Why Nepali tea could not ‘grow’

The high cost of organic certification also poses a big challenge to tea farmers.

Nepal’s tea industry has not been able to carve out a niche for itself in the global market and find itself in a position to reap the economies of scale despite its chequered history spanning over 150 years. Even today, myriad gnawing problems continue to plague our tea industry, ranging from certification, labour shortages and high cost of organic farming to branding, failure to identify new export markets, lack of updated technology and expertise.