How This 2 Decade old Tea Brand is Expanding its Retail Footprint Across India

India is the second-largest tea producer and largest black tea producer with production at around 1350 m. kg. It is also the largest consumer of black tea, which is around 18 percent of the total world tea consumption.

Indian teas are thus exported to various destinations and are the fourth-largest tea exporter catering to a large number of domestic consumers. With numerous tea brands entering the market with their varied offerings, Tulsi Tea is one such company that is expanding its reach exponentially.

Tulsi Tea was incepted in the year 1981 by the founder Gordhandas Mavjibhai Kathrotiya at Chalala, a small town in the Amreli District of Gujarat with a provision store. Haresh Kathrotiya, Managing Director of Tulsi Tea joined the business in the year 1997, after which it started direct retailing network, shifting the infrastructure to the town of Amreli, exclusively for tea.

It was in 2012, when the company was established as G.M. Tea Packers Pvt. Ltd. and in the same year, Tulsi Tea established its automated state-of-the-art unit in Ahmedabad wherein it today manufactures around 40-100 tons of tea per day.

Options Galore
Tulsi Tea was started as an essential utility product of households, however, over time owing to its quality and taste, it has become one of the highly accepted tea products across the country. Currently, the company has over 9+ blends along with 56+ SKUs, and also offers Green Tea and Lemon Tea as a part of its product portfolio.

“We have been a part of the industry for over 2 decades and have witnessed immense growth owing to the quality of our offerings. We aim to introduce newer variants of tea for our consumers soon,” said Haresh Kathrotiya, Managing Director of G.M. Tea Packers Pvt. Ltd.

The company has products catering to every segment of consumption, while its price range lies between the top and middle-tier consumers. Moreover, the company intends to offer its products in the national markets.

Brand USP
Though the country is the largest producers of tea, Tulsi Tea has been able to make its mark in this market with the quality and variety of products that it offers. The brand believes its offerings cater to the Indian taste palate with utmost precision.

“We believe our product speaks for itself, making us stand apart from the competition. Each of our offering is made keeping the Indian taste in mind. We thus aim to emerge as the top choice amongst tea brands nationally,” commented Kathrotiya.

Technology and Tea
Indian tea exports have been competing strongly in the international markets and creating a niche for themselves, and technology has been affiliating this growth for the majority of brands.

Tulsi Tea as a brand has incorporated technology to ensure its growth as well. The company has improved its packaging format to keep the aroma and freshness of the tea intact. Moreover, the packaging is such that it allows end users to carry it hassle-free.

Moreover, it is working towards bringing in end-to-end automation including secondary packaging to have a better appeal.

Growth and Marketing
In the last three years, the company had an average growth of 22.67 percent. However, subsequently, Tulsi Tea had a 44.59 percent in 2020-21.

As a part of its marketing strategy, Tulsi Tea has onboarded Bollywood celebrity Paresh Rawal as its brand ambassador to deepen its network reaching out to a larger number of consumers. However, the company’s current focus is on making itself more visible and easily accessible to the end customers.

“We intend to offer consistent product quality with assurance, Moreover, we offer 100 percent cash-back if the end product received by the consumer is not up to mark. This helps us have a stronger connection with the consumers,” added the MD.

Future Plans
Tulsi Tea has over 430+ distributors across Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, which allows them to serve over 50,000+ retail outlets.

With its current marketing strategies intact the company aims to become one of the top-selling tea brands in India while generating employment for at least 2000+ employees.

GM Packers led by Gordhanbhai Kathrotiya and Haresh Kathrotiya through Tulsi Tea offer nine blends and ranges, including Tulsi Brokens, Tulsi Fannings, Tulsi Kitley, Tulsi Tavas, Vatan Tea Brokens, Tulvita Green Tea, etc., to cater to the tastes and choices of the whole spectrum of tea lovers.