Tata Tea plans to reinvent itself, down to its name

Tata Tea is in the process of creating a new enterprise that will have a turnover of $10 billion,10 times the current figure, five years from now.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the company’s annual general meeting, R K Krishna Kumar, vice chairman, said international consultants were working on the rebranding strategy, as well as the new name and logo of the company, which would be finalised over the next two-three weeks.

‘Tata’ would be part of the name and reflect the current focus for the company, which is wellness. Tata Tea has identified four global brands—Tata Tea, Tetley, Good Earth, and Himalayan—which would have global scale. While Tetley is already a worldwide brand, Tata Tea and Himalayan are strong brands in the Indian market and Good Earth a strong player in the US. The company plans to focus on distribution to make the brands global.

Percy Siganporia, managing director, said the company would continue to expand in Russia, CIS, the Middle East, South America and South Africa.

The global enterprise was currently headquartered in London, but it could shift, said Krishna Kumar. The company would, however, continue have its registered office in Kolkata.

When asked about acquisitions, Krishna Kumar said it was looking for a very aggressive and large-scale acquisition in the US. Tata Tea has liquid cash of Rs 1,700 crore, which Krishna Kumar said was a strategic warchest. Even though Tata Tea’s operations were now spread across the globe, the vision was to have one cohesive company.

“At some point all overseas companies 100 per cent owned by us would be merged. They would become brands,” said Krishna Kumar.