Society Tea


Society Tea is an Indian tea brand, headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is part of a group founded in 1933. The company is the tea-seller in the state of Maharashtra, with a 10% market share within the state. Besides Maharashtra, the brand is also present in other Indian states like Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Society Tea is a retail tea brand of Hashmukh Rai & Co tea blenders which is the parent company, also based in Mumbai.

Origin and History

Hiravan Pranjivandas, the founder of Society Tea, started out as tea wholesaler in Mumbai’s famous Masjid Bunder Chai Galli in 1924. The street was regarded as Maharashtra’s source of tea as traders from different parts of the state would come here to purchase tea, to sell it locally. During this time, Das established tea trade with Middle Eastern countries. In 1933, he founded Hasmukhrai & Co to sell tea to the citizens of Mumbai. He established his first shop in Kalbadevi.
Hasmukhrai & Co became the market leader in Mumbai’s tea Industry by the late 1980s. In 1991, the company management made the decision to switch to packaged tea sensing that customers would change the traditional patterns of purchasing tea and find it more convenient. This packaged tea was sold for retail, first in Mumbai and later in Maharashtra, in the name of Society Tea. Hashmukh Rai & Co presently has multiple outlets in Mumbai in Kalbadevi, Pydhuni, Fort, Dadar, Malad, Borivali, Ghatkopar and Thane.

Packaging and Marketing Strategy

Society tea adopted the colour blue as the packaging colour for the brand. Karan Shah, the fourth-generation Director of the company, said his father Atul Shah was responsible for choosing the brand colour. According to Karan, “Market research dictated the colour of packaging to be red, green or yellow, but my father decided to ignore the research and painted Society Tea blue as the market was cluttered with shades of red and green, and he wanted his new brand to stand out naturally.”

Market Penetration

Society Tea is the largest tea-seller in the state of Maharashtra, with a 40% market share within the state. Besides Maharashtra, the brand is also present in many other Indian states like Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The company has established its presence in the Southern Markets from its e-commerce channels.

Products

Detailed list of products offered by Society Tea:
Classic Teas
One Minute Teas
  • Society One Minute Tea – Masala Premix
  • Society One Minute Tea – Elaichi Premix
  • Society One Minute Tea – Ginger Lemongrass
  • Society One Minute Tea – Masala
Iced Teas
  • Society Iced Tea – Lemon flavour green tea
  • Society Iced Tea – Peach and Apricot
  • Society Iced Tea – Raw Mango
Other Products