(ICFAI conducts leadership conversations on “Formalising Entrepreneurship over a Cup of Tea ”)
“Serving quality tea at affordable price is our aim which led to a creation of 2,800 franchise network of Tea Time“ stated Mr. Uday Srinivas Tangella Founder & MD of Tea Time, the largest Tea chain in the world at the 37th WiseViews Leadership Conversations conducted on December 31, 2021 by ICFAI on every Friday at 7.30 pm. He delivered a talk on the topic “Formalizing Entrepreneurship over a cup of Tea”.
Mr. Uday started his talk by explaining his journey as a student and his dilemma to start his own business. Initially he started a café to serve fresh fruit juices and it turned out to be a failure. Then he thought what is that which is common to every Indian. The answer was ‘Tea’. Mr. Uday stated that he did some research about the Tea market in India and the opportunity he found was staggering. There is a market of 3.5 lakh crore cups in this field and that excited him to start the Tea business. Mr. Uday started the first outlet of Tea Time at Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh state and decided to build a franchise network in the country. “Franchise network brings a sense of ownership and the hygiene part is taken care of” added Mr. Uday.
“Tea is the second largest consuming beverage after water. The common man of our country deserves better tea at a hygiene environment at an affordable price is the philosophy behind the evolution of the Tea Time and we ensure that the quality is maintained across all the outlets” explained Mr. Uday. Further he also said “ Till 100 outlets, Tea Time did not had its own office and the focus on the quality clubbed with hygiene has led to the phenomenal growth over 2800 outlets at present in 14 states across the country.” Mr Uday added.
“At Tea Time, we strive to strike a connect with the common man and the interior design of the outlet is made to suit his walk in to the outlet. The price also is fixed at around Rs. 10 to pull the common man to Tea Time”, explained Mr. Uday. Mr. Uday termed the “Tea Time as the Café of the common man”. His aim is to vend from 3.5 crore cups per month to 80 crore cups per month in future.
Answering to a query in the Q & A session, Mr. Uday said the Covid-19 situation has helped in the growth of Tea Time as people looked to consume tea at a hygiene place and Tea Time stood up to serve this purpose and it attracted more people to take up the franchise of the Tea Time. In future, snacks like samosa and biscuits can also be formalized believed Mr. Uday and he stated that very soon they are planning to venture into the snack business.
The conversation was moderated by Prof. R Prasad, Director – Academic Wing, ICFAI Group and Prof. Sudhakar Rao, Director – Branding, ICFAI Group.
About 250 participants including entrepreneurs, Research Scholars, working professionals from various parts of the country registered for this webinar which was also live streamed on facebook.
About the Speaker:
Mr. Uday Srinivas Tangella, Founder & MD, “Tea Time”:
Mr. Uday Srinivas Tangella is an engineering graduated and entrepreneur by profession. He is adept to ever changing business environment and has founded two companies with diverse spheres of influence in tech and retail.
About Tea Time: Mr. Uday Srinivas took up a near impossible challenge of providing premium quality product to consumers at a lower price which has never been achieved in the retail industry. The birth of Tea Time was a ground breaking achievement which provides premium quality beverages at an affordable price to the consumers without cutting any corners. He was magnanimous enough to share his success with other individuals who have the entrepreneurial spirit by franchising.
Franchise Network: Tea Time created 2,500 entrepreneurs and 1,000+ women entrepreneurs. His vision to empower the common population and determination to bridge the gap that existed in the accessibility of a premium quality product is what led to the formation of India’s largest tea chain. His vision resulted in creating employment to 10,000 individuals and indirect employment to 25,000 people and vendors.
About ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education: The ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education is Deemed-to-be University under section 3 of the UGC Act 1956. ICFAI Business School (IBS) is a constituent of ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education. About 5,800 students are pursuing various programs in the Faculty of Management (ICFAI Business School), Faculty of Science & Technology (IcfaiTech), Faculty of Law (ICFAI Law School) and ICFAI School of Architecture, NAAC, an autonomous institute of University Grants Commission has also accredited The University with ‘A+’ Grade with an impressive score (institutional CGPA) of 3.43 out of 4.
