China’s production and consumption of tea is thrice the quantity of India and most of it are premium teas, said Hariram Govind of Hindustan Unilever at the UPASI Tea Research Foundation’s centenary conference in Coonoor on Tuesday.

At a panel on “Sustainable Tea: Pathways for Future” moderated by S. Soundararajan, Director, Tea Development, Tea Board, Mr. Govind said that substantial tea consumption in China has moved from plainer to premium teas. Even the young generation are consuming tea, creating a market for the future.

In India, tea consumption’s market penetration is 90% and a person consumes three to four cups a day. So, the focus should be on increasing consumption of premium teas, he said.

Further, when the scale of sustainable and regenerative practices go up, it will become economically viable.

According to Ena Irino, S. Ishimitsu and Co, Japan, commoditisation of tea and climate change are the two main challenges the tea sector faces in promoting sustainable tea. Sustainability is all about balancing social responsibility and economic viability and create value through innovation. In Japan, sustainability is a basic standard for the teas, she said.

Commoditisation is lowering the prices for the producers and they are unable to reinvest and climate change has hit productivity. In a measure to overcome this, production of speciality teas and premium teas should increase.

Marcus Wulf of Schroeder & Hanmann, Germany, said sustainability in tea that started three decades ago has become more about having a certificate on the product packet for the consumers. But, the producers should be able to realise more so that they can get more into sustainable production practices. Countries such as Japan, China, and Korea are producing artisan teas, he pointed out.

Buyers go to countries that offer sustainable tea at lower prices. India should focus on bringing down the prices, he added.