The Story of Our Story...
1960s
A 15 year old visits Darjeeling Hills in India...
Mr. Deepak Prakash Baskota gets inspired by the tea plantation and business in Darjeeling and comes back to his village, Phidim (Eastern Nepal), with a vision of starting a tea farm to rid his community out of poverty.
Early 1970s
He pitches to the villagers about starting a tea farm, unsuccessfully...
The elderly in the village outright reject his idea and do not give him the unused land that he had requested to plant the teas seeds.
Late 1970s
He starts planting in his own backyard along with his wife and close friends...
Undeterred by rejection, he and his wife start planting tea seeds and cuttings right on their backyard! 4 years later, the farmers see that tea production was indeed possible.
1984
He starts the 1st Certified Organic Tea Garden in Nepal, Kanchanjangha Tea Estate...
The elderly who had initially rejected his idea, give him unused lands for tea production. More than 100 farmers pooled their lands to bring Kanchanjangha Tea Estate to life! Read our detailed story here.
1991
Our founder is born...
As Deepak's and Dambar's youngest son, our founder, Nishchal, is born in the tea farm. While it would have been fun to say the picture of the small kid between the parents is him, it is not. Somehow, a cousin of Nishchal snuck into that amazing picture and trust us he had no control at that time! At least, it makes a great story!
Summer 2015
He graduates from college in the US and heads back home to Nepal...
Nishchal came to the US to become a CPA, however, 4-years of liberal arts college, completely killed the CPA in him and here he is selling amazing organic teas to you!
Winter 2015
He opens the first tea bar in Nepal...
2015 marked a grim year for Nepal as it witnessed one of its biggest earthquakes. However, it also really tested and developed a resiliency of Nepali people. Nishchal ventured into opening the first tea bar in Nepal while helping her sister market Nepali teas locally through Baskota Group.
2016
He returns back to the US to start Nepal Tea...
With immense knowledge in the local tea industry and a vision to create an identity for Nepali Teas, Nishchal returns to the US and establishes Nepal Tea.
2017
He launches the biggest kickstarter campaign in the organic tea industry...
With a support from almost 500 backers, Nepal Tea successfully completes the biggest crowdfunding campaign in the organic tea industry at the time. Some of the most amazing products and our unique immersive tea tourism packages evolved through this kickstarter campaign
2018
Our chai, Nepali Breakfast, is voted among top 10 teas...
Our very special chai blend Nepali Breakfast is voted among the top 10 teas through a survey that involved more than 70,000 reviews directly from consumers. Among the winners were David's Tea, Harney & Sons and Tea Pigs to name a few!
2019
Our white tea, White Prakash, wins bronze medal in the global tea championship...
Yet another win, our very special white tea, named after our founder's father, wins the bronze medal at the Global Tea Championship. It was indeed a truly honorable tea.
2020
COVID-19 Pandemic | Strategic Pivots | New office and warehouse...
The pandemic brought about a lot of changes for Nepal Tea but thankfully we were resilient enough to grow and expand during the time. We got back to our roots, managed our farm through zoom and google meet, started farmers' emergency fund, opened new office and warehouse in Long Island City, NY and of course provided our dear customers with all the teas that they wanted directly at their doorstep
2021
Pratik’s Advent
Pratik, a third generation Nepali tea producer, joined Nepal Tea Collective as a co-founder all the way from the shiny building of Wall Street, bringing his acumen of dealing with numbers, both big and small, and managing tricky logistics like nobody else can. Pratik has become a core pillar of Nepal Tea Collective’s vision and is now responsible for leading the ever-growing wholesale and fulfillment team. Who would we really be without Pratik?
2022
Amigo’s Advent
Amigo found his way to Nepal Tea Collective after throwing his graduation cap on the premises of London School of Economics. From playing cricket and soccer on the streets of Kathmandu with Nishchal and Pratik to building a tea company that has dreams and vision of disrupting the Nepali tea industry, this friendship has become something not even Hollywood or even Bollywood movies can capture. Amigo has brought to the team a special ability of making acute discernment in proper financing, managing teams, and growing the company.
2023
A Team, Bigger and Better
We are now a twelve-member-strong team with unique talent and skills. Shalin is savvy with numbers, data, and insight, while Bidhan knows the ins and outs of social media marketing. Kajina and Anish bring together an aesthetic sensibility that is foundational to design and structured execution. Ishan deals with marketing via email and fiddles around with Amazon. Pratima, Kshitiz, and Aakriti deal with our business clients and Rabin makes sure that you get your teas on time!
