--By Gaurav Aryal

 

Shangrila Agro World Pvt Ltd (SAW), the marketing wing of Kanchanjanga Tea Estate (KTE) envisions having at least one buyer in each and every country of the world. The company so far has marketed it organic tea in 16 countries. Tara Banskota Adhikari, Director of SAW says, “We are working hard toward our goal of establishing our presence all over the world.”

 

Currently, the company is exporting organic tea certified by the National Association of Sustainable Agriculture, Australia (NASAA) to 16 countries including Japan, Germany, Canada, Australia, Korea, USA, and Qatar among others. The company offers organic tea ranging from normal black tea, green tea, speciality tea, flavoured tea and white tea to a variety of premium quality tea. 

 

 During its initial days, KTE had little choice in products and quality. Currently, it produces 70 tonnes of organic black tea, green tea, speciality tea and spices. Along with the organic tea, KTE also produces other organic certified products such as turmeric, ginger, cardamom and other tea spices. Such products are sold both in the blended and loose form. 

 

Profit-oriented Business

The company registers an annual turnover of around Rs 20 to 30 million and 90 percent comes from exports while 10 per cent from the domestic market. The company is present in the Nepali market with the brand name of Nepal Organic Tea. While it is exported in bulk and foreign buyers use their own brand names, the product is claimed as ‘organic tea produced by KTE, certified by NASAA and packaged by SAW’. Adhikari says that locally designed packages and labels in local languages are being used to suit consumers’ preference and taste in export markets.

 

In Nepal, however, the organic and green tea market is mostly concentrated in cities like Kathmandu, Biratnagar and Pokhara. Adhikari says that only health conscious people are drinking green tea at the moment and that normal tea drinkers are yet to be accustomed to green tea. “We understand there is a lack of awareness in the Nepali market about such products which correlates to the low consumption. However, we are planning to address this issue and gradually increase the domestic market share,” she explains. Adhikari also hints that exports will always remain the primary concern of the company. 

 

A Social Enterprise

The USP of a company does not lie in what it does, but in how it does it. A socially beneficial business model is what 

awarded SAW with the Asha Awards.KTE’s employees are not only workers at the company but also the owners. They don’t only receive salaries but also get dividends from the company. Similarly, 30 worker families’ housing facilities are coupled with utility services like clean drinking water and electricity, along with scholarships for children’s education. Adhikari says that though the hard cash is not provided to the family, scholarships are distributed in the form of stationary items, books, uniforms and fees for the school. At the moment, 170 children of families working in the tea estate are provided with scholarships. In the first phase of the scholarships, children of workers at the company are supported until they complete their school education. Similarly, in the second phase, poor and needy students from schools in the area are provided an opportunity to pursue technical education such as agriculture, veterinary, CMA and JTA. Under the second phase, there are 17 students gaining technical expertise at the moment.

 

The company has also borne all costs for organic certification of the tea cultivated in their garden. Adhikari claims that the gravelled road built by the company for its own transportation requirements has also benefitted the local residents. As their homes are now linked with the road, the price of their land has increased.

 

A separate project, the Cow Bank Project, was started by the company with by distributing 36 cows to   ** in the first phase. The project gradually grew and in the second phase, 100 cows were distributed in Panchthar district. So far, more than 400 cows are distributed in the district through this project and almost 400 families are benefiting from it, according to Adhikari.

 

The cost of running such social ventures is allocated from the profit made. Twenty-five percent of the total profit is allocated for this purpose and 15 per cent is provided to shareholders whereas the rest goes for the scholarships. Similarly, the amount collected in the social fund from contributions of buyers and SAW is used for giving back to society. The amount collected through sales of product affiliated to the World Fair Trade Organisation is also collected in a fund used for the benefits of the community.

 

The company’s 235 employees in the tea state and SAW offices in Kathmandu and Panchthar are comprised of mostly women, who make 80 percent of the total workforce. 

 

The Genesis

KTE was established by Deepak Prakash Banskota in 1984. The idea of establishing a tea plantation came to him when he once visited the tea states in Darjeeling, where he saw that labours were also owners of the tea estate and were living in well-facilitated homes. He saw the possibility of something similar being replicated in his village in Panchthar as the climatic condition and geography was suitable for tea plantation. He then sought the cooperation of his fellow villagers, who did not trust him. Banskota then started a tea plantation on his own piece of land of around 15 ropanis. When his efforts bore fruit in a few years, villagers got excited and started providing their land for tea plantation. The KTE was then established formally under a cooperative model. Today, there are 200 farmers who are also shareholders of the company.

 

As production and marketing through KTE was difficult, a separate wing - SAW - was established in 2002. Since then, SAW has looked after domestic and international sales as well as marketing tasks while KTE fully concentrates on production. 

 

Under the guidance of Banskota who is also her father, Tara Banskota Adhikari started looking after the SAW when she completed higher education. She believes that it would not have been possible to reach where the company is today without the support of her father, the villagers and the entire team of KTE and SAW. Though she had not expected any awards, she thinks that the Asha award has been a source of knowledge on social entrepreneurship and given her a sense of responsibility to continue doing something good for society.