Talking About Tea: An Interview with Shillong’s Marbah Warjri, founder Denmar Tea Estate

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SHILLONG | SEPTEMBER 13, 2020

(by Christopher Gatphoh)

There is nothing which can compare with a beverage like a cuppa(tea) in a busy morning or any part of the day. Known for its antioxidants properties, the beverage is part and parcel of every household.

Our neighbour Assam is widely seen as the force behind the tea industry but the state of Meghalaya has woken up with refreshing number of tea entrepreneurs making inroads in the tea sector.

Meghalaya's brand of tea DENMAR is trying to act as a catalyst in this part of the business through a legacy of culture with some of the finest teas.

Christopher Gatphoh from TNT-The Northeast Today caught up with one enthusiastic gentleman, Marbah Warjri, founder, DENMAR tea.

TNT: Hello Marbah Warjri, can you please say more about your background details?

MW: I was born and brought up in Shillong, completed my schooling from St. Edmund's School, Shillong and graduation from St. Edmund's College, Shillong. After graduation, I started worked in our family tea estate and eventually ventured in the tea industry.

TNT: What does 'DENMAR' mean? What made you come up with yet another tea business in the pool of already existing ones and how is your business different from others?

MW: Our business is registered as SBC Tea, and 'DENMAR' is our brand name. It is derived from the first syllables of the two names, Den from Denning, my late grandfather who started the estate and Mar from Marbah, myself who founded the manufacturing unit.
After completing my graduation, I did a course on Managerial Entrepreneurship, where I had to do a business study so I chose to do delve on the Tea Industry. After much research, I found the industry to be really interesting, especially as to how well organized and professional the whole industry is. It seemed to be a concrete business, and after positive findings and feasibility of the business for me, especially with the growing global demand for quality organic tea, and Meghalaya having the perfect conditions for tea, all these points led me to come up with this tea manufacturing business.

Our business is different in a way that unlike most other manufacturers who marginalize their profit based on the quantity that they produce, our margin comes from quality, from the price that our teas fetch. Since we make small batches of tea but of very high quality, especially the green tea and oolong variants, so our strategy is to marginalize profit not from the quantity that we produce, but rather from the quality.

TNT: Marbah, you have grown up between tea plantations moving from your interest in motor vehicles; your grandfather (Bah Denning) was linked with the tea business for many years. Where was your interest born about this cuppa(tea)?

MW: My late grandfather started planting tea way back in 1996. I was in the fourth standard that year, and every winter he would take us to his estate and as a family we would have various fun activities in the estate like cycling, fishing and so on. So, every winter holiday the estate was like a winter home for us, and as I grew I just fell in love with the place and of course, the tea bushes, which by the time I had completed my schooling.

I have really been able to appreciate them, tender and care for them, and overall acknowledge the value that each bush has got to offer. After graduation the only thing that I wanted to invest my time on was tea, so my interest was an intrinsic love affair which was so natural to me and kept growing ever since.

TNT: A beverage like tea is complicated and the customer is very much at the end of it. How difficult or easy is it to convince customers for a new tea brand?

MW: The customer is king and when it comes to tea, the buyers are true professionals who know the A-Z about tea. These are bulk buyers and traders, so they have the option to choose from amongst hundreds of manufacturers from all across the country. It was really difficult at the beginning, especially for green tea, as we knew only one type of manufacturing style and the customer would choose 1 out of 10 specific variants of green tea.

Initially, our tea had a very dull leaf appearance with a strong vegetal character and a bitter cup, which did not attract too many buyers nor fetched high prices, so we had to conduct endless Research and Development(R&D) in the factory for months before we were finally able to balance the equation and get the perfect formula of how to extract the flowery-fruity aroma from the tea leaf and also reduce the bitterness in the cup.

Our leaf appearance had also become one of the best in the business, having a bright, vibrant green hue, which presentation-wise has heightened our tea to a new level. This attracted prospective buyers, and thereafter convincing buyers didn't become so difficult anymore.

TNT: DENMAR has been working in varieties of tea having their own specificity. If you had to select one… which would be your favourite?

MW: All our teas are 100% natural, unflavoured teas, and we make black orthodox tea, oolong tea, green tea and sometimes white tea as well.

My personal favourite is our autumn season green tea harvested between mid-September to mid-November. It has a fruity-flowery fragrance and a rich, thick smooth liquor, very mellow and with no bitterness, which is rarely seen in most green tea.

TNT: Do you set any quality standards? How do you penetrate your business on the international market then?

MW: The first step in making good tea is plucking fine, tender young leaves. Since we manufacture in small batches, we can strictly monitor right from the plucking step in the garden, where we ensure that only the finest two leaf and a bud is plucked.

Our manufacturing methods are also synonymous with nature, i.e., specific weather conditions will have specific manufacturing methods, even if it is for a particular type of tea. We strictly follow the principle of earth, man and sky. For example, oolong tea has to be plucked and also manufactured only on sunny days, or its complex flowery character will not be prominent.

Our handling and sorting processes are also such that our tea is completely free from dust and fannings grade and various other forms of contaminants. So, from leaf to cup, we ensure that our buyers get exactly what they are paying for.

TNT: Talking about geographical conditions and area, Assam and Darjeeling are known tea regions around the world. What do you think makes tea from this part (Meghalaya)different?

MW: Meghalaya tea, in my opinion, is like a blend of Darjeeling tea and Assam tea. It has got some of the fruitiness and a bit of floweriness of a Darjeeling, but also at the same time the body and strength of an Assam, although not strong and malty as an Assam.

It is an extract and combination of the two top famous teas of the world.

TNT: COVID-19 pandemic struck deeply on the Indian Tea Industry. Will this disrupt any part of your business model?

MW: The pandemic has affected the tea industry deep and wide, profusely, in almost all of its departments and channels. Firstly, there is a huge crop loss.

Tea is a crop that requires daily physical and practical care, so this means it is very labour-intensive. If the tender leaves that are ready for harvest are left unplucked, they become mature and therefore unfit for manufacturing. So, in such conditions skiffing (cutting of the leaf by a sickle) is performed. After skiffing, it takes 3-4 weeks for the leaf to be ready for harvest again, and this amounts to substantial amounts of crop loss. Secondly, after crop loss, there is stock loss. No stock means no supply, so producer-buyer contracts get cancelled and buyers look to other ready suppliers available. Thirdly, logistics. Logistic costs increase but decrease in efficiency due to on-off lockdowns taking place, and longer time in logistics means increased risk of damage of goods and delivery time, which then leads to further delays in payments and so on. Finally, there is the accumulation of all the losses, which is financial loss.

This is deeply and widely affected in all levels of the organizational pyramid, right from the top, down to the bottom. Temporary workers are also hard hit as no activity in the garden and factory means no work for them. There are numerous more areas which are affected, and the cut is really deep and recurring to this present day.

TNT: Any suggestions for budding start-up/entrepreneurs entering into the tea business?

MW: There are thousands of manufacturers in the country and so the competition is super huge and also very strong. For those who are called for to venture in this industry, it will be a hard, tough and very challenging journey with countless battles in between, both natural and unnatural.

They should be able to throw hard punches and take hard punches as well. Anyone venturing in this business should be ready to eat tea, drink tea and sleep tea, as the life of a planter is an extremely demanding life, that too a very rigorous type of demand at all times, both physical and mental.

It requires hard work, but also with it comes great rewards, which makes it one of the most luxurious of all industries in the country.

TNT: DENMAR is a thriving start-up which in time will pick up the pace. I would like to know what your future plans are and where will you be?

MW: After five years my plan is to retail my tea in all major cities throughout the country. At present, it is a hurdle to further invest in marketing as the working capital is huge and demands weekly cash flow, but after five years, God willing I will be able to achieve my dream.

I plan to position my product in the premium segment, as a super value with very competitive pricing. For this, a good financial investment and the marketing strategy of going rate pricing concept needs to be adopted, to ensure the product has a healthy life cycle not only in the introduction stage but throughout its retail period.

With globalization at our fingertips, there are also plans to place the product in the niche segment to target specific consumers in the west. Such strategies will help increase its brand value and ultimately brand equity, which would not only increase its worth but also make the business sustainable in the long run.