MTI’s Hilmy Cader responds to Chrisantha Perera

I wish to respond to Chrisantha Perera’s comments in article titled ‘Promoting Ceylon Tea and global branding – not mutually exclusive’ published on 16 November in the Daily FT in response to my original opinion titled ‘Build or buy brands, not promote Ceylon Tea’ on 12 November in Daily FT

•  Firstly, the budget we have at our disposal is so small (in the global context that we are competing) – trying to spread it any thinner will not give the critical mass to compete globally. Hence the need for hard strategic choices. 
•     Secondly, even if one assumes that we have significantly much larger budgets, there are some hard questions we have to ask ourselves:

l    The final decision to use Ceylon Tea will be made by the Brand Owners i.e. the Liptons, the Tetleys, the top regional brands. Of course, they will be influenced by what the consumer demands and today what the consumer demands is also strongly intermediated by the retailer (think Tesco, Walmart).  If we are get the consumer to ‘pressure’ the brand owners to shift to Ceylon Tea, then we will need to invest like a global FMCG brand would to convince consumers globally.  That too, the campaign will need to be so powerful and heavyweight – for it to create that kind of consumer response to pressure the brand owners to shift.

l    On what basis, are you going to convince the consumer to demand for ‘Ceylon Tea Inside’? If am currently not using a brand that has ‘Ceylon Tea Inside’, tell me why I should shift?  Do you have any unique product properties (of relevance to the consumer) that other teas don’t? Why should I pay a higher price for ‘Ceylon Tea Inside’ – when there are lower cost options available out there? Taste? Heritage? 

•    Wear the hat of an investor who has say $ 10 m to invest.  The choice was between investing in a Sri Lankan tea brand with global growth potential and the ‘Ceylon Tea’ campaign by the Tea Board. Who is likely to give you better returns (all factors considered) faster?  Who would have the capabilities and be able to take the responsibility to ensure the ROI? 

I do not mean to be derogatory or negative towards ‘Ceylon Tea’ (personally I cannot live without it!), but if we are to develop effective strategies we have to be critical of ourselves. As an outsider to the tea industry who has worked closely with the industry on several projects, I feel we carry a lot of ‘baggage’, pride ourselves in legacy (that is increasingly less relevant to the market), very insular and intra-industry conflicted.  

I shall conclude as I mentioned in my article: “This is no longer a ‘storm in a tea cup’, the tea industry is experiencing a slow-release tsunami!”