Tata Consumer Products Limited is an Indian

fast-moving consumer goods Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), also known as consumer packaged goods (CPG) or convenience goods, are products that are sold quickly and at a relatively low cost. Examples include non-durable household goods such as packaged foods, beve ...

company and a part of the

Tata Group The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate group of companies headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest business conglomerate, with products and services in over 160 countries, and operations in 100 c ...

. Its registered office is located in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

while its corporate headquarters is in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

. It is the world's second-largest manufacturer and distributor of

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

and a major producer of

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

. Formerly known as Tata Global Beverages Limited (TGBL), Tata Consumer Products was formed when the consumer products business of Tata Chemicals merged with Tata Global Beverages in February 2020. The company now operates in the food and beverages industry, with ~56% of their revenue coming from India while the rest is from their international businesses. After the merger, the company controls Indian and international brands like Tata Salt, Tata Tea,

Tetley Tetley is an English beverage manufacturer founded in 1837 in Yorkshire. It is the largest company of tea in the United Kingdom and Canada, and the second-largest in the United States by volume. Since 2000, Tetley has been a wholly owned subs ...

Eight O'Clock Coffee Eight O'Clock Coffee is an American brand of coffee products currently manufactured by the Eight O'Clock Coffee Company, of North Bergen, New Jersey, a subsidiary of Tata Consumer Products; its coffee production plant is in Landover, Maryland. It ...

, Good Earth Tea, Tata Sampann and

Tata Starbucks Tata Starbucks Private Limited, formerly known as Tata Starbucks Limited, is a 50:50 joint venture coffee company, owned by Tata Consumer Products and Starbucks, Starbucks Corporation, that owns and operates Starbucks outlets in India. History ...

. Tata Tea is the biggest-selling tea brand in India.

is the biggest-selling tea brand in Canada and the second-biggest-selling in the United Kingdom and the United States.

History

1980 to 1990

In the early 1980s, the tea industry in India was experiencing rising input and labour costs and dwindling margins as well as high taxes. India was facing competition in the world market not just from China, but also from other countries entering the business. In 1983, Tata Tea bought the stake belonging to the James Finlay group to form the individual entity Tata Tea. In the same year, the company decided to move from the commodities business to consumer branding. The first brand Tata Tea was introduced. This was followed by other brands like Kannan Devan, Agni, Gemini and Chakra Gold. In spite of being the largest market in the world, the concept of branded tea took time to be accepted. In 1987, Tata Tea set up a fully owned subsidiary, Tata Tea Inc., in the United States.

1990 to 2000

In the 1990s, Tata Tea decided to take its brands into the global markets. It formed an export joint venture with

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

's Tetley Tea in 1992. Other new enterprises included a majority interest in Consolidated Coffee Ltd. (Tata Coffee Ltd.) and a joint venture to manage agricultural estates in Sri Lanka. Tata Tea Inc. in the United States processed and marketed instant tea from its facility in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, based on the sourcing of instant tea products out of

Munnar Munnar () is a town located in the Idukki district of the southwestern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. Munnar is situated at around above mean sea level, in the Western Ghats mountain range. This ancient plantat ...

and

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. In 1993, they entered into a joint venture with

Allied Lyons Allied Domecq PLC was a multinational company, headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom, that operated spirits, wine, and quick service restaurant businesses. It was once a FTSE 100 Index constituent and the world's second-largest spirits grou ...

PLC in the UK to form Estate Tata Tetley. In the mid-1990s, Tata Tea attempted to buy Tetley and the Lankan JVC acquired 51% shareholding in Watawala Plantations Ltd. In 1997 the company was embroiled in a major scandal known as the " Tata Tapes controversy" which related to funds the company provided to the outlawed

United Liberation Front of Assam The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) is an armed separatist insurgent organisation, that operates in the Indian state of Assam. It seeks to establish an independent sovereign nation state of Assam for the indigenous Assamese people throu ...

(ULFA), an armed-struggle group operating in

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

. By 1999, Tata Tea's brands had a combined market share of 25% in India. The company had 74 tea gardens and was producing 6.2

crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...

kilograms of tea a year, two-thirds of it packaged and branded. Towards the end of the year, the tea business was hit by a drought in much of India. In addition, Russia, once the largest buyer of Indian tea, temporarily withdrew from the market.

2000 to 2010

Tata Tea acquired the Tetley Group (based in the United Kingdom) in 2000. It was a £271 million ($432 million) leveraged buyout. Tata Tea reportedly outbid the American conglomerate Sara Lee in what was described, at the time, as the largest takeover of a foreign company by an Indian company. At the time, Tetley was the world's second-largest tea company after

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

Brooke Bond Brooke Bond is a brand of tea owned by Lipton Teas and Infusions, except in India, Nepal, and Indonesia where it is owned by Unilever. Brooke Bond was formerly an independent tea- trading and manufacturing company in the United Kingdom, known ...

Lipton Lipton is a brand named after its founder, Sir Thomas Lipton, Tom Lipton, who started an eponymous grocery retail business in the United Kingdom in 1871. The brand was used for various consumer goods sold in Lipton stores, including tea from 1 ...

and had an annual turnover of £300 million. It was the market leader in Britain and Canada and a popular brand in the United States,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. Established in 1837, Tetley was the first

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

tea company to introduce the tea bag to the UK in 1953. The tea bag was followed by the first round tea bag in 1989 and the 'no drip, no mess' drawstring bag in 1997. Tetley now contributes around two-thirds of the total turnover of Tata Tea. From 2005, Tata Tea began a restructuring exercise to divest direct ownership of plantations in India, a process facilitated by subsidised loans from the World Bank's

International Finance Corporation The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C. and a member of the World Bank Group that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private ...

. In 2006, Tata Tea acquired

, a U.S.-based coffee producer from Gryphon Investors for $220m; before being sold to Gryphon, the Eight O'Clock Coffee brand was originally owned by

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, was an American chain store, chain of grocery stores that operated from 1859 to 2015. From 1915 through 1975, A&P was the largest grocery retailer in the United States (and, until ...

from its beginnings in 1859 to 2003. The international

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

IUF criticized the company in 2009 for not allowing statutory

maternity leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and "paternity leave ...

to pregnant tea pluckers, and for locking out 1,000 workers on the Nowera Nuddy Tea Estate in

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

for so long that the local government began distributing food coupons for emergency rations to workers and their families. In May 2010, a crop sprayer died of suspected poisoning on a Tata estate in

, leading to protests at which two more workers were shot dead by riot police.

2010 to 2019

On 30 January 2012, Tata Consumer Products Limited and

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

announced the creation of a 50:50 joint venture called

Limited, which will own and operate Starbucks outlets branded as ''Starbucks Coffee "A Tata Alliance"'' in India. The stores started operating in 2012, launching initially in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

and

. The coffee shops source coffee beans from Tata Coffee, a subsidiary company of Tata Consumer Products Limited.

2019 to present

On 15 May 2019, Tata Chemicals Limited (TCL) announced the de-merger of the Consumer Products Business of TCL and into TGBL through a National Company Law Tribunal ("NCLT") approved scheme of arrangement ("Scheme") to become Tata Consumer. In the beverages business, Tata Consumer brands include Tata Tea, Tetley, Vitax, Eight O’Clock Coffee, Himalayan Natural Mineral Water, Grand Coffee and Joekels. In the food segment, the brands include Tata Salt and Tata Sampann. Tata Global Beverages Limited (TGBL) and Tata Chemicals Limited (TCL) announced that the Scheme of Arrangement between TGBL and TCL regarding the Consumer Products Business of TCL is now operational, effective from 7 February 2020. Following this, TGBL has been renamed Tata Consumer Products Limited. Tata Consumer Products combines the food and beverages brands, which include Tata Salt, Tata Tea, Tata Sampann, Tetley, Soulfull and Himalayan mineral water, under a single umbrella. Tata Consumer Products acquired complete control of Tata SmartFoodz Limited from Tata Industries Limited for on 12 November 2021. On 1 May 2022, Tata Consumer Products announced that Tata Coffee would merge with itself as part of a reorganization plan. The company stated that the merger was expected to be completed in late 2023, with shareholders of Tata Coffee receiving 3 shares in Tata Consumer Products for every 10 shares of Tata Coffee. In July 2022, Tata Consumer Products launched premium honey products and flavoured preserves, under the company's Himalayan brand name. Also in July 2022, the company launched plant-based meat products under the brand name, Tata Simply Better. In January 2024, Tata Consumer acquired Capital Foods (owner of Ching's Secret and Smith & Jones brands) for ₹5,100 crore and Organic India for ₹1,900 crore.

Operations

The company was renamed as Tata Global Beverages (now Tata Consumer Products Limited) to include the range of health and nutritional beverages it wants to enter into. Via subsidiary companies, Tata Consumer Products Limited manufactures 7

kilograms of tea in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, controls 54 tea estates, ten tea blending and packaging factories and employs around 59,000 people. The company owns 51 tea estates in

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, especially in

in eastern India and

in the south. The company is the largest manufacturer of

Assam tea Assam tea is a black tea named after Assam, India, the region of its production. It is manufactured specifically from the plant ''Camellia sinensis'' var. ''assamica'' (Masters). Assam's people tried to plant the Chinese varieties in Assam soil bu ...

and

Darjeeling tea Darjeeling tea is a tea made from ''Camellia sinensis var. sinensis'' that is grown and processed in Darjeeling district or Kalimpong district in West Bengal, India. Since 2004, the term ''Darjeeling tea'' has been a registered geographical in ...

and the second-largest manufacturer of

Ceylon tea Ceylon tea is both the brand of tea which is produced in Sri Lanka and a historic term describing tea from that land. Ceylon tea has been described as not only a geographical descriptor but also a pillar of Culture of Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan cultur ...

. Set up in 1964 as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

with UK based James Finlay and Company to develop value-added tea, Tata Consumer Products Limited has now product and brand presence in 50 countries. It is one of India's first multinational companies. The operations of Tata Consumer Products Limited and its subsidiaries focus on branded product offerings in tea, but with a significant presence in plantation activity in India and Sri Lanka. The consolidated worldwide branded tea business of Tata Consumer Products Limited contributes to around 86% of its consolidated turnover with the remaining 14 per cent coming from bulk tea,

and investment income. With an area of approximately under tea cultivation, Tata Consumer Products Limited produces around 30 million kg of

black tea Black tea (also literally translated as red tea from various East Asian languages) is a type of tea that is more tea processing, oxidized than oolong, yellow tea, yellow, white tea, white, and green tea, green teas. Black tea is generally st ...

annually. Instant tea is used for light density 100% teas, iced tea mixes and in the preparation of ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages. Tata Consumer Products Limited owns five brands in India: Tata Tea, Tetley, Kannan Devan, Chakra Gold, and Gemini. The company has a 100% export-oriented unit (KOSHER and HACCP certified) manufacturing instant tea in

, which is the largest such facility outside the United States. Tata Consumer Products Limited has subsidiaries in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

The United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguou ...

, Czechia and

Brands and Products

Tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

* Tata Tea * Good Earth Teas *

* 1868 by Tata Tea * Teapigs * Vitax * Joekels * Organic India - Teas & infusions

Coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

* Tata Coffee Grand *

* Sonnets by Tata Coffee * Tata Coffee Gold * Tata Coffee Quick Filter * Tata Coffee Cold Coffee

Liquid Liquid is a state of matter with a definite volume but no fixed shape. Liquids adapt to the shape of their container and are nearly incompressible, maintaining their volume even under pressure. The density of a liquid is usually close to th ...

Beverage A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothie ...

* Tata Copper+ * Himalayan Natural Mineral Water * Tata Gluco+ * Tata Fruski

Food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...

s * Tata Salt * Ching's Secret * Smith & Jones * Tata Sampann Herbal Supplements * Organic India - Herbal supplements

Social initiatives

Jaago Re!

Tata Global Beverages worked with Janaagraha on a voter registration drive, with the campaign name "''Jaago Re!''" ("Wake Up!"). Following this, the company moved the campaign on to opposing

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

. The Jaago Re! website encourages discussion on this and other social issues.

Scholarships

Tata Global Beverages awarded the Tata Global Beverages Re-imagination Scholarships on 17 March 2013 to eight students from the 'Urban Scholars' program at

Brunel University Brunel University of London (BUL) is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. It became a university ...

in London. The participating students were required to write an essay based on the following topic "A hot cup of tea on a cold morning, sharing a joke over a cup of coffee, a sip of cool water after a long trek. Beverages are part of our everyday life and yet they also sprinkle some magic on it—moments of reflection, sharing, inspiration and laughter...moments that take us away from the ordinary. What do you think makes a magical beverage moment?"

Criticism

In January 2014, Tata Consumer Products Limited and International Finance Corporation (IFC) which is part of

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

were criticized for poor working conditions, low wages, and gross human rights violations in a report released by Human Rights Institute at Columbia Law School. The report alleges Amalgamated Plantations Private Limited (APPL) which is partly owned by Tata Tea and IFC is in violation of many of the provisions of the Indian Plantation Labor Act (PLA) on its tea plantations in Assam and West Bengal. In March 2014 a documentary on The Guardian news website claims that Tata Global Beverages is underpaying the minimum Indian wage at an Assam tea plantation that Tata co-owns with Tetley and other major tea producers. In October 2015, a movement of 6,000 female labourers calling themselves "Pempilai Orumai", or women's unity laid siege to the Munnar tea estates, one of Kerala's most popular tourist destinations and owned subsidiaries of Tata Tea's plantation in Kerala. Trade and tourism were brought to a near standstill but, after nine days of protest and marathon negotiations overseen by the chief minister of the state, it gave in. The spark that ignited the protest was a decision to cut the 20% bonus paid to tea pickers, but its roots go much deeper than that. "Part of the women's complaint is that they live in one-bed huts without toilets and other basic amenities and, while they earn significantly more than the tea workers in Assam, they say the (£2.30) they are paid for a day's work is half what a daily wage labourer in Kerala would get."

Shareholding pattern

The maximum stake is being held with Indian promoters of the business i.e., TATA Group with a percentage share of 34.66%. Mutual funds hold a 14.86% share and FPIs hold a 17.05% stake in the company. Non-institutional individuals hold a 20.38% share in the company.

References

External links

* {{Nifty 200 companies Tata Sons subsidiaries Drink companies of India Manufacturing companies based in Kolkata Indian companies established in 1964 Indian brands Food and drink companies established in 1964 Tea companies of India Tata Consumer Products 1964 establishments in West Bengal Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange NIFTY 50 Condiment companies of India