Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/491368
70 STiR tea & coffee industry international A worker plucking tea by hand can harvest at most 60 pounds of green leaf per day. A ride-on harvester on tracks can pluck 10,000 pounds a day, he said. KDHP continues to pluck high-value organic tea by hand. Investing in value added India's consumer segment is the youngest in the world with a median in the 20s. The number of children per family is falling, the number of wom- en working outside the home is increasing and In- dians are better educated and internet connected. They enjoy greater disposable income and travel more frequently which means there is much great- er exposure to brands. The appeal of convenience is taking hold along with a growing preference for sustainable and eco-friendly products. The sum of these trends is greater consump- tion of quality tea which is currently drunk by 94% of the population, but at a relatively small per cap- ita average of 790 grams. The busiest corner in downtown Munnar is the KDHP Tea Sales Outlet where busloads of tourists arrive from the valley below to purchase tea. Munnar is a sunny subtropical highland with a pleasant 77-degree high in winter and summer. Evening lows are from 40 to 60 degrees and heavy with the spell of spice among eucalyptus, cedar and pine. Across its eight tea sales outlets at various loca- tions in the city, KDHP stocks an unusually broad selection of tea in many formats, at various price ranges along with novelty and premium offer- ings. These include White Tea, Rose Premium Tea (flavored with petals from KDHP's rose garden), Green Tea Classic with flavored teas, tea bags, iced teas, CTC teas, Orthodox teas and a whole range of essential oils and chocolates. The Munnar out- lets earned a combined $1.9 million last year. One outlet is strategically located at the coun- try's first Tea Museum, run by KDHP in Nullatan- ni Estate, a stone's throw from the town centre. The museum depicts the toils and rigours of the pi- oneer planters and the workers who assisted them, without whose resolute efforts Munnar would not have transformed into a major plantation center. Packaging has a pronounced impact on profit- ability. Packing tea in tea bags reduces by a third the volume of tea sold while often tripling the price. Packaging is the single most valuable ad- dition to tea and when combined with a brand it drives profits. In England 96% of tea is bagged. India bags only 2% of its tea. KDHP does all this and more. K. Mathew Abraham, head of marketing and sales, said that four years ago KDHP launched its own "Ripple" premium tea in the Kerala market. Year-on-year growth is almost 100% per year in roads, and infrastructure but mechanizing the har- vest has the greatest impact. KDHP shears its teas with a combination of mechanical and hand operations. Nigel Melican, founder of London-based Tea Craft, predicts 80% of the world's tea will be me- chanically harvested by 2040. Currently 35% is harvested by machine, a number that will quickly rise to 65% by 2020, according to Melican. On the larger plantations tea is rarely plucked two leaves and a bud, said Melican. The economics are clear: the cost of green leaf harvested by ma- chine, including labor, fuel and depreciation is un- der 10 cents per kilo, he explained. "Hand plucking costs three times more," said Melican. The decid- ing factor is "labor scarcity which is becoming a limiting factor which often compromises quality." Sholas are stunted tropical forest covered hillsides. Home on the Range The High Range is home to hundreds of magnificent creatures from rare birds and fleet rodents to the giant elephants that roam the hills. Workers at Kanan Devan Hills Plantations play a unique role in the preser- vation of these species. KDHP provides substantial support to the High Range Wildlife and Environment Preservation Association (HRW&EPA) a volunteer group involved in land and wildlife preservation dating to 1928. The association was founded to regulate the indiscriminate killing of animals. Today its members organize Nature Awareness Workshops; teach school chil- dren about animal life and lead treks into wildlife sanctuaries like the Eravikulam National Park. KDHP also recruits and trains Mudhuvans, an indigenous tribe of hill people, employed as "watchers." Daily these men and women maintain a Wildlife Sighting Record on the plantation in exchange for medical care and assistance in taking advantage of the government's social welfare programs. Sightings include the Nilgiri Tahr (Hemitragus hylocrius), an endangered and extremely rare type of mountain goat that roams Eravikulam's rolling grass- lands, home to more than half of the total world's population of these goats. Indian Gaur, Malabar Squirrel and a wide range of wild animals including Nilgiri Langur, barking deer, wild dogs, leopards, and tigers are the pride of the High Range. KDHP managing director Checko P. Thomas noted with pride that there had been 82 elephant sightings by April. One of the plantation's most important priorities is the restoration of the degraded 'shola' forests - evergreen deciduous woods and thickets that are home to wildlife.