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Tata Tea to launch Tetley brands in Indian markets soon

Fakir Chand in Bangalore

Tata Tea Limited, or TTL, is planning to launch the global brands of Tetley Tea in the Indian market soon.

The Indian tea major, which took over the UK-based company recently for Rs 4.87 billion, has drawn up production and marketing strategies to further strengthen its presence in the packaged tea market.

Tetley outsources tea from different regions, especially Kenya. But plans are afoot to pack its brands for the Indian market with Assam tea or Darjeeling tea, produced at the Tatas' tea gardens in the North-East.

TTL's executive director Abhijit Mazumdar said that with the acquisition going through, efforts are on to ensure that Tetley's global brands hit the Indian market at the earliest.

The company will offer a flavour of the world's best tea before the festival season begins. Targetted mainly at the premium segment, the packaged tea products will carry the Tetley Tea label. However, the logo will be that of the House of Tatas.

"The brands and their positioning will be such that there will be no direct competition with existing TTL brands. The company will undertake extensive product research and marketing studies in the run-up to the launch of these brands," Mazumdar said.

He was in Bangalore for the re-launch of Kanan Devan, the company's leading tea brand in southern India. "The renewed efforts are to maintain Kanan Devan's brand identity and retain the tradition of plantation freshness," he added.

Sources said that TTL has roped in I M Vijayan, thrice 'Indian Footballer of the Year', to promote the brand. Though the brand has a market share of 60 per cent in Kerala and 33 per cent in Goa, the company's gameplan is to leverage the popularity of the superstar in pushing its sales in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

With this the company has added another star to promote its brand: the other being popular Kannada film actress Meena. "The Vijayan campaign will take off this week in Kerala when the soccer hero launches his football academy at Thrissur," a company official said.

For the fiscal 1999-2000, the company's turnover touched the Rs 10-billion mark as against Rs 8.95 billion grossed during the previous year. This represented a growth of 16 per cent.

ALSO SEE:

Tata Tea to acquire Tetley for Rs 4.87 billion

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