Amez tea to open roadside stalls

Our Bureau Updated - November 16, 2017 at 04:44 PM.

Fresh aroma: Sourav Mukherjee (left), Head, Marketing; and P.K. Mukherjee, Head, Blending and Tasting, Amez Tea from Aspen Group, launching the Assam CTC dust tea in Hyderabad on Thursday. — Photo: P.V. Sivakumar

Tea makers are brewing different campaigns to woo consumers, as a fall in tea production may stiffen competition in the coming months.

Amez, a new tea brand from Kolkata-based unlisted Aspen Group of Companies, is trying out the roadside branded tea stall concept, which will offer consumers free snacks with every cup of tea they buy.

Present largely in West Bengal and Odisha, the company is now rolling out the brand across India, choosing Hyderabad as its southern launch-pad.

It launched the Amez dust tea in the State today, tweaking its blend so as to make the brew stronger to suit the tastes of the southern markets. The company will be launching the brand across states with different blends to suit the taste of that region.

“We plan to set up Amez roadside tea stalls from December this year. These stalls will offer hygienically prepared tea with an assortment of free snacks. We intend to have 500 stalls over the next two years as part of our new marketing initiative,” Sourav Mukherjee, Marketing Head, told media persons.

These stalls, which will mostly be set up through the franchisee route, will involve an investment of about Rs 1 lakh each. Initially, the company will have two stalls in every district and later extend the network to cities and state capitals.

Aspen will also be launching Darjeeling flavoured tea and green tea later this fiscal, Mukherjee said.

Aspen, which is also into hospitality sector having two properties in Goa and Sikkim, has plans to open three hotels, including one in Hyderabad.

“We have not yet finalised the investment. We are in the process of acquiring land for the new properties,” he said.

> amitmitra@thehindu.co.in

Published on August 9, 2012 16:29