Temi tea estate is the pride of Sikkim, located at stunning Himalayan landscape of South Sikkim, founded in year 1969 with an area of 176.8 hectares, produces some of the finest quality tea in India. Temi was project initiated by late Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal in the mid nineteen sixties. And over the decades Temi tea has stood for the quality and unusual flavor. The fine aroma emanating from Temi tea leaves is the result of meticulous cultivation of select plants from the strain that is free from biological anomalies which then is further tempered by the fresh mountain breeze and rich highland soil. Hence the brew derived from fragile buds is strongly reminiscent of that Himalayan freshness. Temi tea garden is spread over 176.8 hectares, overlooking a high mountains and deep river valleys, the plantation is maintained by the body of four hundred conscientious workers. Their years of tender loving care for the plants has indeed infused a certain magic in their leaves as Temi tea has in recent times commanded the highest price.

Physical Setting Established only in 1965, Temi Tea Estate is built over the remains of a forestry and nursery. Its landmark, an old British bungalow, was built by Scottish missionaries in the early 1900’s and used to serve as a leprosy hospital but was later acquired by the state. . The produce from this garden has a rare combination of liquor and flavor and fetches some of the highest rates offered in the international markets. Tea Garden has moderately shallow, somewhat excessively drained course – loamy soils a steep sloop (30-50%) with loamy surface, moderate erosion and moderate stoniness. Natural Resources Temi tea Garden has Sub Tropical mixed Broad-Leaved Hill Forest, dominated by Alnus nepalensis (Uttis), Castanopsis (Kattus), Macaranga (Malata), Engelhardtia spicata (Mahua), Michelia (Champ), Toona ciliata (Tooni), Machilus (Kawla), Symplocos (Kharane), Cinnamomum (Sinkoli) etc. Shrubs include Rubus (Aiselu), Daphne (Algeri), Leucosceptrum (Ghurpis) etc. This area is also rich in birds including the Rusty-bellied and Lesser Short wings, Kalij and Satyr Tragopan; reptiles like Japalura lizards, Cobra, Krait and Himalayan Pit Viper; Himalayan Bullfrog; butterflies and leeches. Eupatorium is a major weed competing out Artemisia and other secondary growth. Large Cardamom planted in forest patches and a tea estate, are dominant features of the landscape as much as the naturalized exotic Cryptomeria japonica patches.

Unique Selling Proposition The tea garden is spread out on a gently hill slope originating from the Tendong Hill and provides a magnificent view of the surrounding villages. The Temi tea garden is the house of ‘Temi-Tea’ a popular brand known for its rich aroma and taste-a must to visit place for the tea lovers. Temi’s tender tea bushes are in their prime today fetching record prices in the London tea market and considered by many to be one of the best in the world. It is also the one and only tea estate existing in the State produces one of the top-quality teas in the international market. The visit to Temi offers one an opportunity to see the plucking of the tea leaves in the garden also to observe the processing of tea in the factory. The meandering journey amidst the greenery of tea plantation and the night in an old British built bungalow located just below the tea garden could be an enthralling experience of linking the past to the present A visit to the garden, enroute Tendong Hill could be a rewarding experience for those who want to combine nature and culture. The romantic view of the valleys which change color with the passing day keeps a lover wandering of her beloved in the distant village. Ecotourism initiatives taken up by the Government, NGO, Stakeholders An Old British Bungalow is often renovated, pertaining its architectural values and today serves as a guest house for tourist. Plantation works are carried out through cooperative effort of government and local NGO’s an initiation towards beautifying the Garden. Planting of Pine (Dhupi) and Prunes (Cherry) alternatively besides the road ways adds to the delight of joy riders.

mi, May 13 (UNI) Temi tea garden, the only such plantation in Sikkim, would be fully organic by April 2008. Garden manager M P Chamling said here today this famous and picturesque tea garden began its foray into organic conversion from April, 2005 under the guideline of the the Institute of Market Ecology (IMO), a Switzerland-based agency. Before that we used to follow the conventional method of tea production, Mr. Chamling said, since it took three years for organic conversion, the TTG had successfully implemented the organic measures under the guidelines of IMO in the past two years. Organic bio-fertilizers like cattle manure, neem cakes and vermicompost manure were being used by the garden, replacing the conventional chemical fertilizers. The TTG, a state government enterprise, received the IMO certificates every year after inspection by the Bangalore unit of IMO, the manager added. Once the TTG is declared an organic garden by the IMO, our products will fetch higher prices in the market, Mr Chamling claimed. He stressed that the natural flavor of Temi tea would be retained and no artificial input would be added. He informed that organic products were safer and more attractive, and not only people from Europe but also Indians now preferred organic products. Mr Chamling also claimed that as the TTG had not used chemical fertilizer in the past two years, the products were almost organic. Consequently, the garden had directly exported 100 kg of bulk loose tea to Canada and Japan last month at a record price of Rs 2500 per kg. Tea was derived from the leaves plucked in April known as first flush, the manager added. Already a brand name in the tea market, Temi garden sells its products at public auction at Kolkata through its authorized broker J Thomas and Company. Temi tea, produced in four grades, find ready markets in European markets and Japan, said the manager. Interested buyers from Europe visit our garden regularly and place orders directly, he added. Focusing on branding of its products, Temi tea also sells 30 per cent of its annual production in small packets under four brands - Temi Tea, Sikkim Soja, Sikkim Kanchendzonga Tea and Mystique. Each packet contains 250 gm of tea and they are sold through individual dealers and tourism-based outlets. The annual production of the garden fluctuates between 100 - 100 MT per annum, informed Mr Chamling.

The story goes that Choegyal’s son asked his friend, Teddy Young, a planter from Darjeeling, for assistance. An Englishman born and raised in Darjeeling, Young, now famous as the “last of the Sahibs”, spent a life time devoted to tea. He agreed to help. In 1973, Young and his mother – the daughter of a British planter who was born in the famed Makaibari estate – left for mountainous Sikkim, 30 miles north of Darjeeling, not an easy journey in a region that rises from an altitude of 920 feet to 28,169 feet from south to north. The site for the tea garden was shifted from Ravangla to the current location, Temi, and work began. By 1975, Sikkim, like other princely states in India, ceased to be a monarchy and was integrated into the Indian republic as her 22nd state.

In 1977, Temi produced its first batch of tea. Less than 100 kgs were produced. The tea was packed in yellow boxes and used by the chief minister as gifts from the state. Indeed, Temi’s teas were popular as “gift tea” because that was the only mode of distribution. Young managed the 440-acre garden until 1982 when he returned to Darjeeling. In the decades that followed, Temi remained a government-run garden, producing tea that was well regarded but limited in distribution.

The story of Temi Tea begins, not in 1965 when it was established but a few years earlier against a backdrop of political upheaval.

In 1951, following the Chinese invasion of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s foremost spiritual and political leader agreed to a peaceful occupation. After an uneasy decade came the revolt in 1959. Fearing for his life, he fled to India where he established an administration-in-exile. Across India, settlements came up for the thousands of Tibetans who followed him into exile, and continue to do so.

Sikkim shares more than geographical proximity with Tibet. The state religion is Tibetan Buddhism. The then king of Sikkim, the Chogyal, Palden Dhondup Namgyal, himself practiced Tibetan Buddhism. He was also a Bhutia, a term that indicates Tibetan ancestry. He was keen to help the Tibetan exiles. Tea was already a thriving industry in neighboring Darjeeling, and it must have seemed like a good idea to borrow that as a source of livelihood. In 1969, Sikkim’s first tea garden came up, in Ravangla, planted with chinary and clonal saplings obtained from Darjeeling.

Unfortunately, the garden didn’t thrive. Tibetans are nomads and unfamiliar with agricultural practices, and certainly tea cultivation. The clonal bushes didn’t take to the soil.

While that’s remarkable in its own right, perhaps Temi’s more significant achievement is in how it has emerged as a brand of its own – not as Darjeeling’s cousin or a ‘Himalayan’ tea but as a proudly Sikkim orthodox tea. In 2015, three years after Teddy Young passed away in Darjeeling, Temi’s teas first entered the global markets. The brand found takers among tea connoisseurs, especially those who enjoyed Darjeeling style tea. Here was a tea that resembled Darjeeling, but stood out as a confident tea of its own, as Young had hoped it would be.

In 2017, Mrinalini Srivastava from the Indian Police cadre was posted to Temi as managing director. The government position is filled in rotation every three years by the Indian Civil Services. One of the first things Srivastava did was to strengthen the Temi brand. Srivastava says, “Temi was easy to position. It’s a single estate tea, one of the first organic gardens in the country.” Temi is also synonymous with Sikkim, being the oldest garden here, and wholly state-owned. Her challenge was in creating a brand story for Temi, one that would be consistently communicated. “The storyline changed often,” she says.

She set out to articulate Temi’s brand story, bring back its rich legacy, and create a strong visual identity. Yellow was the color chosen by the Choegyal for the Temi packaging, and it connects deeply with Tibetan Buddhism. It’s thought to be the color closest to daylight, symbolizing humility. The color yellow had to stay, but Srivastava standardized the shade and created a strikingly vibrant range. The most premium of the collection comes in a sophisticated black packaging with a touch of the “Temi yellow”, with green and yellow for a green tea, and all-yellow packaging for the broken tea grade.

Temi has upped its production to 130,000 boxes per year with 25 metric tons in retail sales. “We will explore public auctions, private auctions, exports, and retail market,” says Srivastava, elaborating on the garden’s distribution plan. Clearly, retail is set to become a key distribution mode, with at least 50% of the production to be directed for sales here.

A well-defined tea tourism program further strengthens Brand Temi. The burra bungalow or the manager’s bungalow has been spruced up and is an attractive tourist option, offering visitors a slice of tea life, with its fantastic views of the Mt. Kanchendzonga.

In 2017, Srivastava launched the annual Autumn Festival. In its third year now, it’s typically scheduled towards the end of the last tea harvest of the year, one of the prettiest seasons when cherry blossoms are in bloom in these parts. “There’s more to Temi than tea” reads the tag line and it’s a great way to showcase Sikkim’s natural beauty, vibrant culture and also support local businesses. Temi, like Darjeeling and Assam, closes for the winter in November. No plucking takes place until spring. This makes the festival especially significant as it offers added revenue from tourists. It is also a fantastic marketing opportunity for Temi’s tea.

Time your visit to coincide with the Autumn Festival. Besides offering a tea experience in the gardens and factory, the festival also offers plenty of adventure sports, music performances and a peek into the former kingdom’s unique culture. Tourism is a major source of revenue in Sikkim, with more than 2.5 million visitors annually. Book early if you’d like to stay at the Burra Bungalow“. The closest airport is Bagdogra, which also connects to Darjeeling.

Brand building takes time and Srivastava knows that the work has only just begun. Her successor will have to take what has been set in motion and build it towards greater sustainability.

The lesson from Temi is plenty: that a tea garden can support an entire community and not be an exploitative one, that creating a brand, while being one for the long haul, has definite advantages that one can no longer ignore, and that tea gardens must explore all options available to them to generate revenue. At a time when estates are struggling between high costs and low farmgate prices, this is significant. The good news is that customers are keener than ever before to know where their produce is coming from, and the story it carries. And that’s what Temi has nailed. Sure, it has protected and sustained its legacy. But it’s also made this legacy a part of its brand story, one that complements its top-notch tea. Together, they give Temi’s customers a strong reason to return.