Nagaland Premium Gold Tea which was launched by Baichung Bhutia will soon be available for retail.
Dimapur, October 15 (MExN): Atoqa Tea Producer Company Ltd, a registered farmer producer organization (FPO), launched its brand Northeast Brews and its product Nagaland Premium Gold Tea with brand promoter Indian football icon Baichung Bhutia in multiple north-eastern states and New Delhi.
The tea factory’s state-of-the-art packaging unit is located at Nikhekhu village, Niuland sub division, under Dimapur district. The factory created history as the first in Dimapur district to be licensed by the Tea Board of India (Government of India) and began its operations in March 2021, a press statement issued by Head of Operations Chothao Rhakho stated.
In the statement, Rhakho said that the brand would now enter the domestic market with its distinct identity of "Nagaland Tea". As per tea tasting consultant experts’ review, it had a mixed flavor, liquor, and aroma of Darjeeling and Assam tea (especially Golaghat belt of Assam which is known for its liquor) given its proximity and similar landscape, making it a tea enthusiast’s delight and mystery beverage as each region has its distinct flavor. Efforts are further on for all Nagaland based tea production units to come under a banner in the future, Rhakho added.
The brand is strategized by the award-winning ‘Lemon Designs Pvt Ltd’ a leading National Pune-based firm. Dipender Baoni, MD, in Dimapur, informed that the next phase of brand growth would be in the category of teabags and luxury corporate gift boxes.
According to the statement, presently, the factory management supports a plantation area of approximately 700 acres with about 170 small tea growers in the Niuland belt of western Sumi areas, with a vision towards creating sustainable rural livelihood for the small tea growers and boosting the local economy and ensuring a better quality of life. The management is also working closely with CaFNEI (Cambridge Friends of NorthEast India) - a Cambridge University Alumni group of leading Experts on Environment and Development towards supporting environment, conservation, and sustainable development work in India especially the Northeast, which falls under the Indo-Burma Biodiversity hotspot. CaFNEI's research focus will be on the effectiveness of various agricultural practices for climate adaptation and mitigation for tea plantations, as well as conservation intervention of the rich flora and fauna will be examined to further enhance and create financial opportunities for tea plantation-based ecotourism in the area, the release stated.
Commercial Manager Simon Jyrwa, who has 10 years of experience in the tea industry with the Mac Leod Russel India Limited, said that the establishment of tea industry was a source of encouragement for investors to start up industries in the belt. He further stated that eco/tea tourism and educational capacity building, day tours for students are in the pipeline for phase 2 of the project.
Along with efforts to identify tourist hot spots to improve the tourism infrastructure in the region, the management team would also take up the issue of regular power supply and critical road connectivity with the Central /State Government to create the ecosystem needed for overall growth.
Meanwhile, Jakhato Tsakhalu who handles STG and warehouse distributorship chain informed that Nagaland Premium Gold tea would hit the retail shelf soon. Stating that its specialty is premium high grown ‘single-origin tea’ where the taste changes with the change in season, he said that the tea goes from farm to cup in 7 days, unlike other tea packaging companies which reach our homes after 8/9 months after undertaking the process of auction, packaging, distributorship.
