The pandemic had brought the whole world to a standstill damaging economic growth, business opportunities, and most of all, causing innumerable loss of lives. However, with a pragmatic approach, INDCOSERVE, which is the largest tea cooperative federation in India, turned the pandemic into a business opportunity and ensured that the thousands of stakeholders were not deprived of their revenue source.
In an exclusive interview to Indian Masterminds, IAS officer Supriya Sahu, who is the CEO of INDCOSERVE, shared about the strategy and execution plan applied to keep the tea industry running in Tamil Nadu during the pandemic.
A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
During the pandemic lockdown, tea manufacture came down to less than 20% as the North/North-East Indian tea industry had decided not to operate due to the high number of cases. This is when INDCOSERVE took it as a business opportunity and secured its market wherever possible.
“With the support of Government of Tamil Nadu, INDCOSERVE obtained the sanction for due consideration of tea as an essential commodity, and to the benefit of the entire tea industry operating in Tamil Nadu, orders were issued at the behest of INDCOSERVE to operate all tea manufacturing units,” Ms Sahu said.
CHALLENGES
The operations of INDCOSERVE towards manufacture and supply of tea mandated a large scale involvement of manpower resources and other infrastructure like 30,000 small tea grower members, 16 industrial cooperative tea factories having a rotational manpower strength of over 1,000, the head office and packaging units of INDCOSERVE, warehouses across South India, specially contracted packaging units, transportation partners, etc., adding to the operational infrastructure and human interface, leading to some of the biggest challenges of all times.
“We took all the necessary measures to overcome these challenges by ensuring thorough monitoring of systems, regular mandatory medical check-up, keeping the entire workforce well informed about the need to be protective and facilitating them adequately with all PPE kits equipment, etc.,” Ms. Sahu told Indian Masterminds.
INTERSTATE GOODS TRANSPORT
Transporting goods from one state to a neighbouring state in South India was another challenge that the tea industry faced. The tea grades from various regions were to be brought to blending points and further taken to packaging units.
Ms. Sahu said, “The process became smooth by the meticulous planning, preparations and pre-emptive coordination that was done with all stakeholders, within the government channels and with the agencies involved across the border in the neighbouring states.”
TEA MARKETING
INDCOSERVE has an in-house packaging unit with a complete set of blending and packaging equipment and machinery. With regard to branding and packaging of teas, INDCOSERVE had shed its traditional small tea grower cooperative outlook and is working on a fast pace expansion plan.
“Customizing tea blends to cater to pan global audience, the engagement of reputed agencies for brand creation, social media promotion and taking up the e-commerce route etc., are some of the initiatives. The launch of 25 Indco Tea vandis on a franchise model and similar establishment of Indco Tea Houses are key initiatives to enhance the brand building and marketing efforts,” Ms. Sahu added.
CARBON NEUTRAL TEA
Any tea which is produced without creating a carbon footprint in the course of manufacture could be termed as Carbon Neutral Tea. INDCOSERVE came up with a solar powered set-up so that the complete operation of Indco’s Kaikatty Industrial Cooperative Tea Factory could be achieved successfully without using any material that would result in CFC emission.
“We have consulted IIT Kanpur, Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency (TEDA) and other leading institutions. The project is most likely to be completed and fully operational by June 2022,” informed Ms. Sahu.
