and free medical facilities, which, according to industry insiders, works out to around Rs. 350 a day.

The workers are covered under the Plantations Labour Act, 1951, and have active tradeunionsin the gardens. However, according to Alok Chakraborty, a veteran trade unionist in the tea industry and vice chairman of the central committee of the Trinamool Cha Bagan Shramik Union, around 15 to 20 gardens in Darjeeling are at present finding it difficult to pay wages and bonuses.

Pranab Mukhia, creator of Moonlight Tea and DGM Thurbo Tea Eastate.  | Photo Credit: BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Justifying his much-criticised ‘BloodTea’ campaign, Ajoy Edwards told Frontline,“People in the gardens are angry, desperate, and lost. They go to bed thinking of one particular malik (garden owner), and wake up to find they have got a new owner.... Yet the workers are still holding on in the hope that things will get better. All we want is for them to get the respect they deserve.”

This growing uncertainty looming over the industry has resulted in workers pulling out, and the Darjeeling gardens are facing an acute shortage of pluckers. Speaking to Frontline, Chakraborty said: “Most of the children of the Darjeeling tea workers have studied in English medium schools. They have left the gardens in search of other prospects. In the last 150 years, the population inside the tea gardens has grown, but the gardens themselves have not expanded... and there is pressure also on healthcare and other amenities guaranteed to workers.”

This has resulted in growing absenteeism, which is reflected in the decrease in production and quality. “This in turn affects profitability,” said Chakraborty, “which is driving workers away from the industry. It is a vicious cycle from which the industry will not be able to come out until the Centre and State come together with a permanent solution.”

Hope for a turnaround

But there are green shoots too in this period of gloom. According to Girish Sarda, the owner of Nathmulls (one of the oldest and most respected tea retailers in Darjeeling), even though Darjeeling tea exports have been dipping due to COVID-19 and the general drop in production, the demand for the tea in the domestic market has been growing.

Said Sarda: “Apart from Europe and Japan, the US and Canada are also seen as growing markets. But COVID-19 set everything back. Now Europe is in trouble because of the war in Ukraine. But the positive thing is that within India the consumption of Darjeeling tea has gone up exponentially in the past two and half years. If Nathmulls sells 5,000 kg of tea annually, in the last two years 80 per cent of it has been sold to Indian buyers. Earlier it was 50 per cent. Indian buyers have been responsible for keeping my business going. According to Mukhia, some gardens have also started marketing internally after realising “the huge potential” of Indian consumers. “All Darjeeling gardens should sell their tea in packets and not in loose form to protect the identity of the garden and the famous Darjeeling logo,” said Mukhia.

People walking along tea gardens in Darjeeling, West Bengal. | Photo Credit: DEBASISH BHADURI

With the State government allowing 15 per cent of grant area within a garden to be used for tea tourism, the additional revenue from tourism can keep the gardens going. However, while this can certainly bolster the financial situation of a garden, “the garden management should not neglect its core business, which is tea,” Sarda pointed out.

Sidhant Prakash of Glenburn Tea, one of the first estates to successfully diversify into tourism, has a different take. According to him, “Tea and tourism complement each other well”.

The Crux

• Tea production in Darjeeling has fallen at an alarming pace over the years. A decade ago it used to be around 12 million kg but now it is 6.87 million kg (2021).
• The recent spurt in ownership change of gardens and the owners’ interest in tea tourism tells that they have doubts about the economic viability of Darjeeling’s tea gardens.
• If weather, politics, and competition are among the more recent problems that have cropped up, complacency of its garden owners has been a traditional problem.
• The Nepal tea is making inroads into the domestic market.
• The fall in production is primarily attributed to declining yields, climate change adversities, and low labour productivity.