Bangalore Based Start-Up Teesta River Tea Forays Into Online Market

Croft Beverages, a farmer-focused sustainable tea firm has raised $125k in a pre-seed investment round. The prominent angel investors from the biotech, IT, sustainability, and tea sectors were leading the round.

The company will be using the money to establish its first mini-factory in Billicombai, close to Kotagiri, and demonstrate its farmer-owned FPC model with immediate success. Out of 25 small farmers, each mini factory immediately produces entrepreneurs and triples their earnings. Before 2030, the firm hopes to establish a network of more than 100 micro farmers' owned factories in order to duplicate this achievement and scale a distinct category of sustainable and traceable Nilgiris Tea.

Under its "direct from origin" business model, the company has established important alliances with some of the top brands in the nation with strategic initiatives like 100% "farm to cup" traceability and best-in-class agronomy.  Croft is currently planning on establishing the following three farmer-owned factories in 2025 after the first batch of tea produced by the farmers' factory sold out.

 “With our tea, every sip tells a story. At Croft, farmers aren’t just growers- they are owners, running their own mini-factories. From their fields to your cup, we bring tea that’s honest, traceable and fair. For brands and buyers, it’s unmatched transparency; for farmers It’s prosperity. Together we’re brewing a tea revolution, one sip at a time,” said Harish Kannan, Founder of Croft Beverages (IIM-B alumnus and ex-Business head at Olam Coffee). 

Kolkata-based Tea Junction is looking to venture out of West Bengal by launching at least 20 stores outside the state.

Parthiv Neotia, Director of the Ambuja Neotia group, which owns Tea Junction, said, “We plan to open 50 new outlets this fiscal. Of these, 10-15 will be in Delhi, 10-15 in Kolkata and the rest in Chhattisgarh and Odisha. We shall invest around Rs 10 crore for the expansion.”

At present, the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) brand has 49 stores in operation, with around units 45 in Kolkata. The company aims to open 80-100 stores across India after the first phase of expansion outside Bengal.

In order to fuel a pan-India growth, Tea Junction is planning to raise external capital in the next financial year.

“We first want to consolidate our position as the dominant players in the northern and eastern states, including those in the northeast. The current expansion is aimed at that objective,” Neotia stated.

“The first store outside Bengal will be opened in Delhi in July. This will be our 50th store and will be different from the existing ones. The theme will be based on ‘Calcutta’ and the British era,” he added.

Teamonk Global, the home grown specialty tea brand, has raised $1 million in pre-series A funding round. This round has been led by former McKinsey Chief Rajat Gupta and Roots Ventures.

The fresh capital will be used by the company for scaling up its portfolio of premium teas and for reaching new geographies.

Japan Vyas, Founder, Roots Ventures, said, “We are pleased to invest in Teamonk, since it is an emerging leader in the curated specialty teas space. We see India is an ‘under beverage’ country – with not many beverage brands and choices. However, with promoters like Ashok and Amit and their years of experience across conglomerates in India and overseas, an interesting ecosystem has been built at Teamonk. This has opened up numerous possibilities in the beverages play with strong overseas market. We look forward to working with them as they go about building the business and the brand.”

Amit Dutta, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Teamonk Global, added, “Teamonk Global aims to reposition tea as an exciting and refreshing beverage, fulfilling the deeper consumer need of ‘Looking Good and Feeling Good’. We are very excited with the repeat buying frequency from consumers and their feedback on our product quality being absolutely top notch. We look forward to establishing Teamonk as a global Indian brand.”

Teamonk was founded by Ashok Mittal and Amit Dutta in 2016. The company sells premium specialty tea sourced from the Nilgiri hills in Tamil Nadu and Darjeeling in West Bengal.

Luxmi Tea, which owns the iconic Makaibari brand has decided to set up 100 exclusive stores across the country in the next three years, said a top official.

At present, there are 10 such stores located in prominent malls in the city.

"We plan to set up 100 exclusive Makaibari branded stores in the country in the next three years. During the current fiscal, the number of stores will increase to 30,” said MD Luxmi Tea, Rudra Chatterjee.

Chatterjee said all the stores would be owned by the company and manned by sons and daughters of pluckers of the Makaibari estate in Darjeeling.

"It is a long-term play and I am committed to take the brand to even greater heights," he said.

The stores will also serve the purpose of preventing the sale of fake Makaibari branded tea, which are available at various retail stores in the city.

Some of these exclusive outlets would have tea lounges, the MD said.

Owing to the prolonged agitation in Darjeeling last year, the entire Makaibari crop, except the first flush, was destroyed, leading to a loss of around Rs 3 crore, Chatterjee said.

"This year, we are expecting a good flush. All the international buyers have retained their faith in Makaibari despite its non-availability last year," he said.

The premium garden produces nearly one lakh kg of tea annually, a bulk of which are exported.

The company owns 18 tea gardens 15 in Assam and one each in Darjeeling, Terai and Dooars with an annual production of 15 million kg, which would rise to 16 million kg this year, he added.

Nestle has sold two of its tea brands in North America as the world's biggest food maker presses ahead with reshaping its business to focus on new consumer trends and healthcare.

Private equity firm Fireman Capital Partners said it has linked up with Dunn's River Brands to buy the Sweet Leaf Tea and Tradewinds businesses from Nestle North America.

Under Chief Executive Mark Schneider, who took over this year, Nestle has embarked upon an overhaul of its brands and strategy as it seeks to overcome sluggish growth in its traditional businesses.

Earlier this month the Swiss company announced the purchase of Canadian vitamin maker Atrium Innovations for $2.3 billion, its fourth purchase in recent months.

It has bought Sweet Earth vegetarian foods and Blue Bottle coffee in September and Chameleon Cold-Brew coffee in November as it adjusts to a market where customers favour smaller, independent brands.

Nestle, the maker of Gerber baby food, Purina pet food and Nescafe coffee came under pressure this year to improve returns from activist shareholder Third Point. It has since announced a share buyback and a margin target.

One of the leading Darjeeling tea producer Goodricke Group Ltd, (GGL) has entered into an agreement with Godfrey Phillips India (GPI) to acquire the latter’s packed tea brands like Tea City, Sc Gold, Symphony, Samovar, SC premium, Super Cup and utsav at a Rs 20 crore.

In a statement released by GGL said “the deal will give GGL the rights on the trademarks, titles and brand associated with tea business. These newly acquired brands will help Goodricke deliver on its plan of enhancing the tea culture of India through its package tea division.

With Goodricke has experience in the field of manufacturing and packaging, this acquisition will reinforce its position in the business of packaged tea. Goodricke is currently managing a business of 9 million KGS through the FMCG route and it hopes to sustain 14 million KGS by absorbing GPI brands distribution and operation.

Mr. A.N Singh, CEO & MD, Goodricke Group Ltd, said, “This acquisition will bring synergy to our branded tea business and help us integrate all channels and develop this department further.”

Luxury tea manufacturer, The Good Life Company (TGL Co), which has raised $1 million from Bollywood actor and restaurateur Ayesha Takia Azmi and her husband, Abu Farhan Azmi, has opened its first retail tea salon in Mumbai.

TGL Co plans to raise another $3 million by July 2018 to launch new variants of essential teas and tisanes from around the world.

TGL Co is a venture by entrepreneurs, Bhuman Dani and Shariq Ashraf. The Tea Salon is an experiential offering with evocative aromas of TGL teas and in-house patisseries for tea lovers where they can explore the colourful ingredients in each blend and sample the brewed tea.

Teabox, a premium tea brand which sells online, has picked up around Rs 50 crore in a new round of financing led by Singapore-based RB Investments. The Siliguri-based company has also raised venture debt from DBS Bank as part of the funding. Teabox will expand its back-end infrastructure including cold chain processing centres along with amping up its marketing and distribution with the new funds.

Founder & CEO Kausshal Dugarr said “company will explore an offline strategy for the brand in India by opening concept stores like the one it launched in Bengaluru along with increasing presence in high-end supermarkets such as Foodhall and Godrej’s Nature’s Basket. Dugarr, however, said he does not plan to open up tea parlours on the lines of Chai Point and Chaayos.”

The US, Russia and the UK are Teabox’s top three markets, with India coming in fourth but growing at 300% annually. Founded in 2012, Teabox sources tea leaves from Darjeeling, Assam, Nilgiris, and Nepal.

Harshavardhan Bothra from RB Investments said, “We are excited about backing the challenger in a large category with a demanding customer. We feel that Teabox’s dynamic team and its innovative supply chain will enable to redefine the category. RB Investments specialises in seed and growth-stage rounds and has made India investments in start-ups like Swiggy, FabHotels and Faaso’s, among others”.

The company has in all raised $13 million in capital. Teabox qualifies itself as a vertically integrated premium tea brand. With its sourcing centres located at the tea-growing regions, Teabox procures its teas directly from growers and ships across 112 countries globally.