The yet-to-be decided brand will not be an extension of ‘Wagh Bakri’, as are the tea lounges.
The Wagh Bakri Tea Group is going to bite the coffee bug. The group, which is now engaged in tea trading and blending tea besides running tea lounges, is planning to launch a coffee brand.
“The company is yet to decide on the coffee brand, but will not extend the current equity of the Wagh Bakri brand to coffee,” said Piyush Desai, CMD, Gujarat Tea Processors & Packers Ltd.
Wagh Bakhri sells 40 million kgs of its tea annually in Western and Northern India. Maharashtra is the largest domestic market for tea consuming 85 million kgs, followed by Gujarat and Punjab. The Ahmedabad-based GTPPL also buys tea from the auction centres in Kenya & Sri Lanka for blending with Indian teas.
The company with an annual turnover of around INR 900 crore, is also present in modern retail and has tea lounges in Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad. It is now planning to scale up and hive off this business into a separate subsidiary.
“Our requirement is for about 6-10 gardens with an output of a million kgs each. We have cash reserves of around INR 200 crore and also expect to get private equity support as well as bank loans. But, we will wait and watch before taking a plunge as there are a lot of uncertainties in the Indian tea industry,” he said.
