India Tea Conclave 2025: ICC North Bengal puts tea and youth in spotlight

Siliguri: The Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) North Bengal chapter hosted the India Tea Conclave 2025 in Siliguri, drawing national attention with its theme, “Youth for Tea”. This two-day event held at a hotel brought together industry stalwarts, entrepreneurs and innovators to reimagine tea not just as a beverage, but as a lifestyle product appealing to new-age consumers.

With over five specially curated business sessions, the conclave was a blend of insightful keynote addresses, interactive tea tastings and engaging activities such as “make your own tea”, a walkathon for tea awareness and the country’s first tech-centric tea showcase, ‘Tea Techno’. The conclave started on Thursday and concluded with the walkathon held on Friday morning.

A large number of people from the tea industry across North Bengal participated in the event. Umang Mittal, the Chairman of ICC North Bengal Chairman inaugurated the event, emphasising the chamber’s vision of positioning North Bengal as a vibrant business hub. “This conclave reflected ICC’s commitment to positioning North Bengal as a vibrant business hub. Through bold, forward-looking events like this, ICC is enabling collaboration, innovation and new opportunities across sectors. The India Tea Conclave is our effort to bring the tea industry closer to youth, new markets and future-ready thinking,” he said. The highlight of the conclave was a stirring keynote by Prahlad Kakkar, advertising legend who encouraged the industry to adopt bold storytelling and modern branding to captivate younger audiences and expand global appeal.

Adding further depth, Gopal Dalmia, Chairman of the ICC Tea Committee (North Bengal), stated: “Tea is evolving. This conclave celebrated tea’s diversity, health benefits and the innovation now shaping its future. With over 50 varieties showcased, we offered an inspiring and transformative platform.”

Major players like Tata Consumer Products, Hindustan Unilever, Wagh Bakri and Goodricke participated, making the conclave one of the most dynamic tea-centric industry gatherings.