Inclusivitea and Prosperitea – part 2

 MINDSET

“Don’t let your past limitations determine your future”

I concluded my recent “piece” on Exclusivitea and Povertea published last week, by saying that time is running out!  We are in need of a paradigm shift if this industry is to move forward towards prosperity and l mean for the good of all concerned for tea and the country.

We cannot just wait doing nothing about the way we manage and sell our tea any longer. There is just too much at stake and too many involved.  Apparel, although it has overtaken tea by almost two and a half times as being the key product sector leading the earnings table from exports, it would still be a far less challenging sector to transform, substitute and replace should total calamity strike at the root of it.

Blessing or curse?

 In contrast even in terms of numbers employed hundreds of thousands of our people depend on tea directly and indirectly for their livelihood in our country and vast acreages of land in our island are covered with the crop. In nearly one and a half centuries, the way in which we have looked after this blessing or curse (whichever way we choose to consider it) has hardly undergone any significant change and no creative inputs are evident in the results from tea upto now. This situation can be contrasted with the Apparel sector for example, which has been dynamic, proactive, and quick to change to innovate and formulate business strategies, to meet the challenges faced by them. There, I believe is where the problem lies in the tea sector. The key decision makers in tea only talk to each other and are steeped in tradition, often quoting what their forefathers did, and believing that the future is an extension of the past, which rarely is.

The barefoot college of tea

The people, who grow tea, live on the plantation and care for the crop in the sun and the rain, are far removed from those who consume the tea and pay for it. This is understandable for the simple reason that we as a country send overseas more than 90% of what we produce. However, what is not acceptable or understandable is that those at home who stand and transact in between the consumer and those who work to produce the tea are not including this important stakeholder in the discourse. They are rarely consulted and we are surely thereby ignoring a wealth of knowledge and skills these poor people have which we will do well to harness.

The hidden mysteries of cop

Those who labour on the field may have the real secrets but have rarely been consulted. They are sure to bring to the table certain aspects so far not taken into account and overlooked by research Institutes, book learnt and self styled experts which can make mega changes in productivity and yields which our economists have long been talking about as the areas to be focused on to generate margins. Such a dialogue may surprisingly reveal the answers to the soaring costs of production which the plantation managers are constantly moaning about.  For the dialogue to be based on trust and sincerity the stronger party will have to drastically change the approach and attitude at the table, if a table is necessary at all for discussion to take place. Taking a leaf from the Barefoot College it may be best to sit on the ground or stand on the field and talk where the weaker party would feel at home. The extra miles have to be walked. The total national cost of plucking tea if it ever has been computed or considered, I imagine would be a staggering figure impacting on national COP.

Lessons to be learnt from the poor

The point I am making is best illustrated by the story of Roy Bunker the founder of the Barefoot College in India. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qqqVwM6bMM.

The name Barefoot College is both literal and symbolic and can aptly be applied to our workers in the tea fields of our country-mostly women. It is apart from the literal, a symbol of respect for the knowledge poor people have. Despite the exclusive, snobbish and expensive education provided by his parents, the promise of any life style or profession, job or occupation he chose to pick, he decided to invest his time to share with the poor and most importantly to learn from them.  Roy Bunker the elitist, thrice the national Squash champion of India prior to his life transforming experience represents (before his change) the typical exclusive class in our tea industry. Motivated by the life transforming experience in the sixties, due to his curiosity and led entirely by his own inclinations during the famine in Bihar, amazed the elite, his family, his connections and indeed the whole world by living in a remote village thereafter transforming the poorest of the poor and the outcastes of India into a most productive, vibrant, self content and dignified human resource any community could boast of. The need of the hour to transform our tea industry are the Roy Bunkers of Sri Lanka to step down from their towers and take the journey from the city to the nations Line Rooms and re-discover for themselves  and arrive at solutions.

Selling our tea

The next most important issue in order of priority to lead us to prosperitea is to escape from the cycles of ups and downs in auction prices, dependant on global demand and supply of the commodity. These spikes are beyond the control of this country alone and the deviations’ are so pronounced as to throw the producer completely off balance when prices prevail for too long below the cost of production.  

The issue has to be addressed sooner than later before the producer is left to his povertea. As much as we are dependent on widely fluctuating auction price levels which periodically falls below the threshold of production costs, the marketing of our teas globally is almost entirely in the hands of foreign parties who do not rush to pay a premium for what is produced here.

They have no stake in the production any longer and look at tea from a global perspective and are able with the resources at their command to influence consumer tastes, behaviour and change consumer perceptions as well as their supply channels.

To illustrate the point I am making, is the story of one the leading and popular brands of tea being sold in the shelves of the UK. These popular names which contained over 90% PURE CEYLON TEA not too long ago, including the one referred to contain no CEYLON TEA in its blends at present. The time when we could successfully prevail on international brand owners to use our teas in preference to others is now behind us. They have already arrived at the point where they consider it no longer cost or risk beneficial. That decision has already been made by these intermediaries and it is left for us to decide whether we can successfully traverse the path and now re-convert the ultimate consumer significantly enough. His behaviour has already been influenced by the multi- national brand players.

Ceylon tea

We have long held the belief and still many of us do, that nature has blessed us with the terrain, the climate and the seasons to produce teas that are unique. While this is indeed true for the best we produce in this country and these special teas originate from particular places in our island, it would be false to claim that uniqueness and attribute that quality to all 320,000 tons we produce.

Decisions have to be taken quickly to move forward. We have to either opt to deal with our tea exclusively, convinced that CEYLON TEA has attributes which cannot be replicated or substituted or follow the global trend set by all the leading tea brands of the world fiercely competing with each other, marketing tea not based on origin (except in exceptional segments) but by influencing and changing customer demand to buy their particular brand by promotion, marketing and advertising. This issue has to be settled one way or the other. The dilemma between settling for exclusivitea or inclusivitea extends equally to the decision of what tea we should sell ex-Sri Lanka.

From exporting to brand marketing

If indeed we decide to be exclusive, then we need to sell our tea branded as Ceylon Tea which means the Government which owns the brand has necessarily to participate in the business of marketing. Alternatively it has to assign the Brand to selected parties with inherent issues involved in making a choice. Participation in business directly does not sit well with policy in the present context where the GOSL is defending its role as a facilitator and a provider of infra structure and less inclined to participate in what it feels the private sector could manage best. The problem is the selection of parties to run with the CEYLON TEA BRAND and the spotted lion which is owned commonly by all. It is difficult to derive the result from advertising spend if CEYLON TEA is relegated to sub brand status which is what is presently applicable in the case of many Sri Lanka owned brands being marketed overseas. Should we apply funds collected from the trade in the cause of promotion and marketing a sub brand?  Ensuring a commensurate return from the spend is an imperative.  A creative win-win solution to this problem has to be found. Would the individual Sri Lankan owned brand owners be willing to relegate their individual brands to sub status in order that all could derive the benefits of the value and spend on Ceylon Tea and the Lion Logo?

Alternatively, after careful analysis should we opt to promote winning Sri Lankan owned brands rather than take the CEYLON TEA brand as the flag bearer. Either way, a huge investment outside the country will become necessary.   

When we decide to encourage Sri Lankan owned brand owners to market their products directly overseas avoiding foreign intermediaries, it appears to be unavoidable to permit funds to be raised by local companies to make investments even for production facilities overseas in the main tea consuming markets of the world. Sri Lankan entrepreneurs have to be encouraged to venture out and seize the opportunities that exist. The country owes a duty to those who have already demonstrated a winning streak in brand marketing to assist them to reach the next level and take them to higher ground.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win” –Mahatma Gandhi.