Menu

Goodricke Group Limited

Overview

Goodricke Group Limited is an Indian tea producing company headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is one of the larger integrated tea companies in India, engaged in the cultivation, manufacture and sale of black tea, including Darjeeling, Assam and Dooars varieties. The company is a subsidiary of the United Kingdom–based Camellia Plc and operates a network of tea estates across eastern and north-eastern India along with packet tea brands sold in the domestic market.

Key facts

Name Goodricke Group Limited
Industry Tea (plantations and packaged tea)
Headquarters Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Country India
Parent Camellia Plc (United Kingdom)
Listing Bombay Stock Exchange, Calcutta Stock Exchange
Products Bulk tea, packet tea, instant tea

Background

The Goodricke name traces back to British-era tea planting interests in the Darjeeling region of the eastern Himalayas. The present Indian entity was constituted to consolidate the Indian tea estate operations of the Camellia/Goodricke group under a single Indian-listed holding, in line with policy requirements relating to foreign-owned plantation businesses in India. Through successive acquisitions and amalgamations, the company brought together estates in Darjeeling, the Dooars of West Bengal and the Assam Valley.

Operations

The company manages tea gardens producing orthodox, CTC and green tea. Its Darjeeling portfolio includes well-known estates that produce speciality teas marketed both within India and through export channels, while its Assam and Dooars estates contribute the bulk of its CTC output.

  • Plantations: Tea estates spread across the Darjeeling hills, the Terai–Dooars belt of West Bengal and the Brahmaputra Valley in Assam.
  • Branded tea: A range of packet tea products sold under the Goodricke brand in the Indian retail market, including premium Darjeeling blends and mass-market CTC packs.
  • Instant tea: Spray-dried and freeze-dried instant tea produced at a dedicated facility for industrial customers and exports.

Corporate structure

Goodricke Group Limited is part of the Camellia Plc group, an international agribusiness holding company with tea, food and engineering interests. Within India it functions as a publicly listed company with shares traded on Indian stock exchanges, while the majority shareholding is held by the parent group through its subsidiaries.

Significance

As a long-established planter, Goodricke is regarded as a notable producer in the Darjeeling tea industry, which holds a Geographical Indication tag, and is also a recognised brand in the Indian packaged tea segment. The company's estates are significant employers in the plantation districts of West Bengal and Assam, where tea cultivation is a major component of the rural economy.

References