Jan 2025
Hope you’re having a great start to the year!
January has already been a crazy month. Generally speaking, after the holiday season’s craziness, things tend to slow down in January but this year has been very different. From closing the 2024 books to acquiring and integrating a new business, and from launching new products to planning tea tours and first ever North East Tea Festival, the start of the year has been quite hectic.
What’s happening recently at Nepal Tea Collective?
Acquisition of "Build A Blend"
We recently acquired Build a Blend a few months ago. It was months of carefully conducting due diligence, working on integration, and planning how to incorporate it into our business model and we couldn’t be happier. So, why the acquisition? Our current model has been successful where we source teas and botanicals from 10 different farms in Nepal, support farmers in growing herbs, spices, and teas, and help them reach the market. However, since we focus on Nepal, we’ve been somewhat limited in what we can offer our clients
Over the past seven years, we’ve had many requests for teas and botanicals not grown in Nepal. We realized that for a tea company, having a single vendor for co-packing, private labeling, tea-bagging, and access to a wider variety of ingredients was essential. Our goal is to become a true one-stop shop for tea businesses. The market is also shifting toward wellness, and we want to lead the way by helping startups and tea brands with custom formulations designed to meet their needs.
Check out our new business here, and let me know if we can help you source ingredients or blends!
2025 Tea Tour and North East Tea Festival
We have finally confirmed all the partners who will be attending our 2025 Tea Tours from April to June! We have about 25 participants coming from North America, making this one of the largest groups in recent years. We’re excited to showcase Nepal’s potential in tea and botanical production and truly appreciate everyone who will be experiencing firsthand what’s happening on the ground.
Also, we already have about 14 vendors and sponsors committed to the first-ever Northeast Tea Festival in Boston! Some of the participating companies you might recognize include 27 Teas (NH), Mem Tea, Chicago Tea House, K&K Chai, Simpson & Vail, Jin Sing Tea, Cambridge Naturals, and Tea For All. We are still looking for some kombucha companies as well as tea companies who specialize in Chinese, Vietnamese, Srilankan origin to attend the festival. If you know someone, please feel free to connect with us!
What's happening at the farm in Nepal?
All of the producers are busy with training as well as the production of spices and botanicals before the first flush starts, along with the maintenance of the factory. We successfully completed Organic Training and Food Safety Training at all of the farms we typically work with. Our team visited almost 7 different farms with Food technologist as well.
Additionally, ginger, turmeric, yacon, and orange peel are near completion. If you’re curious about how production is done on the farm, please check out the pictures below. The process starts with peeling the yacon before it goes into a squeezer to extract the juice. Then, we heat it to make it more viscous. If you’re wondering what yacon is, check out this link. It’s selling like hotcakes on Amazon, and we’re thrilled that it’s providing year-round employment for farmers in Nepal.
What's happening at Nepal Tea Collective Nepal?
Budgeting for 2025
We kicked off the year with our largest all-hands meeting yet, bringing the entire team together (despite some fun internet interruptions). The highlight was Krishma Kharel, our Head of Finance, delivering an incredibly detailed budget breakdown covering every single dollar we earn and spend with precision and clarity. A huge shoutout to Krishma for setting the tone for 2025 with such clarity and determination!
GOAT of the Year Award
We’ve always celebrated a GOAT of the Month, but this year, we introduced something new—the GOAT of the Year Award! With a clear majority vote, Sahas Shrestha, our Nepal Market Lead, was recognized for guiding us through challenges and milestones last year. He’s now the proud holder of the circulating GOAT figurine, which will continue to be passed on to future monthly winners as we celebrate exceptional contributions. Over the past year, we’ve seen enormous growth in the Nepal market. From just a few thousand dollars in revenue, we’ve grown to $150,000 + in revenue in Nepal alone in a year, along with the establishment of six different tea bars across the country.
Stay tuned for more updates!
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