Tata Consumer Products rolls out price cuts across many of its tea brands

Tata Consumer Products has reduced tea prices across brands as bulk rates ease, with margins set to recover by Q3 and plans to expand rural reach and premium portfolio

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Tata Consumer Products Ltd (TCPL) has rolled out price cuts across many of its tea brands with the softening of bulk tea prices.

 

Puneet Das, president, Packaged Beverages, India & South Asia, Tata Consumer Products, said: “We have already taken price cuts in a lot of our brands and across markets. It will largely continue till about Q3 when all the new stock would have come in.”

 

As Das explained, it is (packaged tea) largely governed by the kind of prices at auctions. “Wherever pricing is getting corrected, it’s being passed on to the consumer.”

 

Data from Tea Board website shows that the average price of north Indian tea up to August 2025 was ₹205.50 per kg compared to ₹222.37 in the same period of 2024.

 

He also said that volume growth was coming back. “As prices correct, the volume growth should go up.”

 

Last year, bulk tea prices appreciated significantly on the back of lower production. That had impacted margins of packaged tea players.

 

The company was able to pass on part of the cost to the consumer. “So, we had absorbed a lot, which affected the margin.”

 

But the margins were coming back and by Q3, it was expected to be back in the usual range, he added.

 

Das was speaking to the media on the sidelines of Tata Tea Gold’s limited edition festive pack launch ahead of Durga Puja. It has been designed in collaboration with local Bengali artists and is an attempt to reach out to consumers in a market where it’s a leading tea brand.

 

“Tata Tea Gold is the number one brand in West Bengal, but there is a big opportunity for us to grow this in the other parts of the country,” Das said.

 

TCPL slipped from the largest player in branded tea to the second spot in 2017-18.

 

Asked about strategies being undertaken to get back to the top spot, Das said: “We want to expand our rural distribution, ensure that we are competitive in markets where we are number two. We want to premiumise the portfolio and leverage brands like Tata Tea Gold in markets outside the East. And we want to unlock value through innovations.”

 

The idea is to see what’s working and replicate it across, he added.