Areas of Work

The main areas of work in the industry include:

PLANTATION WORK

This involves the nurturing and growth of the tea plant in the gardens, and the subsequent plucking of the tea leaves.

Most tea gardens have their own tea processing factories, and tea planters are also expected to supervise the processing of the tea leaves at the factory, and package it for dispatch to the tea auction centers.

AUCTIONING WORK

The packaged tea, which arrives from the tea gardens, is auctioned once a week to either bulk-buying industries who brand and market the tea, or to individual buyers. The auctions are conducted by brokers who are experts in evaluating the various teas and pricing them accordingly. Most tea brokers have had a background in tea Planting, and have developed finely tuned abilities in tea tasting. 

MARKETING

Different varieties of tea bought in. bulk are then blended and marketed according to their flavors, and the taste requirements of different consumers.

Tea companies employ tea tasters adept at blending the teas, and marketing personnel who handle the sales and distribution of the different brands.

Areas of Specialization

RESEARCH

There is much research work being conducted by scientists, botanists, biotechnologists and others, for producing disease-resistant, high-yielding varieties of tea, as also strains which produce leafs that are natural blends of various teas. The Tea Research Association at Jorhat, in Assam, is a
premier organization where pioneering work is being done in this field.

TEA TASTERS

The quality of tea depends on its flavor, and so, tea tasting is a highly specialized area of work. Tea tasters have to develop a fine sense of distinction between the taste and aroma of different teas. Most tea companies employ tea tasters for ensuring quality standards, and preparing blends.

To make analyses and marketing predictions more accurate, tea brokers are increasingly using computers. But in terms of taste, the tea taster's palate is the ultimate testing ground.

Tea tasters also advise researchers on the commercial factors like taste, economic viability and maturability of tea.

Major Tasks Performed

As the tea plant is vegetatively propagated, tea planters have to maintain the tea plantations in a manner that ensures optimum yield. Therefore, like all agriculturalists, they have to prepare the soil, apply the appropriate fertilizer, and choose the right variety of plant for the prevailing climatic
conditions, and supervise the pinching and plucking of the tea leaves.

Fresh tea leaves are transported to the factory in netted bags that facilitate air circulation. In the factories, planters supervise the processing of the tea, the cutting, tearing and curling, in specialized machines, for the CTC varieties, the special drying of the leaf varieties, and then the packaging of the tea in wooden chests for dispatch to the auctions.

Tea gardens are controlled by Managers who have junior assistants and Assistant Managers, depending on the size and requirement of the garden, to assist them in the smooth functioning of the tea estate.

At the auction centers, the tea samples are listed and evaluated by tea brokers. There are broking houses in the country where the brokers test the various samples of tea, which come from the different tea gardens.

Tea brokers act as intermediaries between the planter-producer and the buyer, and must be up-to-date with market trends and international prices.

Marketing tasks are similar to those required by marketing personnel handling other consumer products.