Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/1529919
20 STiR coffee and tea | 2024 Issue 6 (December / January 2025) T By Aravinda Anantharaman wo tea factories have just opened in India, one in Kumaon in the northern state of Ut- tarakhand and another in Kotagiri in the Nilgiris mountains of southern India. Both of them are described as "farmer-owned", indicating a shift in emerging models in the Indian tea industry. Small tea growers (STG) are a large producer segment in Indian tea. They sell green leaf to fac- tories that either estates-run or are stand-alone Farmer-Owned Factories: Moving Indian Tea Forward In Champawat village, female tea farmers are part of the new farmer-owned factory, promoting them from wage earners to owners. Photo courtesy Young Mountain Tea bought leaf factories (BLFs). Estates struggle with increasing production costs and commensurate prices while BLFs struggle with lack of control over the cultivation or plucking of green leaf and therefore compliance and quality. The trickle-down effect of this is that farmers see poor prices for green leaf, which has many broader economic and social consequences. The current idea of a farmer-owned factory seems to be an upgraded "Version 2.0" of the known bought leaf model, seeking to address the prob- lems that the STG-BLF system poses. While both factories will need a full year to see how this idea works, they do offer a possible way forward for an industry struggling to find a workable operational solution. An International Partnership in Kumaon Kumaon Tea was launched this year and factory construction began in Jan- uary 2024. Driving this project is Raj Vable, founder of US-based Young Mountain Tea, and Desmond Birkbeck, Kumaon resident and tea planter. Compared to the rest of India's tea regions, Kumaon has a unique story. Tea cultivation began with the East India Company in the 19th century, pre- dating Darjeeling. But with its distance from any port city, it did not become a tea hub. By the 1920s tea farming had tapered off. However, a revival in tea cultivation began in the 1990s, led by Birkbeck. The Uttarakhand Tea Devel- opment Board began to lease fallow land from the villagers to plant tea and set up four factories to process green leaf. In 2010, Oregon-based Raj Vable came to the area as a non-profit volun- teer and fell in love with Kumaon. He returned every year, eager to work with the community. In 2015, he met Desmond Birkbeck, who was working with The Kumaon Tea Factory model integrates farmers into the value chain. The factory buys green leaf at competitive prices and shares profits with the farmer-owners. Photo courtesy Young Mountain Tea