E-commerce start-up delivering desi tea worldwide

With Mark Zuckerberg having the tricolour on his display picture on a social networking site after PM Narendra Modirsquos recent visit to the Silicon Valley much has been said about how we are going digital and global In similar light Teabox an ecommerce startup is taking desi tea to a wider global consumer Rated as one of the hottest startups in the food and tech category and Internet Retailer of the Year mdash Food amp Drinks 2015 by World Retail Congress 2015 it has already delivered 30 million cups of tea in two years to over 90 countries including regions such as Federated States of Micronesia Chile Argentina Fiji and Ural Mountains SiberiaTea offldquoThe tea industry is one of the oldest industries and Teabox is trying to give this industry a Silicon Valley Makeoverrdquo says Kaushal Dugar CEO Teabox Giving us the backstory he reveals ldquoI was born in Siliguri a town in the Darjeeling district If yoursquore living in Siliguri itrsquos likely that you are doing something with tea as itrsquos the biggest industry there My fatherrsquos business was related to tea garden supplies and equipment As a young kid I would accompany him on his visits during school holidays I loved it The huge machines in the estate factories fascinated me I thought it was magical mdash the process where a small young green leaf turns into a delicious drinkrdquo he recallsHandpicked teas from Teabox Kaushal Dugar CEO Teabox testing the teaWhatrsquos differentldquoAt Teabox we visit the tea gardens taste and select the teas we want to sell The teas are vacuum packed to retain freshness We source our teas from some of the best tea gardens in Darjeeling Assam the Nilgiri Kangra Sikkim and even Nepal We want our customers to know where we are sourcing the teas from the date of plucking tasting notes garden details etc Traditionally tea moves from a garden to an auction house Various distributors sample the teas and an auction date is set typically a month after the production In this interim of a month the tea is stored in poorly conditioned warehouses Post auction the exporter ships the tea to his big importer connections through the shipsrdquo he informsHe adds ldquoThe tea reaches the importer in about 12 months depending on the distance and custom clearance At this point it is three months from the production of that fresh tea back Post this the importer sells it to wholesalers who in turn might sell it to retailers who would eventually sell it to the end consumer This process takes another onetwo months Overall it takes threesix months for the teas to actually reach the end consumer We are making the search for premium teas easy accessible and a very pleasant onerdquo reveals DugarNew ageRecently the company launched the worldrsquos first lsquoPersonalised Tea Subscription Servicersquo This firstofitskind program is powered by Teaboxrsquos patentpending machinelearning technology that personalises and matches every individualrsquos tastes to a selection of teas The Teabox subscription programme empowers tea drinkers to choose the kinds of tea they would enjoy This is done by breaking down tea into 75 different attributes such as aroma astringency strength body etc into objective components which are matched to user preferences habits and taste characteristicsA tea picker at a tea plantation in darjeelingHow it worksldquoTea estates send over their tea samples which are then evaluated by our expert tea tasting team We have also invested in setting up a rigorous qualitychecking environment which ensures that only the best quality leaves are selected and stored in temperature and humidity controlled facilities The orders which ship within 24 hours of order are packaged in opaque vacuum packaging protecting them from sunlight and the environment outside during the transit Regardless of the location around the world buyers receive their tea packs within just 35 business daysrdquo Dugar explainsA Teabox customer in Seoul with her daily cuppa Pics courtesy teaboxcomAround the WorldTeaboxrsquos primary target markets are the English speaking developed markets US UK Canada amp Australia and CIS region exUSSR Countries They intend to expand into China Japan and South Korea this quarter The list of countries they have already shipped to include those that ordinarily do not figure in the list of teaimporting countries such as the Micronesian islands Chile Argentina and even Iraq ldquoAll the traditionally large tea companies have continued to operate within the constraints of the legacy value chain Most of the new tea brands too seem to be just putting a new spin on the last mile deliveryrdquo he addsMatch thisTalking about competition and challenges Dugar confesses ldquoYou can call the highend tea salons our competition We live and thrive in a segment that is rich in opportunity but it is also very competitive It becomes essential for us to keep innovating to offer genuine benefits to our consumers Most people told us that tea couldnrsquot be sold online It is a product that people touch feel and smell before buying Changing this mind set was one of the biggest challenges we faced We believed that while coffee and wine can be sold online there is enough scope for tea to be sold toordquoWhatrsquos your favourite ChaiDarjeeling spring flush and summer flush are most in demand while the teas from Assam and Nilgiri also seem to be catching up soon The RampD team at Teabox consists of food technologists and blenders Currently the website lists over fifty blends created inhouse Customers in the US prefer Darjeeling Teas whereas in Russia they prefer the Assam or Second Flush Darjeeling teas Countries like Fiji prefer Oolong and Green Iraqis opt for White and Black teas Slovenia prefers Black teas Darjeeling Oolongs are preferred in all countries