Darjeeling tea is very special. Its color, fragrance, and taste are all wonderful. This is the reason why it is in great demand in India as well as abroad. Many brands market themselves as Darjeeling tea. Most people go somewhere to buy tea at a mall or shop, so do not forget to see the label of Darjeeling. Just imagine how it would be if fresh tea from the tea gardens of Darjeeling reached your home throughout the year on a subscription? Isn't it a unique model? Two friends from Kolkata have recently started a startup. Through which they are delivering fresh Darjeeling tea across the country on a subscription model. More than 500 people have subscribed to him in less than two months. Till now he has done business of more than 10 lakh rupees.
Sparsh Aggarwal, 23, and Ishaan, 24, are childhood friends. Sparsh has studied from Sonipat, Haryana while Ishaan has done Bachelors in International Economics from Italy. After completing his studies, Sparsh was working for a think tank in Delhi. While Ishaan was working as an investment banker in Mumbai.
These friends and their team are focusing on social media for marketing. They are marketing through their website across the country. He has also given advertisements in newspapers to target more and more customers. There is a tea plantation of Sparsh in a thousand acres. Where more than 300 workers work. Whereas 10 people work in Sparsh's team.
Sparsh says that I had neither intention nor interest in the business. Lockdown has played a big role in making me a businessman. Actually, my family is associated with the tea garden of Darjeeling. This has been our family business for years. But, for the last few years, the condition of tea gardens is deteriorating day by day. Business is going down. The lockdown broke our back only. Everything came to a standstill. The family members started talking about selling it.
Sparsh tells that it hurt me a lot. I didn't want our garden to be sold. I explained to my father and asked him not to do this. So he said in a slightly strict tone that doesn't give knowledge if you can do something to save it then do it, otherwise, let us do what we are doing. After this Sparsh told this his friends also advised him not to sell the plantation. However, he did not suggest any idea. Then Sparsh talks to Ishaan. They agreed to work together.
Due to Corona, Sparsh was doing work from home job. So he started going from Kolkata to Darjeeling every Sunday. There they started taking care of the gardens, they started understanding their work from the workers. Slowly he started setting up his own setup. He started living in Darjeeling instead of Kolkata. After doing continuous research for about 6 months, he started working on the business plan.
After this, both of them met Raj Banerjee. Raj Banerjee is one of the well-known people in the Darjeeling tea business. Under his mentorship, both decided that instead of exporting to the market, they would reach out to the customers directly. So that people get the right product and their price.
Sparsh says that after much deliberation, we decided that we will work on the subscription model. That is, customers will have to pay an amount once and they will get fresh tea throughout the year. This will allow them to drink tea of different flavors according to each season.
After that, both of them left their jobs. And at the end of June this year, he started his startup under the name of Dorje Teas. Since he already had a tea garden, he did not need any special budget. Developed a website, created accounts on social media, and started marketing. Slowly people started getting to know him. People started contacting him for orders.
Sparsh says that we are running a year-long subscription plan. Anyone can buy this plan by paying 2 thousand rupees. Once subscribed, we send tea to his house four times. We ship 250 grams of tea at a time. It can make 100 cups of tea. Not only this, if anyone wants to pay in installments, then there is a system for that too. He can pay Rs 2,000 in four installments. At present, Sparsh is marketing two types of tea. One green tea and the other black tea.
They say that the specialty of Darjeeling tea is that it varies in color and taste according to the season. The advantage of the subscription model will be that the customers will get fresh tea every season. So far more than 500 people have subscribed. Many people buy tea from them in bulk also.
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