Luxmi Tea, which owns Makaibari brand, plans to expand its retail presence across the country, an official of the company said.
The company has already opened stores to sell its premium tea inside Kolkata and Bagdogra airports, and also inside the international terminal of Mumbai airport.
"The retail and online channels of our tea sales are growing fast. Presently, online and retail constitute less than ten per cent of overall sales," MD of Luxmi Tea Rudra Chatterjee said.
“Luxmi Tea, which has gardens in West Bengal, Assam and Rwanda in Africa, produces around 25 million kilogramme of the crop annually,” Chatterjee said.
He said, "We have started with three airports at present. Preliminary talks are on to open more retail stores in other airports like Bengaluru and Delhi as well".
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According to him, the stores have been branded after 'Makaibari' and sells the iconic tea and other premium Luxmi products at the airport outlets.
The airport stores will also sell branded accessories like cups and saucers, besides caddies and gifting boxes.
Chatterjee said, "The objective is to promote Luxmi tea across the country, primarily the Makaibari brand. Our monthly sales of tea in value terms is around ₹18 lakh to ₹20 lakh".
Besides airports, the company has also a presence in premium malls and modern trade.
Exports of tea by the company are around ten per cent of overall production volumes.