Tea catalogue

TT, Siliguri, July 20: A Siliguri-based tea auction company today launched a catalogue with details of brew that would go under the hammer at the Siliguri Tea Auction Centre scheduled for July 22.

"This is the first time that we have come up with a printed catalogue containing details of tea that would be auctioned off by us. At the sale scheduled for July 22, we will auction off 1.71 lakh kg of tea from 64 gardens of the region (north Bengal). Details would be sent by each garden," Rajiv Jain, a representative of Good Point Tea Private Limited, said. "Now, buyers will get catalogues before every auction."

He said: "Most of the hard copies would be distributed among buyers. We will also put up the catalogue on our website. Prospective buyers can see tasting reports along with photographs of tea. We are putting scores on the basis of quality of dry leaf sample."

Representatives of the auction company said tea brokers used to distribute samples and other details earlier.

The catalogue, which would be published every week, would have details like name of the gardens, total number of tea packages and type of brew from each estate. "We also have a feedback form at the end of the catalogue and we would urge buyers to share their opinion with us about the catalogue," an official said.

P.O. Desai, chairman and managing director of Gujarat-based Wagh Bakri Group, a tea blending and packaging firm, said: "We appreciate the manner in which the company has planned to come out with a catalogue. It is good for buyers to have a clear idea of the quality of the tea."