62 Tea Samples Short-Listed For Golden Leaf India Awarda

Coimbatore: Sixty-two tea samples out of the 213 entries received at the 4th edition of The Golden Leaf India Awards: Southern Tea Competition (TGLIA:STC), have been short-listed for the second and final round. The finale of the 4th edition is to be held in Dubai on February 19 and will coincide with the Global Dubai Tea Forum 2008, industry sources said. Run-up to Budget 2008-09

The first level of screening was held on February 2 at Coonoor, when a eight-member jury comprising tea brokers, buyers and tasters evaluated the 213 entries received for the competition.

The initial screening was done to position the teas appropriately in the national and international markets based on quality attributes. The short-listed teas were subsequently screened for pesticide residues and heavy metals at the UPASI Tea Research Foundation.

Final testing

The UPASI Secretary General, Ullas Menon, said all the 62 samples passed the technical analysis test and moved to the final round.

A panel of international jury comprising Kurush Bharucha (Unilever Gulf FZE, UAE), Liubov Bahareva (Orimi Trade KSC, Russia), Mohsin Saify (Tapal Tea Pvt Limited, Pakistan) and Richard Smyth (James Finlay, UAE) will taste these South Indian teas at the Global Dubai Tea Forum on Tuesday and pick the prize-winning entries.

The award-winning teas are proposed to be marketed at the Dubai Tea Forum, Menon said.

Leaf Teas Surge On Good Demand At Kochi Sale

Kochi: Good general demand propped up the price of medium CTC dust teas by Rs 1-2 at the Kochi tea auction.

High priced CTCs were barely steady at last week’s levels.

Orthodox dust varieties also remained steady. Medium CTC primary grades witnessed good export enquiry. Blenders were fairly active while the domestic traders were selective in their purchases.

Best CTC varieties quoted Rs 62-73, medium CTC was at Rs 55-63 and below medium fetched Rs 48-52.

High grown BOPD varieties fetched Rs 100, medium BOPD was not quoted and secondaries were at Rs 46.

Leaf Sale

Arrivals of leaf tea to the auction dwindled to 2,18,000 kg which elicited good general demand.

High grown smaller broken and fannings witnessed better export enquiry and prices were higher by Rs 3-7. Best high grown whole leaf grades also quoted higher. Prices of high grown bolder broken varieties tended to ease.

Medium orthodox grades were also steady to dearer following quality. Plain orthodox varieties were steady at last week’s levels. CTC varieties were also steady at last week’s levels.

Best Nilgiri varieties fetched Rs 95-200, medium orthodox quoted Rs 58-70 and plain orthodox was at Rs 44-50. Best CTC leaf fetched Rs 58-60, while medium CTC leaf quoted Rs 49-55.

Top Prices

In the dust segment, Parkside BOPD fetched the top price at Rs 100, Pasuparai FD at Rs 90, Pasuparai SFD Rs 80 and Kallayar SFD was also at Rs 80.

In the leaf category, Quinshola FOPS fetched the top price at Rs 230, followed by Glendale BOP at Rs 201, Kairbetta BOP at 201 and Chamraj FOP at Rs 180.