Tata Tea is wooing tea drinkers in Tamil Nadu with its latest entrant Tata Tea Chakra Gold Care, that comes with local natural ingredients athimadhuram , brahmi , ginger, elaichi and tulsi that are traditionally used in households.

Building brand love

The plan is to continue to build brand love by evoking regional pride by positioning as ‘Tea for Tamilians’ based on cultural insight deriving out of ‘ Tamizh’ way of life and celebrates people of TN who are proud of their rich culture, said Puneet Das, President - Packaged Beverages (India and South Asia), Tata Consumer Products.

Usually, tulsi, ginger or elaichi is added while preparing tea with the regular tea blend. However, the company now offers a readymade tea (Tata Tea Chakra Gold Care) with all these ingredients in the new blend. The new variant fits well with the accelerated trend of consumers gravitating towards health and wellness offerings by trusted brands, he told BusinessLine . “Since Tata Tea Chakra Gold has been one of the leading tea brands in South India with a strong heritage in TN, we will continue to build equity and focus on strengthening our variants, Care and Elaichi. At the same time, we will also keep ourselves close to consumer sentiments. We believe that as a legacy brand in the State, Chakra will continue showcasing real nuances and emotions of the Tamil culture as part of our communication to form stronger bonds with our consumers,” he said.

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As part of the launch, the brand has released a new campaign that showcases the Tamizh way of showing care, which is through actions for their loved ones, he said.

Overall, like the consumption trend elsewhere has been, there’s a decline in the out-of-home sector owing to the pandemic induced challenges. In-house consumption on the other hand has been on a rise because of work-from-home. Another strong trend that has emerged during the pandemic is growing preference among consumers for trusted brands and quality products, he said.

Double digit growth

The branded tea consumption in the State is almost 99 per cent of the total tea consumed. The State is also known for their evolved taste preference, he said. “In the last year, we have gained momentum on sales in TN with Chakra Gold registering a robust double-digit growth,” he said.

Though TN is perceived to be a strong coffee consuming state, tea is a more penetrated category than coffee. Coffee is estimated to be consumed in every 9 out of 10 households while tea is consumed in almost every household, he said, quoting a third party.

During the Covid pandemic, the company launched a purpose-led campaign called 'Oru Tea Sollunga’ that aimed to raise interim funds for the badly affected Hot Tea shop segment in TN. In September 2020 it partnered with one of the biggest symbols of Tamil Nadu – Chennai Super Kings as the Official Tea Partner in the 13th edition of Indian Premier League. Now the launch of Chakra Gold Care based on the insight of ‘Tamizh Way of Care’ is another step in our journey as the Tea for Tamilians, he said.

Reports estimate that the tea market in the State is worth ₹1,294 crore with Tata Tea Chakra Gold’s share in double digits, he said.