印度"茶谷"探索硅谷式的科技創新

DARJEELING, India — The tea plantations here in the shadow of the cloud-shrouded valleys of the Himalayan mountains may be the last place to find technological innovation. Many of the colonial-era practices involved in tea-growing and processing still follow the time-honored manual labor and handwritten bookkeeping.

印度大吉嶺——這裏的茶葉種植園位於喜馬拉雅山麓雲霧籠罩的山谷裏，從這樣的地方找到科技創新的影子恐怕並不容易。很多殖民地時期就已經採用的茶葉種植及加工方法依然沿用至今，比如人工採摘茶葉和手寫的賬目。

But as global consumers increasingly become connoisseurs of high-quality products, one entrepreneur is seeking to give the industry a Silicon Valley makeover.

但是隨着全球愈來愈多的消費者成了品鑑高檔茶葉的行家，一位創業者正在嘗試對茶葉產業開展一番硅谷式的改造。

India is the world's second-largest tea grower after China. Yet, even as the country produces quality specialty varietals that are as highly regarded as wines from France and whisky from Scotland, its industry is antiquated.

印度僅次於中國，是全球第二大茶葉種植國。雖然印度出產特有品種的優質茶葉，可與法國的葡萄酒和蘇格蘭的威士忌相媲美，但是當地的製茶產業已經過時了。

With the backing of one of Silicon Valley's biggest venture capital firms, Accel Partners, Kaushal Dugar, a Singapore-trained financial analyst, is among those slowly bringing the sector into the modern era via his online tea retailing start-up, Teabox.

曾在新加坡受過教育的金融分析師考沙爾·杜伽爾(Kaushal Dugar)，在硅谷最大的風險投資企業之一，阿克塞爾合夥公司(Accel Partners)的支持下，正在通過在線銷售茶葉的初創企業Teabox逐步讓製茶產業現代化。

The bulk of India's production — about one billion of the total 1.2 billion kilograms (2.6 billion pounds) — is consumed by the domestic market, where mass-market brands from the Indian conglomerate Tata and the multinational Unilever hold sway. But the remaining 200 million kilograms is a market ripe for shake-up.

大部分印度出產的茶葉都由國內市場消費，在12億公斤（約合26億磅）的總產量裏，印度消費者購買了約10億公斤。其中，大衆市場由印度塔塔集團(Tata)和跨國企業聯合利華(Unilever)這樣的品牌控制，而餘下的2億公斤所面向的市場則亟需變革。

"We grow some of the best teas in the world, but our processes are archaic and marketing is nonexistent," said Arun Kumar Gomden, a tea industry consultant who managed tea estates for 35 is the case with other successful e-commerce sites, technology forms the core of Teabox's online operations. Algorithms predict demand based on such factors as past sales, internal ranking of tea varieties and pricing. Information about a tea's picking date, season and origins is made available to online customers.

製茶產業顧問阿倫·庫馬爾·戈穆登(Arun Kumar Gomden)說，“我們種植的茶葉在全球名列前茅，但加工手段落後，也談不上有什麼營銷，”戈穆登已有35年管理茶園的經驗。與其他成功的電子商務網站一樣，科技是Teabox網絡運營的核心。該公司利用算法，根據價格、以往銷量，以及內部對茶葉品種的評級等因素，來預測消費者的需求。消費者可以在網上查看茶葉的採摘日期、季節和產地等信息。

Taking a cue from the successful wine industry, Teabox is bringing in wine tasters to provide engaging online descriptions for its products. Gone are the flowery but opaque descriptions like "distinctly high-grown character" and "surprising malty nuance." They have been replaced by more consumer-friendly taster phrases like "light-bodied tea with a slight woodiness in its flavor," along with detailed steeping instructions.

Teabox借鑑葡萄酒行業的成功經驗，邀請品酒師爲網站編寫引人入勝的產品介紹。那些辭藻華麗但晦澀難懂的描述不見了，例如“鮮明的高海拔種植特徵”、“有一絲出人意料的麥芽口感”。取而代之的是一些讀者比較容易明白的措辭，例如“含有一絲木頭清香的淡茶”，還附有詳細的沖泡說明。

Teabox, which started in mid-2012, is introducing a subscription model offering personalized tea selections, replicating similar successes of online sites selling wine, razor blades, cosmetics and organic products.

創立於2012年中期的Teabox，還效仿銷售葡萄酒、剃鬚刀片、化妝品和有機產品的網站的成功做法，推出了一套提供個性化選擇的訂購模式。

All of these steps aim to hook a new generation of customers in countries such as Russia and the United States. As consumers on a quest for the latest niche food products veer toward drinking the brew in upscale salons and tea bars, Indian tea could tap into the large addressable global tea market, estimated to be $90 billion in size.

這些舉措的目的是從俄羅斯、美國等國家，吸引新一代的顧客。對新近流行的小衆飲食趨之若鶩的消費者們，現在開始在高檔沙龍或茶吧裏喝茶，因此印度茶有望打入全球商機巨大的潛在市場，其規模估計高達900億美元（約合5500億元人民幣）。

"Tea is a time-sensitive product, but the industry's supply chain is quite broken and has many intermediaries," said Prashanth Prakash, a partner at Accel India, which along with Singapore's Horizon Ventures has provided some $1 million in early-stage funding to Teabox. "The business is ripe for disruption, both in terms of price and quality," he said.

阿克塞爾印度公司的合夥人普拉申特·普拉卡什(Prashanth Prakash)說，“茶這種產品對時間很敏感，但業內的供應鏈相當低效，而且涉及過多中間環節。”這家公司連同新加坡的Horizon Ventures爲Teabox提供了100萬美元的前期資助。他說，“從價格和質量兩方面而言，顛覆這個行業的時機都已經成熟。”

The venture capital approach is helping Teabox change operations. It was Accel Partners that suggested the wine industry method to "product discovery" — industry jargon for helping shoppers discern and select products online.

風險投資的支持，幫助Teabox改變了經營模式。正是阿克塞爾建議採用葡萄酒行業的“產品發掘”手段。“產品發掘”是指幫助顧客在網站上查看和選擇產品的過程。

"By employing tactics used by the wine industry, we want to demystify tea and present it in a more accessible manner along with how-to brewing directions so that buyers can explore varieties, regions and flavors," said Mr. Dugar, 31, founder and chief executive of Teabox, which is based in Siliguri, Darjeeling, the heart of India's tea-growing region.

杜伽爾表示，“通過使用葡萄酒行業的手法，我們想讓茶在顧客眼中不再陌生，以更容易領會的方式推介茶，並且給出沖泡指示，這樣一來顧客就能探究茶的品種、產地和口味。”31歲的杜伽爾是Teabox的創始人和首席執行官。這家公司的總部位於印度產茶區域的中心，大吉嶺的西里古裏(Siliguri)。

His family's trade connections go back four decades and give Mr. Dugar access to high-quality teas from the estates of Assam and Darjeeling. From his childhood summers spent on plantations, he recalls the tea pluckers picking two leaves and a bud that was transformed into brewed tea within hours. "I imagined that the workers in tea plantations were magicians."Mr. Dugar had worked for a few years as a corporate finance analyst at consultancy firm KPMG in Singapore, but he then returned to India to become an entrepreneur. He and his backers quickly discovered that the industry first organized by British colonizers about 200 years ago has not changed at all. Many plantations are controlled by third- or fourth-generation owners, using machines dating back a half-century or more.

杜伽爾家族與茶的淵源已有40年了，這也讓他在栽種阿薩姆茶和大吉嶺茶的茶園裏，品嚐到了優質的茶葉。杜伽爾童年時，夏天會在茶園裏度過。他回憶起當時情景說，採茶工摘下兩片葉子和一朵花蕾，幾個小時後就變成了沏好的茶。“我覺得茶園裏的工人都是魔法師。”杜伽爾曾在諮詢公司畢馬威(KPMG)的新加坡分公司工作數年，擔任企業財務分析師，後來返回印度開始創業。他和投資人很快就發現，這個大約200年前由英國殖民者組織起來的產業，至今仍然沒有任何改變。很多茶園都是由第三或第四代老闆經營，他們所用的機器已有至少半個世紀甚至更長的歷史。

"Traditional processes such as withering, rolling, drying are all manually monitored just like it was when the tea industry was first established in this region centuries ago," said Amar Nath Jha, a senior manager of the 162-year old Steinthal Tea Estate in Darjeeling, a supplier to Teabox.

阿馬爾·納特·傑哈(Amar Nath Jha)說，“傳統的製茶工序，例如萎凋、揉捻、乾燥都是人手處理，就像很多個世紀以前，這個產業剛剛在這裏形成時一樣。”傑哈在大吉嶺已有162年曆史的斯坦塔茶園(Steinthal Tea Estate)擔任高級經理，這家茶園也是Teabox的供應商。

Because of the lengthy auction and distribution process, it can take up to six months for the tea to reach a consumer overseas.

由於拍賣和分銷茶葉所需時間很長，因此可能需要長達六個月的時間才能到達海外消費者手上。

"The lack of modern infrastructure leads to tea quality deteriorating and losing aroma along the way," said Mr. Gomden, the tea consultant.

製茶產業顧問戈穆登表示，“在整個過程中，由於缺乏現代化的設施，茶葉的質量會下降，茶香也會流失。”

To change that, Teabox set up sourcing centers in Darjeeling and Assam, within a few hours from the gardens where the leaves are plucked and processed. (Other buyers have also begun to bypass the auction system and buy premium teas directly from producers).

爲了改變這種情況，Teabox在大吉嶺和阿薩姆邦設立了採購中心，距離採摘和加工的茶園只有數小時路程。（其他買家也開始跳過拍賣體系，直接通過生產商採購優質茶葉。）

Almost as soon as the teas are procured fresh from the production centers, Teabox stores them in temperature- and humidity-controlled warehouses. Then, within 48 hours, the teas are checked, vacuum-packed and dispatched to fulfillment centers in major markets such as Russia, the United States and Australia.

Teabox從生產中心將新鮮的茶葉採購到手，就會立即儲存在能夠調節溫度和溼度的倉庫裏。然後在48小時以內，茶葉就會經過檢查和真空包裝，發往俄羅斯、美國、澳大利亞等主要市場的配送中心。

Data analytics also help. When they log into the website, buyers are served personalized recommendations according to one of Teabox's 53 tea profiles.

數據分析也很有幫助。買家登錄之後，網站便會依據Teabox供應的53種茶葉的特徵，給出個性化的推薦。

Customer feedback goes quickly back to the producers. For example, Teabox now sells tea only in 100-gram vacuum packs after complaints that tea in larger packs lost aroma.

生產商很快就能收到顧客的反饋。比如，由於有顧客投訴稱，包裝容量太大以致茶香流失，Teabox現在只出售100克真空包裝的茶葉。

The company tries to win over customer share its audience by offering high-end teas at a discount to established brands like Twinings and upscale European, Asian and American tea salons, all of which sell online (Teabox's products can sell for as much as $1,099 per kilogram).

Teabox試圖通過以優惠價格出售川寧(Twinings)等知名公司，以及歐洲、亞洲和美洲的高檔茶店所出售的茶葉，來吸引消費者。這些產品都在網上出售。（Teabox產品的售價每公斤可高達1099美元）。

For instance, a French tea salon called Palais des Thés sells the Mission Hill tea at $340 per kilogram, but Teabox sells the same product about 60 percent less at $126 per kilogram. TWG, a high-end tea bar in Singapore, sells the Okayti at $390 per kilogram while Teabox sells it as $180, less than half the price.

例如，一家名爲茶宮(Palais des Thés)的法國茶莊以每公斤340美元的價格銷售Mission Hill的茶葉，而Teabox的售價是每公斤126美元，價格低近六成。新加坡的高級茶吧TWG以每公斤390美元的價格出售歐凱帝(Okayti)茶園的茶葉，而Teabox則只售180美元，低於其價格的一半。

Teabox is still a small player in the industry: It has shipped 10 million cups' worth of tea to customers in 65 countries so far. The challenges are many. Traditional distributors have blocked access to plantations and Teabox has had to counter rumors from rivals that it is an unreliable buyer.

Teabox在茶葉產業中仍然是個小角色。迄今爲止，它已向65個國家的顧客出售了相當於1000萬杯的茶。該公司面臨很多挑戰：傳統分銷商阻撓他們接觸茶園，競爭對手造謠稱他們是個不可靠的買家，Teabox需要進行反駁。

Mohan Chirimar, 53, of Raghunath Exports, a bulk supplier to Starbucks as well as retail chains and supermarkets in 30 countries, said Teabox was chasing a big opportunity that had room for other entrepreneurs.

拉古拿夫出口公司(Raghunath Exports)向星巴克(Starbucks)以及全球30個國家的零售商和超市供貨。該公司現年53歲創始人莫漢·其利馬(Mohan Chirimar)說，Teabox正在追求的這個巨大商機，其他企業也可以參與其中。

Raghunath Exports is itself gearing up to compete online as Mr. Chirimar's 23-year old son, Aditya, a recent graduate from Cornell University, has returned this month to join the business. "He is going to expand our business online; it offers more opportunities and will speed up our growth," Mr. Chirimar said.

拉古拿夫出口公司正準備參與網上競爭。其利馬23歲的兒子阿迪蒂亞(Aditya)最近剛從康奈爾大學(Cornell University)畢業，並於本月回國參與公司經營。其利馬說，“他將會擴展網上業務，這能給我們提供更多機會，加快業務增長。”

Teabox does have an early-mover advantage but must now build its name. Regular access to financing will help Teabox ramp up its brand in crucial markets like the United States where tea drinking growth rates are overtaking coffee. The start-up aims to grow 300 to 500 percent in the coming year and cross $1 million in annual revenue.

Teabox的確有率先進入這一市場的優勢，但它現在必須建立自己的品牌。定期融資能幫助Teabox加速進軍美國等重要市場，美國的茶葉消耗增長率正在趕超咖啡。這家初創公司明年的業務增長目標是300%到500%，年收入超過100萬美元。

"With cash in the bank and support from investors, we can dream about quickly building a billion-dollar tea brand from India, something that has never been attempted before," Mr. Dugar said.

杜伽爾說，“利用銀行裏的現金和投資者的支持，我們希望可以迅速建立一個價值十億美元的印度茶葉品牌，以前沒人嘗試做過這些。”