Delhi: Bala Sarda had already decided to join the family’s 45-year-old tea business when he graduated from Delhi’s College of Business Studies.
But the 25-year-old didn’t want to take the beaten track. When Bala blended his fresh ideas into the family business, the result was the stupendously successful Vadham Teas, a completely online tea marketplace.
Vahdam Teas was launched out of Darjeeling just two years ago and has already gained the confidence of consumers around the world.
The company broke even in just two months and has shipped teas equivalent to 20 million cups to as many as 76 countries in the past two years.
Tea gardens in as many as seven tea-growing regions of India- Darjeeling, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Bihar and Nigiris and neighbouring Nepal are being collected and traded by Bala's company.
“It doesn’t taste the same when you use freshly produced tea and that is a year old. Usually, consumers in places like the Americas get teas that have stayed in the shelf for 10 to 12 months. Vahdam Teas is bringing a change to this,” Bala said.
“Tea leaves from gardens reach our Delhi godown in 24 to 72 hours. Here, it is immediately processed, vacuum packed and put up for online sales. As soon an order is received, it will be shipped to the country from where it was placed,” he said.
The consignment reaches anywhere in the world in five to six days. For this, the company has partnerships with express delivery firms such as DHL and FedEx and is working to set up warehouse spaces in the US.
Tea being a product highly sensitive to moisture levels, special care is given in the packaging using material like oxygen absorbers, he said.
Sensing the potential of the business, several angel funds have come up to invest in Bala’s business.
“The global tea industry is worth $60 billion. If Vahdam Teas can capture even 1% of this in the next few years, it would grow into a big business,” said Bala.
Currently, India contributes just 5% to Vahdam Teas’ revenue, and Bala expects it to remain the same in future, too. That is because this young entrepreneur has his sight set on the global markets.
Bala also made it to the Forbes 30 Under 30 summit in Hong Kong in July, alongside 350 other upcoming businessmen in Asia.
When he started off with the business, the challenges were big, said Bala. The biggest of those was how to develop a relation with customers so far off. Next was on gaining their confidence.
Having achieved those, Bala’s dream now is to develop Vahdam Teas as a ‘Make in India’ brand known the world over.
