: 2 Friends A Unique Subscription Deliver Fresh Darjeeling Tea To Your Doorstep #IndiaNEWS #Lede Around 30 km from Darjeeling lies the verdant and organic 150-year-old Selim Hill Tea Garden, spread

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2 Friends A Unique Subscription Deliver Fresh Darjeeling Tea To Your Doorstep #IndiaNEWS #Lede
Around 30 km from Darjeeling lies the verdant and organic 150-year-old Selim Hill Tea Garden, spread across 973 acres, of which approximately 450 acres come under tea bush cover. Owned by 23-year-old Sparsh Agarwal’s family since 1990, the Selim Hill Tea Garden is one of the 74 operational tea gardens in the region selling the world-famous Darjeeling Tea. However, like most tea gardens here, which are dependent on the international export market, Selim Hill was barely breaking even.
After the end of each year, Sparsh’s family, who are based out of Kolkata, would hope for some miracle in the export market to reverse the tea garden’s fortunes. When COVID-19 struck in March 2020, it broke the proverbial camel’s back. After all, the pandemic had destroyed their chances of exporting their first (spring) and second flush (summer). Flush refers to the period when tea plants grow new leaves that are harvested. The first two flushes generate the highest amount of revenue for tea gardens.
With options running out, Sparsh’s family in April 2020 considered selling the tea garden.
Meanwhile, Sparsh, a former student of political science and international relations at Ashoka University in Sonepat, Haryana, was working with the Centre for Policy Research, a Delhi-based think tank.
He was never interested in getting into the family business. But when he told his friends that his parents were thinking about selling their tea garden, something changed drastically.
“When I was in school and college, I would often bring my friends to Selim Hill during the holidays. They have fond memories of this place and the people here. When I told them of the family’s decision to sell Selim Hill, my friends asked whether they could come on board and help revive it. That’s when Ishaan Kanoria (24), an investment banker, and Anant Gupta, a graduate of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), came on board. Given our memories associated with the area, we decided to give the revival process one last try,� recalls Sparsh, speaking to The Better India.
Sparsh Agarwal: Memories associated with Selim Hill
But it was difficult convincing his parents, who eventually agreed on one condition. Sparsh and his friends would have to dedicate all their energy towards reviving Selim Hill.
After agreeing to this proposition, Sparsh and Ishaan established Dorje Teas, a venture which seeks to radically change the way Darjeeling tea is marketed and sold. Under their unique subscription model, consumers need to pay just Rs 2,100 for an entire year’s supply of fresh and organic tea.
They built Dorje Teas under the mentorship of 74-year-old Rajah Banerjee, a legend in the Darjeeling tea business, former owner of the Makaibari Tea Estate in Kurseong and pioneer of the organic movement.

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