ITC's Leaf Tobacco business is synonymous with being "The One Stop Shop for Quality Indian Tobaccos".
ITC pioneered the cultivation and development of Leaf Tobaccos in India. Nearly a century of creating customer delight ensures that globally, ITC's Leaf Tobacco business is synonymous with being "The One Stop Shop for Quality Indian Tobaccos". The Leaf Tobacco business' partnership with the farmer is more than 100 years old. In a spirit that truly embodies the Company's "commitment beyond the market", ITC has helped the Indian farmer grow quality leaf tobaccos and linked him to global markets.
ITC is the largest buyer, processor and exporter of leaf tobaccos in India - creating a global benchmark as the single largest integrated source of quality tobaccos. Serving customers in more than 45 countries across 80+ destinations, ITC co-creates and delivers value at every stage of the leaf tobacco value chain.
ITC is the biggest buyer of all cigarette tobacco types grown in India. It has a team of experienced, highly skilled and professional buyers and classifiers who source and segregate tobaccos to exacting customer specifications. A large inventory base of quality tobaccos provides an edge in serving customers through product customization, portfolio rationalization, product bundling and value added services. This strategic direction insulates customers from crop fluctuations, a key 'winning proposition' acknowledged worldwide.
A major differentiating factor that provides us a cutting edge over our competitors in India is our focused crop development initiatives and extension services. Working closely with the farming fraternity, we have constantly transferred technology from the lab to the land with appropriate solutions, apart from pioneering the introduction of contemporary varieties. Enabled by a team of agronomists, agriculture experts, Engineers and development managers, the crop development initiative has gone a long way in improving the quality table of the Indian tobacco basket, including in the non-flue cured tobacco growth zones such as Burley, Oriental and Non Cigarette Tobacco Types.
Sourcing the Right Tobacco
Our competitive edge is in the timely delivery of quality tobaccos at a competitive price. A team of trained buyers buy the requisite quality and quantity of tobaccos on behest of customers, either through auctions (Flue Cured) or at the farm-gate (non-Flue Cured). We buy the 'run-of-the-crop', which is a key enabler for our 'scale and scope' value proposition to our customer. We are ably supported by a dedicated pool of suppliers, who specialize in procuring niche styles to cater to specific customer requirements. Our large pool of inventory is also leveraged from time to time to meet off-season customer needs, making it possible for us to offer a variety of tobaccos all round the year.
Leaf Utilization
Our well-trained classification team is adept in consistently delivering homogenous blocks based on physical, chemical and smoke parameters with a sound understanding of supply demand dynamics and over all utilization requirements. A core focus area of the leaf utilization team is also to optimize operational efficiencies, to peg the cost table to a minimum. Our 'buy-to-box' systems and procedures, are contemporary conforming to all quality and service specifications. Supported by an SAP and farm monitoring system (Digital Farm Tool), the movement of leaf tobacco from 'farm- to- box' can be tracked, a key enabler towards attaining traceability.
Logistics
Logistics has been a key differentiator in the quality of supply chain solutions that we provide to the customer. Our logistics is the value chain partner for the customer and has been serving 80+ destinations in more than 45 countries, delivering in accordance to customer specifications. This wide reach and critical volume enable us to negotiate the best prices in ocean freight. Our domain knowledge in routing is enhanced by the fact that we have the five biggest names in Maritime business as our consulting partners. Our logistics is committed to drive the philosophy of "On Time in Full".
Processing:
Our world-class tobacco threshing plants in the South of India, Andhra Pradesh - Chirala with two processing lines, Anaparti with one processing line and Mysore with one processing line have a combined capacity of 700 tons per day and compare with the best in the world in meeting rigorous customer specifications. We continuously work with our customers to redefine the product quality specifications to meet the requirements of new generation cigarette making machinery. The plants use internationally approved equipment's and testing methods to ensure a superlative quality.
Our overreaching ambition is to deliver enhanced customer satisfaction that is sustainable and mutually enduring. We pride in our meticulously designed systems, procedures and processes that enable us to deliver the best of products and services to our customers.
Awards & Recognitions ITC's Leaf Tobacco business has won national and international laurels for research and development, quality, environmental management systems and product excellence. The more important of these are:
