Bina Nongthombam collected wild fruits and flowers and sold them at a local market in her home state of Manipur in northeastern India.
But it was a tough road to make a living: “I used to spend all day at the market and could hardly make a decent living,” she says.
It was a way of life lived in her family for generations,
But in 2018, one of her clients, impressed with her products and attitude, offered her a job and her life changed.
Since then, she has been sourcing products for Dweller Teas, a start-up focused on unusual and forgotten Indian plants and flowers to use in teas and infusions.
There’s still a lot of work to do. Ms Nongthombam starts early to visit villages to buy ingredients like Indian olives, roselle and sumac berries – some grown by farmers and others wild-collected.
She rides buses to remote villages to scavenge for the produce she wants, returning later in a tuk-tuk or three-wheel taxi to do the last minute shopping.
“Collecting wild fruits and flowers is very fulfilling for me. Since I was a child we have [have been] to collect these fruits, but apart from the people of north-eastern India hardly anyone knew about them.”
Eli Yambem founded Dweller Teas in 2016 with $25,000 of her life savings. She now has three cafes in Manipur’s state capital, Imphal.
Tea is one of the region’s local strengths, she says: “We also have an abundance of native plants that have yet to be shared with the world and that can be sustainable.”
“Traditional knowledge and memories of native plants slowly fade with each generation. I wanted to preserve the local traditions and share the hidden goodness and innovative taste.”
An ingredient, the shrub of the shrub Nongmangkha or Phlogocanthus thyrsiformis Ms. Yambem clearly remembers her childhood.
“It is a traditional medicinal plant known to the residents of Manipur for its antiviral properties. I remember my grandma cooking its leaves to help me with a cough, cold and fever.”
In case you were wondering, the Tea Board of India states that only products containing at least 70% tea leaves can actually call themselves tea.
This distinction does not bother consumers much as exotic and herbal teas are the most dynamic part of the market.
“This is where there is most excitement in the tea business,” says Prabhat Bezboruah, Chair of the Tea Board.
It’s a highly competitive business, he points out: “The fact is that most of these startups will close soon after inception, but the few that survive have a chance to become the next unicorn.” [a company with a billion dollar valuation] given the tremendous popularity and product acceptance that tea has.”
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So what is the key to success?
“Consumers are looking for a new way of presenting this traditional beverage. Positioning your product in that space and meeting the expectations set in the consumer’s mind will determine the brand’s success,” says Mr. Bezboruah.
That’s what husband and wife Ranjit and Dolly Sharma Baruah are hoping for. They founded their tea company Aromica in 2018, sourcing tea from smaller plantations and then blending it with exotic plants and flowers traditionally said to have health benefits.
The company’s blends include ghost chili and black tea, which they recommend for coughs and colds and which they say have sold well during the Covid pandemic.
Aromica also blends butterfly pea flowers with green tea to create a bluish, caffeine-free drink.
Such exotic blends appeal to health-conscious consumers who purchase products based on their perceived health benefits. These are the buyers who fueled the so-called “wellness industry.”
“The wellness sector is an emerging sector and health drinks play an important role in this business,” says Mr. Baruah.
“We thought why not try to explore this market as it gave us a lot of opportunities.”
The wellness area isn’t particularly new, and the established tea giants have also settled here, including Tata Tea – India’s second largest tea brand.
“Consumers are more open to trying new experiences and blends and choosing premium products,” says Tata, which has invested in its Good Earth and Teapigs brands and expanded the Tata range in India.
As larger companies move in, the smaller startups know they need to offer something different to stay ahead of their competitors.
Ms Nongthombam hoped this means a life spent collecting wild produce will be useful for many years to come.
“It was a happy day at the market when I met Elizabeth. She immediately knew my strength and hired me. Now I am paid and appreciated for my hard work. It was a turning point in my life.”
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