At 5 pm, the 10x20-foot space of the TANTEA stall on Mylapore’s West Mada Street is overflowing. The chairs opposite the counter get reoccupied as soon as they fall vacant. A stream of hungry customers blocks the entrance and spills on to the steps. On the footpath outside, the tea-maker cannot fill the glass tumblers fast enough. Among those ordering tea and hot snacks – bajji, bonda, vada, poli – are MTC drivers and inspectors, students, transgenders, shoppers and temple-goers. “My kids and I came for a darshan at the Saibaba temple, and a temple visit these days includes a stop at the TANTEA outlet,” says a smiling PS High School teacher.
Behind that cup of tea is a story that goes back to 1968 — when the Tamil Nadu Government started the Government Tea Project to rehabilitate Srilankan Tamil repatriates. The project came under corporate management in 1976 and was re-named Tamilnadu Tea Plantation Corporation. It began clonal tea-planting on land leased from the Government and ended up being the largest tea-holder in the State with eight modern tea factories and an employee headcount of more than 4,800.
You can get a cup of hot tea at other TANTEA outlets in Guindy Park, Mylapore tank, Vandalur Zoo, Royapettah/Rajiv Gandhi Hospitals and Tidel Park. Tea is also sold in a variety of packs, like kurinji (dust) and green tea for brewing, and cardamom/masala/ginger for dipping. “The tea is truly exceptional,” says TANTEA MD Rajeev K Srivastava, IFS.
TANTEA was started as a socio-economic project explains Srivastava, but concedes there’s now a need for aggressive marketing. Most of the tea is sold through auction, and the remaining goes out through private/bulk and retail sales. Auction is subject to price yo-yos, and revenue plummets when auction prices fall. Retailing is the only way to make TANTEA a profitable venture, he says. Several ideas for popularising the tea have been floated and approved, says S Nedumaran, Liaison Officer. They include opening outlets in big cities, at railway stations, including packs in the PDS and marketing wooden gift boxes of all dip teas. “We hope to sell it in prisons and uzhavar sandai s,” he says. For Srivastava, validation for the tea comes from a different source. “My wife drinks a lot of green tea, and says she owes her good health to it.”
For more information log onto www. tantea.co.in
