1 of 2
2 of 2
The Nilgiris Hills produce some of India’s best teas. But a legacy of mass production of CTC in the 1980s has held the sector back.
Of India’s three best-known tea origins, Nilgiris gets less attention than its northern rivals Assam and Darjeeling. And it struggles with many challenges. Yet producers in the lush Nilgiris Hills, and the tea they grow, have their own virtues and strengths.
Chief among the assets are deep roots and a long history, which dates to the beginnings of India’s large-scale tea industry. In the first half of the nineteenth century, when Nilgiris was popular as a summer retreat for colonial British officers, the region became a site for experimental tea farming. A planter named Henry Mann sourced tea seeds for chinary bushes from the Scottish botanist Robert Fortune, who smuggled tea saplings from China. Mann planted them on his farm, Coonoor Tea Estate, established in 1854 and considered the first tea plantation in these hills.
In 1859, Thiashola Tea Estate was planted, initially worked by 556 Chinese prisoners of war brought from Singapore and the Straits after the Opium War between Britain and China. The estate continues to produce fine orthodox tea to this day.
Among Nilgiris’s other early estates is Dunsandle Tea Estate, now owned by the Bombay Burmah Trading Company, which was planted around the same time. By the end of the 19th century, 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres) in the Nilgiris were under tea cultivation, producing leaf that found favor with London brokers.
The Nilgiris Hills are part of the Western Ghats, a mountain range that runs along the western edge of the south Indian peninsula straddling the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala. The biodiverse region is covered in tropical montane forests and grasslands that teem with myriad species of flora and fauna. Its high slopes, at 900–2,600 meters (3,000-8,500 feet) above sea level, are well suited for the chinary tea varietals, producing a superlative tea. In 2007, the high-elevation orthodox tea from Nilgiris District, in the heart of the region, earned a geographical indication (GI) mark to protect its origin, joining a distinction shared only by Assam, Kangra, and Darjeeling orthodox among India’s teas.
Vulnerabilities
However, Nilgiris tea has long been overshadowed by Darjeeling. Its undoing was growers’ shift to large-scale production of CTC (cut, tear, curl) in the 1980s for export to markets in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Numerous small farmers were incentivized to grow tea, and since quantity was sought, quality was compromised. After the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, the Nilgiris region’s tea sector began to struggle.
CTC still dominates. In auctions in 2022, 123 million kilograms of the 136 million kg from the Nilgiris was CTC. Much of this CTC comes from small growers and bought-leaf factories. The region’s total tea production in 2021 was 168 million kg, of which 107 million kg came from small growers. Large estates produced 61 million kg. The region contributed about 13% of the nation’s total tea output of 1,300 million kg in 2021.
Nilgiris tea fetches lower prices at auction than northern teas, both Darjeeling and Assam. In 2022, the average price for Nilgiris orthodox tea at auction was Rs 141 per kg while the average price for CTC was Rs 95 per kg. By comparison, Assam orthodox averaged Rs 284 per kg and Assam CTC 205 per kg.
In 2022, when Sri Lanka faced its severe economic crisis, Nilgiris producers believed that they could win market share from Ceylon tea. The two regions share some similarities in terroir because of their geographical proximity. Hopeful growers duly expanded their production of orthodox and reduced CTC. And indeed, by mid-year, prices for well-made orthodox black teas from Nilgiris had risen substantially from the previous year.
Yet Nilgiris growers could not reap the expected profits due to rising costs. One of the reasons, says M. N. Bopana, managing director, Craigmore Plantations (India) Pvt. Ltd., was disruption of supply chains. Because Nilgiris producers export much of their tea, they were hit by a huge rise in shipping costs, as much as tenfold for a container to Europe. The cost of shipment is not borne by buyers but by producers. Companies that had signed forward contracts on a cost and freight basis suffered huge losses.
Compounding last year’s bad luck in shipping costs, the Nilgiris market was hurt by Unilever’s sale of its tea business to Ekaterra Tea in 2022. Brokers say that this reduced demand for broken orange pekoe fanning (BOPF) grade by nearly half.
Low prices at auction have a bad impact on the small growers, each cultivating less than 10 hectares, who produce more than half of the region’s tea. They say they need to earn Rs 20 per kg for green leaf when selling to a bought leaf factory or large estate. In the Nilgiris, the price for green leaf is fixed by the India Tea Board and varies based on the previous month’s auction prices. In 2022, this monthly price did not exceed Rs 15 per kg. To pay Rs 20 per kg for green leaf, a producer would need to sell at Rs 140–150 per kg. That is Rs 50 per kg more than last year’s average price.
Producers also complain of cost pressures. Bopana of Craigmore Plantations said that in 2021 wages went up by 40%, much less than any rise in sales prices. A widening gap between the cost of production and farmgate prices leaves him skeptical about the future. Fertilizer was in very short supply in 2022, compromising the health of tea bushes. That could lead to poor yields and reduced prices.
Many merits
Yet Nilgiris tea has plenty to offer. The Tea Board of India calls it a “blender’s dream” because it balances both body and flavor. That’s why it is sought for blending with Darjeeling and even with Sri Lankan orthodox tea. Because it takes well to flavoring, it is a tea of choice for the ready-do-drink segment. And because it doesn’t get cloudy, it’s used in iced teas. If you’ve had Nestea, you’ve had Nilgiris.
Moreover, it’s a tea that can stand out on its own. It’s a light cup, and that quality makes it a favorite for the European and American markets. High-grown Nilgiris black tea is outstanding — brisk and bright with slightly spicy notes.
Because the European Union is the main export market for the orthodox black and whole leaf green teas produced in Nilgiris, estates there usually have several certifications. Compliance with India’s Plantation Labor Act is very high, and workers have good access to housing, medical facilities, schools, and welfare benefits. Moreover, the Nilgiris region offers relatively high wages to tea workers, at Rs 418.50 per day for pluckers, second only to the level in Kerala.
Most Nilgiris estates have retained the tradition of whole leaf tea making and continue to make fine orthodox black tea. Green tea began to be produced in 1969 and continues to be made and sold.
Some estates like Korakundah Tea Estate, Chamraj Estate, Glendale Estate, Parkside Tea Estate and Havukal Tea Estate produce small quantities of specialty tea. Korakundah, part of the listed Unitea group that also owns the Devabetta and Chamraj tea estates, is certified as the highest organic tea garden in the world, at 2,414 meters, or 7,920 feet, above sea level.
The winter frost tea is a Nilgiris specialty produced from late January though early February. Extremely cold winter nights and warmer daytime temperatures create a low-humidity environment that produces these fine teas. Plucking takes place early in the morning when it’s still very cold. Extremely cold and dry air is used for leaf withering, followed by gentle rolling, and oxidation at low temperatures.
These teas have a loyal fan following and sell for high prices. Well-made Nilgiris silver needles sell for as high as Rs 8,000 per kg.
Producers like Darmona Tea, HomedaleTea, and Vigneswara Estate Factory have shown what Nilgiris can do. The Darmona Super Premium retails for Rs 640 per kilogram. The lesson is that high prices can follow quality. Single-origin and single-estate Nilgiri teas are a marketing asset for the region. They deserve more attention and broad support.
Savvy and enterprise
In 2020, marketing consultant Padmanabhan Subramaniam moved back home to the Nilgiris after living in Coimbatore to look after his farmland. To support other small growers like himself, he set up a support group called Knowledge Sharing and Caring, KSC. He urged farmers to improve plucking and soil management, and manufacture tea themselves to better control prices.
A few small farmers had already been doing this, using minimal machinery. They produced whole-leaf specialty tea and not just CTC. Prabhu Nanjan, for example, ventured into specialty tea early, back in 2014. He used online information to learn how to make green tea, then expanded to white, oolong, and even a Puerh-style aged tea.
KSC’s Padmanabhan and fellow growers promote multi-cropping and organic farming. The group has developed its capabilities to act as a marketing platform. They offer tasting sessions in big cities in south India, introducing fine Nilgiris teas to consumers. These events are held at luxury hotels and promoted as premium events.
Another outlet for growers is the government-run cooperative, Indcoserve, set up in 1965. Throughout India, tea cooperatives have made little progress over the years, for a variety of reasons. But Indcoserve has kept going and lately begun to thrive. It has 30,000 small farmers as members and 16 factories that buy green leaf from them. The coop’s main market is the government’s nationwide Public Distribution System, which supplies essential goods to low-income consumers at subsidized prices. Indcoserve got a boost when the Indian Administrative Service sent Supriya Sahu to work as its head. She upgraded its factories with better operations, protocols, and certifications. She added a new revenue stream by creating a retail brand for Indco. She promoted tea through tea houses and trucks, or tea vandis, catering especially to the Nilgiris’s numerous tourists.
Large estates are working on their own retail products. One of the most popular brands from Nilgiris is Avataa, from the Billimalai Tea Estate. In 2012, it started producing specialty tea, adding white tea and oolongs to its portfolio. The company invested in special clones and tea varietals. However, despite a decade spent in building a retail bellwether, Aavataa’s managing director, G. Udayakumar, says, it is not a large part of the business.
To cope with labor shortages, estates like Craigmore have turned to mechanization. It is now 50% mechanized, which during the peak season of April to June has helped increase productivity and efficiency. Initiatives and ventures by specialty growers, innovative estates, and collectives might not have made a big impact yet. But if they persist and grow, they will help farmers gain bigger markets and better prices.
To avert the downward spiral witnessed in the tea industry in Darjeeling, Nilgiris growers will need to keep working. As discussed in STiR’s October/November 2022 issue, there are many ways in which the tea sector can improve its prospects: upgrading production, emphasizing certifications, linking up tourism, selling direct to consumers, promoting the GI, and so on. Banding together is especially crucial. There’s hope, but also urgent need.