Tagged: tea companies

When Assam's Tea Gardens Existed Only on Paper

Between 1860 and 1865 Indian tea was a speculative asset first and a crop second, and when it collapsed in 1866 a government enquiry had to certify the industry was real.

The Companies of Tea

Who actually owns the tea industry, in four models: the colonial-rooted plantation company, the farmer-owned cooperative federation, the state-linked enterprise, and the family holding group or global blender. What each looks like, where each dominates, and why the model determines who absorbs a bad harvest.