“Chiya Khanu Bhayo?” or “Did you have tea?” is a typical Nepali greeting, particularly in the morning. This greeting highlights the significance of tea in Nepali culture. The first tea plant arrived in Nepal in 1863, but it was in the 1960s that tea became a mass-produced commodity, albeit initially on a small scale.
Today, tea is enjoyed by people of all ages and is an integral part of Nepali kitchens that can never be displaced. It is often served with cookies or other snacks when guests visit or even in their absence. An afternoon tea session is a common tradition in almost every Nepali household. This daily ritual marks the beginning of the second half of the day, providing a restful break.
Not limited to specific times of the day, tea is enjoyed at any hour – some have it immediately after lunch, others in the evening, and some even after dinner. As the saying goes, “Any time in Nepal is tea time!” Tea shops have proliferated across the nation, particularly in urban areas. Each corner and street in the Kathmandu Valley is home to at least a couple of tea shops. Entrepreneurs are busy capitalising on the trend, with popular outlets like Chiya Adda, Chiya Sagar, Jugaad Chiya and Kadak Chiya expanding their branches within the valley. People from all walks of life, particularly youngsters, can be found sipping tea and engaging in conversations that range from personal stories to esoteric philosophical discussions.
People at the Jugaad Tea Shop, Kathmandu. The white board reads: Three things are important in life: tea, tea’s colour and tea’s taste. Photo Credit: Anish Rasaili
People at Chiya Sagaar (Tea Ocean), New Baneshwor, Kathmandu. The wall behind reads “I choose tea over betrayal!”
Tea can be commonly categorised into two types—loose leaf or orthodox tea and CTC (Crush, Tear, and Curl, as is the method) tea. Loose-leaf tea is made with higher-quality tea leaves, whereas CTC tea is made with lower-quality leaves but is more popular in South Asia, mainly to make ‘milk tea’. While CTC tea is commonly used in the Nepali kitchen, the presence of loose-leaf tea has also increased in the Nepali market.
A few statistics related to Nepali tea are telling. Tea exports fall as the 9th most exported commodity of Nepal. According to official numbers, 98% of Nepali loose-leaf tea is exported to the Indian market. India itself is the fourth-largest tea exporter, contributing 12 per cent of global shipments, with exports worth $704.36 million in FY 2020-21. The flow of Nepali tea via India to overseas is hard to track, but it is expected that Nepali tea often finds its way to the international market, particularly through India.
“The Nepali tea industry is riddled with middlemen who buy tea from farmers for cheap and send it to buyers in India. The brand of Darjeeling tea is thriving worldwide, and its demand is much higher. To the contrary, Nepali tea has no identity in the world, and that is why Indian producers buy Nepali tea in lower cost and sell it abroad to fulfil the high demand for Darjeeling and Assam tea in the global marketplace,” says Amigo Khadka, a co-founder of the Nepal Tea Collective.
“Nepali tea is no different, if not better, than Darjeeling tea. While tea from Darjeeling is known as the champagne of tea, alluding to its quality and taste, Nepali tea is literally a lost child in the world of beverages. Why can we not have an identity of Nepali tea like French wines or Scottish whiskey?”, he adds.
However, this identity-building of Nepali tea comes with a price, especially when Indian producers benefit from it. India banned imports of Nepali tea in late 2021, citing that Nepal had supplied low-quality tea to India and misused the Darjeeling label. The ban was lifted in October 2022 after the Tea Board of India introduced a rule that Nepali tea can only be used in non-Darjeeling blends, but it remains unclear if or not this rule is strictly enforced. The undeniable truth, however, is that the Indian marketplace depends on Nepali tea, for Darjeeling itself cannot produce enough tea to meet the global demand. In the absence of an international brand identity, Nepal has no choice but to supply tea to India, which is then rebranded as Darjeeling or Assam Tea. It is high time that Nepal finds a way to break free from this cycle, and ensures a distinct brand for its tea in the international market.
While the question of identity is central to the tea trade, there are other important issues to consider. One such concern is related to tea farmers’ wages. While the minimum wage in other industries is a minimum of Rs. 17,300 per month, the tea industry provides only Rs. 13,900 as monthly labour compensation for workers. Most farmers, however, do not work on a monthly payment basis. They get payment based on the quantity of tea leaves they have plucked. A day’s earnings are generally less than Rs. 500, and farmers pluck tea leaves only a few times a week. On top of that, there is no work during the dormant season, which generally spans three months during winter.
Due to such challenging financial scenarios, the children of farmers and tea factory workers are opting out of working in the industry. They see the struggles of their parents and do not want to live that life. For many young people from tea families in Ilam, Panchthar, and Dhankuta – hilly districts of the eastern Nepal – getting a job in South Korea is the way out. They spend their days learning Korean while simultaneously working in a different industry. The future of tea plantations is grave – will the industry die because of the lack of a productive workforce, or will automation take over even in harsh terrains?
On the other hand, loose-leaf orthodox tea is making a resurgence in upper-end cafes in Kathmandu. Himalayan Java, a coffee chain, removed low-quality tea bags from its menu and started providing high-quality loose-leaf tea. While coffee sales are its bread and butter, tea sales have slowly started picking up. Nevertheless, the presence of loose-leaf tea in such a celebrated coffee chain shows a sign of a trickle-down possibility for high-quality Nepali tea to be consumed by the larger mass market.
Beyond loose-leaf tea, CTC tea is also rebranding itself. The introduction of youth-owned and youth-consumed tea spaces like Chiya Adda, Chiya Maya, and Chiya Sagar is rebranding the beverage as something that can be enjoyed with friends in a restaurant-like ambience. The market seems to be providing two stellar but different choices—a cheap yet traditional CTC tea versus an expensive and modern loose-leaf tea.
These shifts have indicated that Nepali tea can resurgence in the beverage ecosystem, not only in the Nepali market but also in the global ecosystem. The industry is riddled with problems, but with a staunch focus on the commodity by relevant stakeholders, including the government, producers, farmers, and marketers, Nepali tea can become something truly special in kitchens and living rooms worldwide.
