The Infused Kettle is weaving stories and highlighting memories with the perfect cup of tea. The brand came into existence when a bunch of tea purists embarked on the journey to discover and deliver the most pristine tea from India in the traditional way. As tea holds the central position to every conversation or meeting and is beloved in the country and beyond, The Infused Kettle travelled far and wide to ensure that you receive the most delectable tea experience in each cup. Shalini Sinha, the Founder of The Infused Kettle spills the tea about the journey, aim and vision of her brand in this candid conversation with Storiyaan.
Shalini Sinha : The Tea Treasury
Interview
Questions and answers
Can you enumerate the events that led to your decision of employing your love of tea into a business?
After my MBA, I worked with coca-cola and then started my boutique Travel Firm, “Journey Weavers” in 2012. This familiarized me with the beverage industry and the nitty-gritty of a business. Moreover, I wished to venture into something new and after an eventful conversation with friends, I realized the gap between the supply and opportunity to create a tea market. And since then there’s no looking back.
What was the reason for choosing the name “The Infused Kettle”?
The major reason for choosing the name was to enter and launch a tea brand that was into blended teas and we wanted to make tea drinking an experience. Moreover, our vision is to go global and therefore the name reflects that idea beautifully.
What distinguishes a tea-lover from a tea purist and how did you realize that you were the latter?
Ironically, I am a coffee drinker but across the globe, tea is relished. And our company would be filling the gap between the demand and the supply of the perfect tea that is most desired. Hence, I am working with tea and enjoying the process wholeheartedly.
When you initially started “The Infused Kettle”, what were some of the major challenges that you had to overcome?
Since we have a global vision and take our mission to provide the perfect cup of tea, we have never compromised on quality. To deliver the perfect product in taste, appearance, texture, blends we initiated in-depth research and quality-check. In addition, getting the perfect sized tin for the container, the perfect label quality, the backend of supply, shipping and customer service was also challenging.
What are some of the key trends that you have noticed in the Indian beverage market in recent times?
The Indian market is slowly getting experimental. Due to health reasons, people increasingly prefer healthy beverage options. Thus, we have a wellness range that includes immune tea, hibiscus tea and digestion tea. Furthermore, a section of our customers are indulgent and wish to have the extravagance in their tea, for them we offer purple tea, refreshing tea, blooming tea and the likes.
Your brand offers a plethora of different flavours to choose from. What is the process that each new flavour undergoes before being launched into the market?
The initial step is a thorough analysis of the demand and opportunity of a certain flavour in the market. We maintain a regular range like the Masala tea along with the experimental ranges which help us attract all kinds of customers. Our market research and communication are always in sync with what blends, the purpose of the flavour. Finally, we have the tasting by our specialists before we approve any new range in our product offerings.