Tea has been India’s beverage of choice for over a century. It is present in almost every Indian household. Chai is everywhere around us, from living rooms to college canteens to corporate board rooms. Yet, somewhere along the way, we may have started taking our tea for granted.
This concern shows up in the data. India’s per capita tea consumption is about 840 grams a year, far lower than in many other countries. Also, despite such a low base, domestic consumption of tea is growing very slowly, at around 2 per cent per year. So, it is worth asking: How can India fall in love with tea all over again?
Barriers to growth
There seem to be five major barriers to stronger growth of tea in India.
First, tea is seen as affordable and routine, and the category in general lacks aspiration — though some modern brands of Indian tea are indeed aspirational.
Second, there are myths in some segments of the population that drinking tea causes ill-health, such as acidity and loss of appetite. This despite tea being a healthy, natural drink.
Third, tea has a relatively low visibility in the premium lifestyle space, where coffee and other craft beverages tend to dominate.
Fourth, there is a lack of standardised, ready-to-drink tea formats in many parts of the country.
Fifth, while many of us love tea, it is yet to be highlighted as India’s own proud national drink.
Over the decades, tea in India has indeed moved from being just a daily necessity to becoming a beverage that creates emotional bonding and wellness. This is thanks to the efforts undertaken by many brands of tea. But, as the above barriers show, there is still a long way to go.
Five-point roadmap
If we wish to accelerate the growth of tea consumption in India, the tea industry should address these barriers. I would like to suggest a five-point strategic roadmap.
#TeaLuxe
This is the term I have used to talk about how we can make tea a very aspirational drink. If wine, chocolates and coffee have created a significant aspirational halo around themselves, what is stopping tea? Indeed, there are some very successful examples of premiumisation of tea in India — including single-estate teas such as Makaibari, 1868 by Tata Tea, and Ripple White tea. But these are still too few to swing the pendulum. We need many more brands to invest in premiumisation, if the centre of gravity of tea is to shift towards being aspirational.
#TeaPower
We have to ensure that the positive health effects of tea are well known across the country. For instance, tea is rich in flavonoids, which are known to be good for heart health. Similarly, the correlation between tea and metabolic health, or tea and hydration can be showcased. It is perhaps time for all stakeholders in the tea industry to come together to communicate these category benefits of tea through a memorable industry-wide marketing campaign. Categories as diverse as eggs, milk and mutual funds have done this successfully. So why not tea?
#TeaStyle
If many more young people have to drink lots more tea, then there is a need to make tea far more fun and cooler than it is today. This may require new nomenclature for tea, much like coffee has built a new lifestyle language around Italian terms such as espresso, americano and latte. This may also need a reimagination of the outdoor spaces where tea is served.
#TeaReady
Convenient formats such as ready-to-drink teas have to become widely available. In addition, affordable technology for brewing consistency has to be developed. Standardised café experiences have to draw in consumers. Consistent quality of tea has to be far more readily accessible than it is today.
#TeaDesh
If there is a beverage that can assume the position of India’s national drink, it is undoubtedly tea, which is consumed across the country. Each region has its own tea identity and heritage — for instance, cutting chai in Mumbai, adrak wali chai in Rajasthan and Sulaimani chai in Kerala. We need to restore and celebrate these regional identities and add dollops of national pride into every teacup.
(Harish Bhat is an avid marketer and bestselling author. This article is based on a speech delivered by him at the India International Tea Convention held in September 2025 at Kochi. He would like to acknowledge the inputs he has received from Riya Wadhwani, PhD student at IIM, Udaipur)
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Published on November 17, 2025