Tata Tea to add icing to cup

NEW DELHI: Tata Tea is eyeing more acquisitions, especially in the iced-tea category, as it makes a shift in its positioning from tea to a complete beverage company. “We are moving from being a tea company to a beverage company. The category where we see a gap is iced-tea. It is not yet a big category in India but quite big globally. For our iced tea plans, we are looking at both organic and inorganic routes. While we are looking at acquisitions, there is still some time to go before we finalise anything,” said Tata Tea executive director Sangeeta Talwar.

The company is still considering various issues before it launches iced tea in the market. “Iced tea would be a different distribution ball game altogether. It is more beverage-driven, against our current grocery-driven model,” Ms Talwar added.

Tata Tea on Monday launched Tata Tea Life, a regular black tea with natural flavours of herbs and spices. The company, which claims to have an 18% volume share behind HUL’s 19% share of the organised branded tea market, is also planning to topple the market leader by next year.
Tata Tea holds a 51% stake in Tata Coffee, which last year acquired Eight O’Clock Coffee in the US. “We are looking at branded coffee for markets like eastern Europe and India. We are also planning to add to the Eight O’Clock portfolio in the US,” Ms Talwar said.

Tata Coffee operates in the value gourmet segment. The company, which once held a 34.3% stake in cafe chain Barista, is focusing on packaged coffee. “We are not looking at cafes for now,” Ms Talwar said.

Tata Tea acquired a 30% stake in US-based bottled water major Glaceau last year, apart from acquiring tea brands Good Earth in USA in 2005 and Jemca in Czech Republic in 2006. “Glaceau is now the third largest water brand in the US.

There is a team in Mumbai looking at introducing it in India. However, there are no concrete plans to launch the brand in the country as of now. Acquisitions give us access to new markets and competence in new product categories,” Ms Talwar said.