Shop Small is a monthly series highlighting small business owners from diverse backgrounds. This series aims to go deeper than your typical product roundup, diving into the inspirational stories behind some of our favorite brands. By taking a behind-the-scenes look at how their shops came to be and highlighting the products they (and their shoppers!) love, we hope to put a deserving spotlight on these marginalized business owners.
Esha Chhabra and Smita Satiani had been friends for over a decade until one day, Smita came up with the idea of starting a tea company. The women, who both grew up drinking tea with their South Asian families, set out to make an eco-friendly brand and "tea that goes beyond chai." They wanted it to be worker-friendly, affordable, high quality and of course, delicious.
While Smita spent time traveling in India to deploy climate technologies, Esha spent years of her life as a journalist looking at sustainable companies. The two were the perfect match to self-fund and launch Alaya Tea in late October 2019, confronting the challenges of creating sustainable packaging, shipping and ingredient usage along the way.
Alaya Tea currently sells a dozen loose leaf tea flavors, but they’re not just a tea company. They also sell handmade ceramics, which are made on permaculture farms in South India, a cotton tote bag, gift boxes handwoven by Indian artisans using upcycled materials and a book written by Chhabra on regenerative farming. Yet, as the world evolves around them, Smita and Esha are actively looking for more ways to develop their eco-friendly brand.
As they enter their fourth year of operation, Smita and Esha look to slow down in their lifestyles while growing their business. We had the chance to speak with Smita and Esha about their journey as entrepreneurs, the beginnings of their brand and what's next.
How did the idea of Alaya Tea come to be?
Esha: We had both been working individually in the social impact sector, and we were very aware of what was happening in this space and thought about bringing it to tea. A lot of interest had already happened in coffee, and we felt like there was this third-wave coffee movement, but wondered why people weren't thinking about tea in the same way. For us, we wanted to build a company that was really eco-forward. We wanted to challenge the narrative on tea — we hadn't seen anything that was owned by two South Asian women, even though India produces so much tea in the world.
What does "Alaya Tea” mean?
Smita: Alaya comes from “Himalayas,” which is where we source most of our teas. So at the base, bottom of the Himalayas, is Darjeeling, one of the most iconic tea-growing regions. Then, most of our herbals come from Uttar Pradesh, which is another state in the north part at the base of the Himalayas. And then we have Assam teas, which are considered the northeast part of India at the base of India and China. If you look at the packaging on our bag, the mountains you see are the Himalayan Mountains, and on the back is a mountain you can see from Darjeeling called Kangchenjunga.
What are your most popular teas?
Smita: One of the more popular ones, which we just launched this year, is called Assam Golden Tippy. It's different than what you would get with a typical chai in that these are whole Assam black tea leaves with golden-ish tips. The Darjeeling teas are really popular as well because they're unique. So we have a Darjeeling Green tea, which is like a green tea but isn't like most of the East Asian green teas. Indian green tea isn't blended with any jasmine or any other flavorings — it's really floral in nature.
Esha: Hibiscus is also really popular. You can practically see the whole flower. It's also cooling and you can have it hot or iced, so it's really popular in the summertime. That's the other thing with these teas — yes, winter is tea drinking season, but we've also made Darjeeling teas iced and you can do that if you're somebody who prefers iced drinks.
How does your motto, “A fresher, kinder tea,” represent your brand?
Smita: We learned that larger conglomerates of tea production typically store their harvests in warehouses for several years before consumers get the tea, so by the time you actually drink your tea from their tea bag, it's usually a few years old. And that was something we were really surprised by and wanted to change. All of our tea is directly from the source, no middlemen, and they're from the latest season. That's the fresher part.
The kinder part means our tea is kind to the consumer, because there are no micro-plastics or pesticides in your tea bags. It's all organic, and we want to encourage people to slow down and be kinder to themselves when they enjoy our tea. It's also kinder to the planet and the workers who are harvesting the tea. We're using regenerative organic farming and biodynamic practices.
What are two things you’ve learned as a business owners?
- Just get started and do it. People sort of sit and wait on an idea to reach perfection or near perfection. And like we said, we weren't experts in any of this. We've just been really driven to find out the answers ourselves and have been kindly supported by others. — Esha
- Your business partner becomes like another spouse. You spend so much time with this person, you are dealing with both small decisions and big decisions. It's your work, but it's also your life and your passion. And so I would say really find a business partner that has the same values as you. — Smita
What's next for Alaya Tea?
Smita: We're trying to branch out, not just the tea itself but what you're drinking, how you're drinking the tea, how you're brewing it — whether it's the ceramics or regenerative cotton tote bags, which we launched last year. I suspect we'll continue to do things like that, where it's not just about the tea but all the other stuff around it.
Lilli (she/her) is an editorial intern at Good Housekeeping and a senior undergraduate student at Syracuse University majoring in magazine, news and digital journalism. When she’s not looking into the latest news and trends, she’s seeking her new favorite ice cream flavor or dream travel destination. She has previously covered news at The Daily Orange and The Evening Sun and lifestyle content at The Fit Magazine and Jerk Magazine.