New Delhi, Sept. 5 -- Last week, I took a short break in Wayanad. Tea was part of the plan but I chose to stay on a coffee estate. The estate was not directly involved in running the hospitality wing of the business but surrounded as we were by acres of coffee, I was keen to taste a local Robusta or even some of that famed monsooned Malabar. I was both disappointed and flabbergasted to find Nescafe and Bru as the dominant coffee options and an unknown brand of tea bag claiming to be Assam tea.

Wayanad has no shortage of coffee and tea estates and one would imagine these teas and coffees to be profusely available, and proudly served. It got me thinking, once again, about the missed opportunity to market our teas and coffees, and the seemi...