After Darjeeling and Assam, Tea board plans GI for Sikkim tea

Industry says will create a new brand identity for this tea and may help push exports, and will also help protect the Darjeeling brand

The Tea Board of India is considering a fresh geographical indication (GI) label for Sikkim tea. Experts believe that the move will create a brand identity for this variety, and boost its export potential while protecting the Darjeeling brand. 

“It is our plan to have a GI tag for each of the specific tea growing regions. We are, presently, considering one for Sikkim tea,” Tea Board Deputy Chairman Arun Kumar Ray told Business Standard, adding such a move would help each of the tea varieties from Darjeeling, Assam, Dooars, Nilgiris, Kangra and Sikkim establish their own distinct identities.

All the major tea regions have GI labels and a logos, but the most recognised one is Darjeeling, which is used across the globe to certify its authenticity. Tea varieties from Darjeeling, Sikkim, and Nepal are very identical in appearance, texture and aroma. It is difficult to discern one from the other, until they are brewed. At times, even tea connoisseurs are confused about the quality of leaves from these three regions. It is here that the problem arises.

Officials said cheap quality brews from Nepal and Sikkim are passed on to blenders and packeters as Darjeeling tea. Knowingly, or unknowingly, companies put Darjeeling GI labels on tea varieties from Nepal and Sikkim. This problem is acutely felt by sellers in the loose tea segment. 

Darjeeling variety fetches a hefty premium over other varieties, including the Chinese green tea. Prices of Sikkim and Nepal varieties are no match. 

On the other hand, while tea from Sikkim is identical to that from Darjeeling in aroma, only extremely high quality orthodox Nepal tea is valued in the markets of Germany, Japan and Western Europe. 

“Often tea from Nepal is confused not just with Darjeeling, but with Sikkim also. Many a times, tea from Nepal is sent to Sikkim.   

At times it is blended with Sikkim tea, and passed onto Darjeeling or other marketers in Kolkata, where further blending takes place,” an owner of several tea estates in Darjeeling said.

Experts believe that if a GI can be given to Sikkim tea, packeters might refrain from cross-blending of varieties from these three regions to protect the Darjeeling and Sikkim brands. Moreover, a concerted effort in branding, put together with a GI recognition, is expected to open up the lucrative export market for orthodox varieties from Sikkim.

“It would be good to roll out a GI tag for Sikkim as it will also protect the Darjeeling brand by laying down two clearly demarcated territories,” Azam Monem, president at the ITA said. 

The tea landscape in Sikkim is primarily dominated by the Sikkim government-owned Temi Tea Garden — the only tea estate in the state established in 1969 — and various other small tea growers. 

With only one garden and other small backyard producers, Sikkim produces an estimated 0.5 million kg (mkg) of tea every year. In comparison, the produce from 87 gardens and other small growers in Darjeeling totals to around 8 mkg.

The Temi Tea garden has been exporting its finest varieties to countries such as the US, UK, Germany, Italy, Japan, Australia, among others. Two months ago, it won a gold medal in China for its quality.

Subramaniam M.V, senior consultant of marketing and sales at Temi Tea said, “A GI tag would definitely help boost our exports. Its been a long time that Sikkim tea has come out of the shadows of Darjeeling tea, and has created an identity of its own”.

The Temi Tea Garden, the youngest from the Darjeeling-Sikkim region, owes its foundation to the then king of Sikkim, Palden Dhondup Namgyal, who brought in Teddy Young, a British tea planter at Darjeeling, to set up a tea garden in his kingdom. Today, this garden, stretched across 376 hectares at an elevation ranging between 5,500-7,000 feet above sea level, is certified as organic and prices are nearly at par with an average Darjeeling tea. It also represented India in the Las Vegas World Tea Expo Expo this year.

Temi Tea at a glance:

• Total area: 376 hectares
• Total production: 110,000 kg
• Export prices: $60-240 per kg
• Export markets: US, UK, Japan, Germany, Italy, Australia, Malaysia
• Accolades: Gold medal in 12th International Premium Tea competition, 2018, China