Heatwave affects crop: First flush Darjeeling tea prices jump 10-15%

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The ongoing heat wave across the country has not only raised vegetable prices triggering food inflation, but has also severely impacted one of India’s best loved cash crops that is also a darling of global connoisseurs – Darjeeling tea. The price of top-quality tea from the north Bengal hills of Darjeeling have jumped by 10-15% this season as a six-month without rains have damaged the premium crop, The Economic Times has reported.

As a result of this weather onslaught, the output has dropped by 50% pushing up the retail prices.

Darjeeling first flush tea leaves are harvested between early-March till April. Aromatic first flush tea which brings premium price in domestic as well as export markets is grown between 600 metres and 2,000 metres above sea level.

The average annual rainfall in Darjeeling ranges around 309 cm. But this year there has hardly been any rain for more than six months.

The unusually long period without rain has severely impacted the crop. The quality of the first flush tea that has hit the in April-May has fallen short of the quality it is known all over the world, tea planters told the newspaper.

“Tea estates have reported 40- 50% drop in first flush teas, which is the biggest revenue earner for the Darjeeling tea industry,” Girish Sarda, co-owner of the 92-year-old Darjeeling’s Nathmulls Tea, said. It has led to a situation where tea that was retailing at Rs 1,700 per kg in2023 is now selling at Rs 1,900-2,000 per kg.

High-quality Darjeeling tea can bring such premium that half the annual profit can be generated from this one crop. Nathmulls sells high quality first flush teas that can fetch prices between Rs 3,944 per kg and Rs 53,586 per kg, depending on the quality of the sample.

While premium tea is purchased by a small band of connoisseurs, the larger section of customers buys teas in the range of Rs 1,500-2,000 per kg.

Darjeeling tea has been battling other odds such as cheaper teas from Nepal flooding the market and retailing as Darjeeling tea. Apart from this, export markets have been hit by geopolitical tension and economic slowdown in Europe and the US.