Industry Odisha Bureau, Oct 11: Everton Tea India turns bulk leaf into 3 million flavoured tea bags daily. They reach Walmart, Aldi and Carrefour under private labels. Sri City’s port access supports the export push.
An Andhra factory far from India’s tea gardens supplies supermarkets in Mexico and Europe. The plant belongs to Everton Tea India and sits at Sri City, Tirupati district. It turns out roughly 3 million flavoured tea bags every day. Everton Tea India exports most of this output. They reach global chains: Walmart in Mexico, and Aldi and Carrefour in Europe. The retailers sell them under their own private labels. The operation shows how Indian tea can gain value before leaving the country.
From bulk leaf to flavoured blends
The Andhra factory converts bulk tea into packaged consumer products. Flavouring and packaging add value that raw bulk tea lacks. About 30% of output is herbal; green and black tea make up the rest. The range spans as many as 40 flavours.
Demand for herb-infused hot drinks gathered pace after the Covid-19 pandemic. Roshan Gunawardhana, a director of Everton Tea India, links it to health awareness. He also notes some Europeans are switching from coffee to tea. The factory now also makes gift-packaged tea bags for Europe’s growing gifting demand.
Two machines to 24
Everton Tea India is a subsidiary of Everton SpA. Its parent is primarily owned by Italian private-equity firm Clessidra Group. It began as a family business run by an Italian entrepreneur and Sri Lankan partner.
The Sri City factory opened in 2012 with two packaging machines and 20 workers. It now runs 24 machines and employs about 300 people on the shop floor. Daily output has climbed from 2.5 million to 3 million bags in three years. Output figures, however, do not reveal revenue or profits. He said there is “still plenty of room to grow”. That depends on continued innovation in products and packaging.
Why Sri City
Everton’s founders first looked for land in Tamil Nadu, near a tea-growing region. They chose Sri City instead, drawn by its closeness to Chennai port. Ravindra Sannareddy, cofounder and managing director of Sri City, recalled the decision. He called it a rare example of a large tea-exporting facility in Andhra Pradesh. For an export-led manufacturer, port access helps move goods to overseas buyers.
Indian leaf, with a Chinese twist
Despite its location, the factory leans heavily on Indian gardens. About 90% of its tea comes from Indian plantations. These include Assam, Darjeeling and the Nilgiris. Kenya and China supply the remaining 10%.
Gunawardhana said Chinese tea is bought for flavour, not price. “It is a matter of taste,” he said. Some European customers specifically want Chinese tea. The imports serve those orders rather than replace Indian leaf.
The value-added opportunity
The model contrasts with pressures elsewhere in the industry. Gunawardhana acknowledged headwinds for bulk black tea exporters. Some planters in Assam and Darjeeling face similar strain, he said. Yet he sees considerable room for value-added Indian tea in Europe and the US.
India’s tea exports to China rose 40% year on year to $49 million in FY26. Imports from China fell to $8.5 million from $12.2 million in FY25. These are country-level figures, not Everton’s own results. Everton’s experience shows packaging, innovation and retail access can carry Indian tea further.
