Speaking to The Financial Express, the managing director, Tantea, KS Dehal Singh said that the company has received couple of inquiries from Russia for its orthodox tea varieties and it was currently negotiating the terms and conditions with its overseas buyers over the first direct export consignment from Tantea.

Until now Tantea was selling its entire production of 11 million kg plus of clonal teas through the auctions. ``The company's orthodox tea is quite popular abroad and in order to further expand its horizons in the global market, several quality control measures have been initiated.

Quality checks at each stage of production and right up to the point of shipment is part of our routine, added Singh.

Singh disclosed that Tantea has also chalked out plans of starting its own marketing and distribution network for selling its packet teas. The distribution network would first be strengthened in the South, where Tantea teas are quite popular, followed by North and other regions.

Emphasis will be laid on proper positioning of Tantea's existing CTC and orthodox tea brands including Tiger Hill, Lawson, Queenshola and Tantea Dust.

Currently, Tantea is selling 6,000 kg of packet teas in the Southern region and following the company's plans of having its own distribution network, this figure, as per Singh, is expected to go up to 10,000 kg by the end of the current financial year.

Singh said that the export inquiries received by Tantea were a result of the stall put up by Tantea at the recent international tea convention at Kochi. The corporation was also planning to participate in the forthcoming 15- day long `India Trade Fair' being organised in New Delhi in November.

The exposure through such trade fairs would help the company to project its quality teas before the domestic and overseas buyers and would provide good opportunities to tap the market potential within the country and abroad.

As per Singh, Tantea teas have been gaining popularity in the domestic market and while the major part of the production is sold through the tea auctions, efforts were also on to make garden fresh tea available in packets and pouches to the domestic consumer.

Currently Tantea has seven factories and by the year 2001, the company plans to put up two more factories which would take up the company's tea production by another 3.5 million kg.

Besides such expansions, Tantea is continuously working on increasing its production of clonal teas by implementing new scientific and technical advancements at its estates and factories.

The company is producing 10 million kg of CTC tea and 1.5 million kg of orthodox tea every year.

Tantea expects to achieve the targeted turnover of Rs 70 crores by the end of the current financial year as against Rs 60 crores achieved last year. The profit target for the current year has been fixed at Rs 10 crores as against Rs 7.35 crores last year.