Customer preference and

potential of specialty tea

in ernakulam district
GUIDE: PROF. SENDHIL KUMAR STUDENT
NAME:ALAN SIMON
USN: 1IA18MBA09
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Harrison Malayalam.Ltd sells tea products throughout Kerala by way of Processing the tea leaves
gathered from Farmers. It is the responsibility of Harrison Malayalam also called as HML to
ensure adequate supply of tea products within the state considering the forces of demand and
supply by way of maintaining prices in a stable way. Business entities are becoming more
competitive in nature day by day due to the emergence of new technologies customers expect
to receive full satisfaction from the service he/she procure. Customer relationship or satisfaction
is indirectly proportional to the average profitability and goodwill status or image of a firm in the
upcoming future. On the other hand, if customers are highly dissatisfied from a product or
service which may create a false view in the minds of customers. As in the case of HML they
don’t even have a proper customer relationship management or efficient employees to identify
or evaluate the needs of future customers, even though the firm is enjoying good business on an
average still it has to give more importance to other key elements in this competitive scenario.
This project study aims to identify and evaluate the key reasons or causes for dissatisfaction
among customers, what new strategy to be implemented for erasing off this issue…etc.
INTRODUCTION
what's specialty tea? primarily, specialty tea is high grade loose-leaf tea sometimes from tiny tea estates. it's the phase of
the tea trade that produces top quality tea, single estate tea, honest trade and organic tea and rare tea like white or pu-erh.
INDUSTRY PROFILE: Tea isn’t simply tea in India but it is like a staple beverage here and a day without it is impossible and
incomplete. Indians prefer their steaming cup of tea because for them it acts as an energy booster and is simply
indispensable. This popular beverage has a lot of health benefits too as its antioxidants help to eliminate toxins and free
radicals from the blood.
COMPANY PROFILE: Harrisons Malayalam Limited (HML) is South India's most active integrated agro operation. One of the
oldest-with a history that goes back over hundred and fifty years-it has been a leader in corporate farming and has
developed and operated Tea, Rubber, Cocoa, Coffee and a wide variety of Spices plantations over this time. Today the
company is growing around 14,000 ha and processes are generating in its neighborhood from other farmlands. Rubber, tea
and pineapple on 7,400 ha, 6,000 ha and 1000 ha of own farmland, respectively, give the company its main products. With a
production of about 9,000 tonnes of Rubber, 20,000 tonnes of tea and 25,000 tonnes of Pineapple, HML is South India's
largest agriculture operation. The company also produces smaller quantities of a variety of other exotic horticultural crops
like Areca nut, Banana, Cardamom, Cocoa, Coffee, Coconut, Pepper and Vanilla as well as limited quantities of Organic tea
and spices. Our operations are spread over 20 Estates, 8 rubber factories and 12 tea factories along with a number of
blending and processing units in the three southern states of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu .The product range includes
both CTC and Orthodox Tea, Rubber in concentrated rubber latex, crepe, block and sheet rubber forms
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

To assess the marketing potential of specialty tea in Ernakulum market.

 
Assess potential customer acceptance
 
To study the future scope of specialty tea in the market

To ensure customer satisfaction

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The primary objective is to find out the marketing potential of specialty tea in Ernakulum district
A detailed analysis of HARISSION MALAYALAM LIMITED and other competitors provided few insights about the market. But to know about the opinion of retailers
and consumer about the product this study was conducted.
SAMPLE SIZE: Sample size of the study is limited to 100.
DATA COLLECTION METHOD:
Data’s for the study will be collected by following method.
Questionnaire method for collected data from customers
Discussions with the staffs
Company’s hand book
DESIGNING SAMPLE:
Non probability sampling.It is basically a form of convenience sampling in which the population elements are purposely selected based on the judgement of the
researcher.
RESEARCH DESIGN:A research design is the frame for a study used as guide to collect and analysis data. A research design ensure that the study will be relevant
to the problem and it will use economic procedure.The research design for the study is Descriptive Research. A descriptive research is conducted to gain idea and
insight the problem,It is conducted to increase the marketing potential and marketing familiarity with the problem and the clarity concept. A descriptive research
is appropriate when very little is known about the problem.Here the purpose of the study was to find out the marketing potential of specialty tea in Ernakulum
district.
HYPOTHESIS

H0: - There is no sign ifi ca nt relationshi p between produ ct quality/services an d cust om er relatio nship in Harriso n Malaya lam. Ltd.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |

H1: - Th ere is a significant relationshi p b etween product quality/services and cust om er relatio nship in Harriso n Malaya lam. Ltd.
| | | | | | | | | | | |

H0: - The re is no signi ficant relationship between promotional ac tivities an d cust om er awarene ss abou t th e products b een sold in Harrison Malayal a
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

m. Ltd.

H1: - Th ere is a si gni fi ca nt relationship between promotiona l acti vities and cust o m er awa reness about th e products been sold in Harrison Malaya la m. Ltd.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
FINDINGS
 25% prefer Harrison tea in the survey

 It is clear that 35% of the respondents belong to 30 – 40 age group which usually go for quality
brands like HARRISON
 65 % of the customer response about HARRISON products was from male category and
balance 35 % from female category.
 It is evident that more % of response in urban areas was been recorded from female category
(60%) compared to male (40%).
 It is evident that more % of response in rural areas was been recorded from female category
(25%) compared to male (20%).
SUGGESTIONS
 First and Foremost, it is necessary to have promotional activities especially those in the outskirts of
city (rural areas). They need to educate themselves about the new product availability in HARRISON.
 Harrison needed to emphasize more and more importance to sales and marketing, especially in the
case of other product lines.
 Information Technology can be used which requires very less expenses than promotional activities to
spread data across the area or state.
 Harrison should develop flexibility to change its policies or procedures accordingly to the taste and
preference of customers
 Employees needed to be trained and skilled enough, that bears a part of revenue for the organization.
CONCLUSION

I discovered specialty tea quite by accident. Even though I drank tea my entire life, I never knew
such a world existed. You already know that it was during my time of research and development for
my ready-to-drink iced tea business that I explored tea beyond supermarket tea in bags.
Nowadays the people are more conscious about their health. Parents and kids especially prefer
specialty tea due to health problem. This is a growing opportunity for the industries because
families nowadays prefer specialty tea. So the opportunity is vast.
The global tea market, according to one estimate, is currently just under $88 billion. While the
Indian market sees significant production and consumption of tea, specialty teas reportedly
account for only about 1 per cent of the country’s tea production. Over the years, green tea
consumption has seen increases in India, but according to Teamonk, there’s a demand for healthier
teas in general across the country, including oolongs, whites and others. Specialty tea brand aims to
become a global brand in tea even as it captures more and more of the home market which
translates to a potential market of roughly five million urban households across India.