“World Tea & Coffee Expo, Mumbai India” to showcase the best teas from Siliguri and North Bengal through a dedicated “Siliguri Pavilion"

· “World Tea & Coffee Expo”™ 2016, India’s Only International Trade Show Dedicated to the Tea & Coffee Sectors to be held from 20^th Oct – 22^nd Oct 2016 at Mumbai INDIA

·     WTCE is participating as Exhibitor at the 4th “Tea Forum” at Siliguri from 26 to 27 Feb 2016

The Oct 2016 Edition of “World Tea & Coffee Expo (WTCE)” at Mumbai India shall showcase tea from Siliguri through a special dedicated “Siliguri Pavilion”. To be held from 20^th to 22^nd Oct 2016 at Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai, INDIA, WTCE shall be the gateway for Siliguri Tea companies to expand their business nationally and globally. Siliguri has been growing in prominence in the Tea sector over the last few years due to the high quality of its produce as also the concentration of a large number of companies in this small but important town. India is likely to witness the launch of over 200 packet tea brands in the next 18 months of which more than 50 are likely to be launched by companies headquartered in Siliguri. E-commerce tea portals are another area where a number of Siliguri companies have taken lead in offering a variety of world class products to consumers across the globe. This makes Siliguri a challenging trade centre with unlimited potential.

Companies from Siliguri had no national platform to showcase their unique products, until the World Tea & Coffee Expo was launched in Mumbai in 2013. The Expo has been undertaking the task of opening up the national – and global – markets for Siliguri Tea companies enabling them to be on par with the leaders in this field. Says Mitesh M Kapadia, Director, Sentinel Exhibitions Asia P Ltd, organiser of WTCE, “The basic vision of our show is to offer a national and international platform at a competitive price to Indian companies - especially regional and small players – to expand their footprint and grow their business inspite of having low budgets. Participating at this exhibition enables companies to cut down on costs related to sales, branding, appointing distribution agents or for institutional sales”. The Siliguri pavilion at WTCE shall have additional branding and buyers shall access all the offerings of Siliguri within the pavilion.

The gateway of North East Bengal, Siliguri is a fast growing economic centre with borders of four countries viz. India, China, Bangladesh and Nepal meeting at this region. It is because of the position of Siliguri that North Bengal has come to be a hub for trade and commerce. Companies having tea gardens in the Dooars and Terai regions of North Bengal are primarily headquartered at Siliguri with a number of Darjeeling tea garden owners also based here. There are over 450 Tea gardens in North Bengal giving direct employment to more than 3.5 lakh workers – more than half being women.

In addition to a display of tea and coffee brands and products, WTCE shall also showcase Vending Solutions, ingredients, machineries, technologies and certifications from the entire gamut of the Hot beverage sector. Workshops and a high level Conference make WTCE an ideal networking ground for manufacturers, producers, buyers, wholesalers, packagers, distributors, brokers, warehouse owners and suppliers. The 2015 edition of WTCE – also held at Mumbai - had a total attendance of52 exhibiting companies from 7 countries and over 3200 Trade Visitors. Some of the biggest names in the Hot beverage sector continue to be a part of this one of its kind expo.

Adds Kapadia, “Mumbai being the commercial capital of India provides the perfect environment for the hot beverage industry to meet face-to-face and develop real business opportunities.” In order to enable maximum companies from Siliguri to be able to take advantage of this unique platform, WTCE is participating as Exhibitor at the 4th “Tea Forum” at Siliguri from 26 – 27 February 2016 organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with Federation of All India Tea Traders Association (FAITTA)

WTCE has become the ideal launch pad for new products especially by SMEs who don’t have big budgets. The show is attended in a big way by the HoReCa sector as also Retailers, Wholesalers, Importers/Exporters, Chain stores, F&B managers, Spa managers, Hotels / Hotel Chains, Vendors/Suppliers, Grocers, Resorts, Tea & Coffee houses, Spices Manufacturers and allied professionals. The trade fair is organized by Sentinel Exhibitions Asia P Ltd [SEA], a part of the Sentinel media group.

WTCE is supported by many eminent trade bodies including Tea Board of India (Govt. of India) and fulfils the need for an organized event for Tea & Coffee Companies in India to come together. For further information please log onto www.worldteacoffeeexpo.com or call on +91 22 28625131 or email to info@worldteacoffeeexpo.com.