Tea Board to participate in 4th World Tea & Coffee Expo 2016 in Mumbai

Mumbai: In view of the encouraging demand for its tea in India, the Sri Lanka Tea Board will be participating in India’s only tea and coffee trade fair, World Tea & Coffee Expo (WTCE), Mumbai through an exclusive Pavilion for the second consecutive year.

The 4th edition of this annual event at Mumbai, India will be held from 20 to 22 October.

Representing the Board at the exclusive pavilion will be several leading Sri Lankan tea companies with varieties of tea produce, brands and flavors. The companies shall not only be seeking buyers but also joint venture partners and distributors across India. The companies shall also be looking at accessing the latest technological advances in the Hot Beverage sector which will be on display at this niche one-of-its-kind expo.

Sri Lanka Tea Board Chairman Rohan Pethiyagoda said: “The Indian markets now offer enormous scope for product innovation as demonstrated by rising consumption of Sri Lankan tea. WTCE is very professionally executed and offers SL tea companies a single door opportunity to transact business with India.”

The country has a limited domestic consumption which leaves over 90 % of produce for exports. This is where India as a market for Sri Lankan tea companies fits in. Rising consumption due to changing lifestyles and increasing urbanisation in India has encouraged neighboring country’s tea producers to explore Indian markets. The spread of tea and coffee retail chains has raised the level of tea consumption across all types of tea. Many domestic branded tea companies are fulfilling the demand gap through imports from abroad.

The WTCE 2016 is an ideal platform therefore to showcase famous specialty Sri Lankan teas such as Black Tea, CTC Tea, Ceylon Super Pekoe black tea, Ceylon green tea, White tea, Ceylon Silver tip tea, Instant tea etc.

Additionally, India has a barter trade agreement with a few countries for which India regularly imports SL tea and further exports to these countries.

According to Commerce Ministry data, Sri Lanka exported INR 382 crore worth of tea to India in the year 2014-15 reflecting a 33% annual growth over the previous year’s INR 285 crore.

WTCE annually brings domestic and international buyers and suppliers of tea and coffee together in a manner that benefits the industry by enabling forging of new business relationships. The expo also affords an opportunity for the allied industries such as Packaging, Vending Solutions, machineries, accessories and other technologies. Significant activities at the WTCE will include B2B match-making, workshops and championships and a high level two-day conference by industry leaders, academicians and policy makers.