Sivasagar: What if you could enjoy your tea with whole leaves unfolding in your cup? That’s how Assam’s Woolah Tea serves the brew through Truedips, redefining the tea-drinking experience, naturally.
How does the Truedip work? It is a crunched and compressed bunch of two leaves attached to a bud of cotton threads and dipped directly into the cup. In a few seconds, the compressed bunch blooms inside the cup and releases the flavour and taste.
Founded in Sivasagar, the startup turned into a thriving business in just four years, earning Rs 2 crore in revenue in 2023-24. With Truedips, tea lovers no longer sip through conventional paper bags or plastic pouches—instead, they watch whole tea leaves unfurl, releasing their rich flavours. And the uniqueness of the Truedips clicked with the tea lovers really fast.
"Initially it was just green tea mixed with Tulsi flavours. But as we expanded our operations we kept adding flavours like lemon, mint, strawberry, Arjuna etc to suit the taste of our customers," said Manash Mahanta, who looks after the marketing and operations of Woolah tea while his partner and owner Upamanyu Barkakoty ideates for all round functioning.
The entrepreneurs had begun with a modest Rs 1 lakh investment for the startup, but later took Rs 10 lakh loan under Central Government scheme, Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana (PMRY). Besides, they had also got some financial help from some people on equity shares basis.
"When we were planning this start up, we came across some concerning facts. Each of the tea bags releases around 11.6 billion microplastics into the beverage. Most of the tea bags available in the market also use low quality tea dust. This made us rethink about the packaging," said Mahanta who revealed that it was their wish to give connoisseurs the real taste from the leaf, as naturally as possible.
"In Truedips, we have replaced low-quality tea dust with specialty grade whole leaf tea, allowing consumers to enjoy a premium tea experience," said Mahanta while talking to ETV Bharat.
Last year, Woolah Tea won much appreciation at Shark Tank India show where the judges appreciated the innovative product and packaging. They removed the tea bags from their cups and used the Truedips.
Although Woolah Tea had been regularly exporting Truedips to countries like the US, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and Russia, of late, the demand is also growing in the domestic market here. "All our products are appreciated by tea connoisseurs, though Green tea with Arjuna and Cinnamon are selling like hot cakes," Mahanta adds.
Woolah Tea also helps the small tea growers in Assam by procuring tea leaves from them, thereby helping the locals get employment and generate revenue. Now, the startup has employed about 150 people including in the manufacturing units as well as in the marketing team.
What's in the name Woolah? And pat comes the response, "ecstasy". It is the Assamese word for ecstasy and commonly used. "Woolah, we believe, expresses the ecstasy of having a cup of tea. Moreover, the brand should essentially be Assamese which is our authenticity trademark for tea," Mahanta says smiling ear to ear.
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