Book advocates minimum floor price for tea

New book advocates minimum floor price for tea to ensure sustainability of growers and industry, addressing oversupply and low prices.

GUWAHATI

A new book on the business of tea has advocated a minimum floor price for the beverage to ensure the sustainability of the growers and the industry.

Titled ‘Minimum Floor Price for Tea’, the book penned by planter Chandra Kumar Dhanuka of the Dhunseri Group, was released in Guwahati on Wednesday (August 14, 2024).

A floor price is the minimum price at which a commodity can be sold legally. If fixed above the equilibrium price, a floor price goes a long way in ensuring the welfare of the producers, tea growers say.

“The stakeholders in the industry are the small tea growers who hold about 52% of the market share, producing about 702 million kg of tea. Large tea growers hold about 48% of the market share, producing around 648 million kg of tea,” Mr. Dhanuka said.

The tea buyers, sellers or merchants, brokers, and transporters are only intermediaries, he explained.

“The stakeholders, providing livelihood to around 3 million people, are suffering badly. The intermediaries, employing only 5% (of the people associated with tea), are suffering much,” he said.