Wagh Bakri Tea

The under dog

Being a small brand is a boon in disguise, as it can be more nimble footed than its competitors.

Wagh Bakri tea is Akshay Kumar of tea brands. It competes against the biggest players such as Tajmahal and Brooke Bond, yet leads the regional markets. India consumes 100 crore kilograms of tea.

Azhar Jafri publishes Simplanations, a newsletter about business history. In his latest issue he threw the light on Wagh Bakri. It is the third largest tea brand in the country. It commands 10% of the market share. It sells in only 13 Indian states and exports to 40 countries. The revenue for FY2019 was INR 1500 crores. Mahatma Gandhi had a huge impact on the business and ethics.

He shared an interesting trivia about the brand’s logo: The name “Wagh Bakri” might sound strange when you hear it for the first time. In the logo, the Wagh symbolizes the upper class of the society and Bakri is a symbol of the lower social class. And both are drinking tea from the same cup symbolising values of social equality.

The brand has forayed into cafes. It operates 15 tea lounges in Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Pune and Goa. Cafe offers teas and ice creams. It also launched a direct to customer (DTC) website, where customers can order tea online.

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