Makaibari Tea partners with Darjeeling small tea growers for new blended tea brand
Times of India | 1 September 2026
Kolkata: Makaibari Tea has joined hands with small tea growers (STG) of Darjeeling to market STG tea under a new brand, Makaibari Collective.
The initiative to market small tea growers’ produce is the first of its kind, said Luxmi Group MD Rudra Chatterjee.
Under the initiative, tea from Makaibari would be blended with STG tea by master blenders while tea auctioneers J Thomas will look after the quality appraisal, Chatterjee said.
While initially the tea would be sold under Makaibari Apoorva, Makaibari Collective will be launched after Diwali.
According to Chatterjee, there are around 2,500 small tea growers in Darjeeling while around 900 to 1,000 of them are registered. These registered tea growers produce around 45,000 kg of tea in a year. The total area under tea production for registered STGs is 380 hectares.
Chatterjee pointed out that Luxmi Group has set a target to procure 25% of the production of registered STGs. This will be blended with 30,000 kg of Makaibari tea to market 40,000 kg of blended tea.
Makaibari Collective will be promoted as everyday tea and not as speciality tea, Chatterjee said and added that the brand will eye the domestic market.