Commenting on the fact that exhibitors were displaying mostly speciality teas at SAITEX, Banerjee said: 'It's not as if we are not looking at bulk exports, we are concentrating on speciality organic and other teas as well.'

As for the rest of Africa, Banerjee said the Tea Board was also looking to Libya as a potential major market in North Africa.

One of the most popular and attractive stalls was that of Hasmukh Shah of Premier's Tea Ltd, who told IANS the company had a very good response not only at SAITEX but also from potential buyers in Durban earlier.

'Everybody is complaining that they are not getting good tea in South Africa, and we are now trying to offer them the range of over 40 flavours from Premier which we export to 26 countries from our own plant in Kolkata,' Shah said.

'We are looking for a good distributor who will be able to take our range of teas to discerning tea lovers throughout Africa.'