Vahdam Teas

Bala Sarda launched this company in 2015 at age twenty-three to ship Indian teas directly from origin to customers worldwide, cutting out the layers of middlemen that traditionally stood between garden and cup. The venture draws on four generations of family involvement in the tea trade, starting with his great-grandfather who opened a Darjeeling tea shop in 1931 and continuing through his father's Delhi retail business established in 1980.

The brand sources single-origin teas, spices, and herbs from estates across India and packs them at the source before shipping internationally. They pledged one percent of revenue toward educating the children of tea farmers through their TEACH ME initiative, which now reaches over thirteen thousand children across sixty estates and schools. In 2020 they became climate and plastic neutral certified, and they operate a flagship store in Khan Market.