| |
| |
|
|
| |
NEWS CENTER |
 |
|
| |
The Sweet Cup
of Success
Business Today, September
2003 |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
Very few indeed know that Harrods
of London began business as a tea shop. That was in 1849. Ten
years later they became merchants of tea. With a 154 year connection
with the tea industry, Harrods probably holds the record for
such a long relationship with the brew that Sri Lanka is famous
for.
Hafizur Rahman, Chief Tea Buyer for M/S Harrods, is a true connoisseur
of tea. In keeping with the policy of Harrods he only looks
for good tea, which means the orthodox leaf teas. The bulk CTC
(cut, tear and curl) teas, that one gets in tea bags, flooded
the market for some years.
However, things are now changing in the world of tea, as Rahman
explains. There is a steady return to the orthodox leaf teas.
In fact Harrods has been creating awareness of the values of
the orthodox teas for about 10 to 15 years, and now see customers
turning away from CTC to the genuine thing.
He finds Sri Lanka to be the best source of orthodox leaf teas.
Harrods only takes tea from select tea plantations in Sri Lanka.
He visits plantations and advises the senior planters of the
standards of quality that are required, and finds a good response
from the growers. He also believes that Sri Lanka can gain a
further advantage by promoting organically grown teas, that
is, with no chemical fertilizers or pesticides used. The market
for this is in the higher cost bracket and fast expanding.
Rahman, who has many years of experience at Harrods in selecting
and marketing the best teas, explains that Harrods markets 25
single estate teas, something that no other shop does. Currently,
he is sourcing all his Ceylon teas through Stassen Exports that
is one of the largest tea exporters in Sri Lanka. Stassens is
renowned for owning Sri Lanka's best tea gardens including the
world famous Kirkoswald, Kew, Pettiagalla, Mahadowa and Indulgashinna.
Customers enjoy the pure garden freshness of these teas. With
the increased interest in the orthodox teas, there is every
sign that, contrary to expectation in some quarters, the teapot
will once again come into fashion.
The partnership with Stassens Exports has not only paved the
way for obtaining garden fresh single estate teas but also for
getting a quality product and service that no one else can match.
A major word of advice by him is that Sri Lanka should take
the lead in promoting teas as a true health drink. In fact he
suggests that Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh should join in
promoting tea as a healthy drink, highlighting specific health
benefits. Such a move would help convert coffee drinkers, as
well as those who take the fizzy soft drinks, to tea. The future
of good, unspoilt, genuine tea, straight from the garden is
very good, he says. So enjoy that good cuppa!
| |
- Harrods has carved a distinct place in the world
as a high profile company associated with premium
quality products, and Sri Lanka known for high quality
tea is certainly proud that its tea has found its
place within Harrods' shelves. To start off, could
you please explain how tea fits into the overall business
of Harrods?
Harrods actually originally opened a tea shop as a
tea merchant in 1849, and from there it followed on.
In 1859, Charles Digby Harrod, Charles Henry Harrod's
brother, proceeded to take over the business and he
is quoted as saying in 1859 that the tea business
is very profitable, and from there onwards, the first-ever
tea tasting emporium was established. Harrods is a
department store, specializing in foods but we sell
all sorts of other products as well. Having opened
as a tea shop, Harrods' roots lie in tea.
- Do you buy tea in bulk and then blend and packet
it yourselves?
We buy bulk and have partners who blend and packet
our teas. We also buy packed tea from the source and
sometimes buy certain branded teas as well as loose
teas from Sri Lanka.
- What type of teas do you normally market in your
stores?
I have to be very honest, we only sell orthodox leaf
teas and we do not deal in CTC (cut, tear and curl)
or lower quality teas. That's why I am in Sri Lanka
to source tea from select estates and to find the
best teas in Sri Lanka.
- What do you mean by the best tea?
It is the orthodox leaf tea. It means many things
to many people. For us, it means the large leaf tea
or designer tea. We also consider organic tea and
also single estate teas as the best teas.
- Do you market these teas only through your store?
Yes, we do this exclusively and it cannot be found
anywhere else in the world.
- Harrods has expanded and begun new operations in
other parts of the world. Would you like to expand
on your satellite stores?
Our target markets are based in Japan, Germany and
Singapore and we are the biggest exporters from the
U.K. to Japan. We sell large quantities of teas in
the packet form under the Harrods label.
- Where do you procure your tea?
We especially travel to India, and now we are entering
Sri Lanka. Our association with Sri Lanka goes back
seven to eight years. We used to purchase tea from
wholesalers but we have now decided to buy the best
tea from Sri Lanka. We visit Sri Lanka and its exquisite
tea gardens to advise garden managers on how to manufacture
orthodox leaf tea, how to design the tea according
to what we want, and to understand what they have
to produce when it comes to special teas.
- You probably require specially trained people to
advise estate owners and planters. Do you possess
this expertise at Harrods?
We concentrate on specialized teas because nowhere
else can the tea we sell be found. We take the initiative
and go to the gardens and explain to the garden managers
that we require certain types of teas, and we have
conveyed to the customers that this tea cannot be
found anywhere else. An example is the hand-rolled
tea.
|
|
| |
|
| |
^
Top of the Page |
| |
|
|
