Tea Study
The Indian branded tea market is highly vibrant and full of challenges. This article looks at some of the interesting aspects constituting the branded tea market in India in the packed, tea bag and flavored tea segments. Branded tea market of India: not everybody’s cup of tea
India is a vast country of 1.2 billion populations spread out in 5000 plus towns and 6 lakh villages. It not only has a wide geographical spread but also has complex demographics, which lead to varied regional taste preferences creating challenges for any tea marketer. At least 6 months understanding and planning of the markets from a macro perspective is required to plan the market of any branded tea across India. Things are more difficult with most of the branded tea retail market in India being highly unorganized and being catered through 2.5 million grocery/kirana outlets. Industry segmentation and players
Packet tea market is highly proliferated, matured market with more than 300 brands in the country though dominated by HLL and Tata tea which have presence in all pack size and price variants and jointly control a market share of 40 per cent of the packet tea industry. The next major players – Duncan’s, Eveready, Goodricke, GPI, Waghbakri, Girnar, Sapat, Dhunseri,Mohini, Society, Marvel etc. have strong regional presence. In this segment there are 40 mid-size players having 80 brands among them. The remaining market is far more fragmented and shared between numerous small players. Tata Tea has Agni brand as key growth driver in the economy segment within packaged tea. Hindustan Lever has brands such as Taj Mahal, Red Label,Taaza, A1 and 3 Roses, which are all popular. While packet tea segment has more than 300 brands and is characterized by severe price competition, the teabag segment is a product category, which is not a mass product yet. The largest tea bag manufacturer in India which packs several of the leading tea bag brands – Lipton, Taj Mahal, Tetley, Nestle, Double
India is a vast country of 1.2 billion populations spread out in 5000 plus towns and 6 lakh villages. It not only has a wide geographical spread but also has complex demographics, which lead to varied regional taste preferences creating challenges for any tea marketer. At least 6 months understanding and planning of the markets from a macro perspective is required to plan the market of any branded tea across India. Things are more difficult with most of the branded tea retail market in India being highly unorganized and being catered through 2.5 million grocery/kirana outlets. Industry segmentation and players
Packet tea market is highly proliferated, matured market with more than 300 brands in the country though dominated by HLL and Tata tea which have presence in all pack size and price variants and jointly control a market share of 40 per cent of the packet tea industry. The next major players – Duncan’s, Eveready, Goodricke, GPI, Waghbakri, Girnar, Sapat, Dhunseri,Mohini, Society, Marvel etc. have strong regional presence. In this segment there are 40 mid-size players having 80 brands among them. The remaining market is far more fragmented and shared between numerous small players. Tata Tea has Agni brand as key growth driver in the economy segment within packaged tea. Hindustan Lever has brands such as Taj Mahal, Red Label,Taaza, A1 and 3 Roses, which are all popular. While packet tea segment has more than 300 brands and is characterized by severe price competition, the teabag segment is a product category, which is not a mass product yet. The largest tea bag manufacturer in India which packs several of the leading tea bag brands – Lipton, Taj Mahal, Tetley, Nestle, Double