The Luxmi Group’s famed Makaibari tea estate is bringing together organically grown tea from small farmer cooperatives across Darjeeling under the Makaibari Collective, with a model designed to ensure fair pricing and profit-sharing for participating growers.
For consumers, the group will now have a dual offering. Targeted at the domestic market, the Makaibari Collective — which will begin rolling out from Diwali 2026 — will offer teas under the Makaibari name, with sourcing linked more directly to the small growers and communities that produce them.
Makaibari’s existing portfolio of high-end, estate-grown teas will continue to be produced, exported and distributed through premium retail channels, preserving the estate’s position in the luxury tea segment.
As part of the brand architecture, Makaibari will bring its everyday tea brands Apoorva and Green Valley under the Collective. The Collective will allow tea from small growers across Darjeeling to be included in its blends, provided it meets a set of standards to be independently established by auctioneer J Thomas & Co, including fair valuation.
The Luxmi Group will also voluntarily disclose to the Tea Board the locations from which it sources tea, including Makaibari, to facilitate certification of the tea’s Darjeeling origin. Profits generated from sales of tea supplied to the Makaibari Collective will be returned to small tea growers and farmer cooperatives on a pro-rata basis, in proportion to the quantity supplied by each grower or cooperative.
Rudra Chatterjee, managing director, Luxmi Group, said the goal for the Collective is to achieve 20 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth.
Makaibari is already growing at a rate higher than 20 per cent, he noted. “So that’s the minimum criterion,” he said, adding that the initiative enjoys several advantages.
“The tea is good. People are familiar with Makaibari. And this programme brings Darjeeling together to create a single brand, which is exciting,” he said during a media interaction.
Kavi Seth, chairman and managing director, J Thomas & Co, said, “It will be a privilege for us to be involved. We will value the teas and play an important role in ensuring that small growers are able to get a sustainable and fair price.”
Describing it as a win-win, Seth said it’s a first-of-a-kind initiative wherein a Darjeeling estate had taken the mantle on its own. “I think it’s going to be a big boost for the small growers, give them an opportunity to showcase their teas, to be part of being represented on the Darjeeling platform.”
