Andre Yule goes the e-commerce way to push packet tea sales

Kolkata-based diversified PSU, Andrew Yule & Company today said that they would give a thrust on sale of packet tea to reclaim market share. For that the company has decided to walk the e-commerce way beside concentrating on the offline mode.

"We want to give greater stress on sales of packet tea of our produce both through online sales and retailing," Andrew Yule CMD Kallol Datta said here on Wednesday.

Dutta said that the public-sector company plans to increase the proportion of packet tea to 25 percent from the current 5 percent within next two to three years. Company's total production for this year was 12 million kg which Dutta said was higher than the average national production. The Calcutta-based company has 15 tea gradens in total out of which 10 are in Assam while five are in Dooars.

The company launched a portal targeting e-retailing of tea in the B2C segment today. Company officials said that at present they were not partnering with any major e-commerce portals but were open to any such proposals in future. " We want to push sales in the retail segment in a big way, " said Dutta.

Meanwhile, Assam government has approached the company asking it to buy closed tea gardens in the state. Dutta said that the company was considering the proposal but will buy three gardens in the first phase.

For the current season, the company's turnover stood at Rs 200 crore.