Chiyabari Bhanjhyang Tea Processing Company:
Located in a village called “Gahirigaon in Illam, Nepal, a young entrepreneur runs a small batch tea factory called “Chiyabari Bhanjhyang Tea Processing Co”. This enterprise is owned and operated by Tea Maker, Bhushit Dahal.
Bhushit is the first tea maker in the village and has learned this tea making trade from his training with a veteran tea maker from Darjeeling – Bhaskar Rai and guidance from Tea Guru -Sonam Paljor Lama.
Between the years 2016 and 2020, he worked as a technical support for a factory, where he not only learned about the machines, processes but also the overall art of tea making. With support from his crew, he also operates a goat farm. The manure from the goat farm is used as organic fertilizer for the tea plantation.
His expertise is in making Black Loose-leaf teas. Since the beginning of his entrepreneurship journey in 2020, he has crafted various types of black teas which are currently being sold to tea traders in India. He says “The trade is difficult because you have to work long hours, days, nights to ensure the teas are
processed properly to yield wonderful flavors. But, the aroma of teas being processed and of course bunch of cups of teas get me going”.
His entrepreneurship supports some 10 family of tea pickers and he also buys raw leaves from 15-20 small farmers nearby thus supporting the local economy. He says “Due to economic uncertainty in Nepal, it has been really difficult to sustain, but I hope we can export more of our products to 1st world countries”. His vision is to craft variety of flavors of Black Loose leaf teas to awe his consumers.
"Nepal Hills Tea" is an authorized importer for North America for a selection of small batch loose leaf tea maker artisans from Nepal. Allow us to introduce these companies briefly:
Norling Speciality Tea!
In the year 2021, I was looking for a second artisan tea maker in the vicinity of "Suryodaya" Municipality, Nepal. As it goes with the theme of my entrepreneurship venture, the hunt was for youth artisans with skills in specialty tea making. During my visit to Nepal in 2022, I was introduced to this team of youth entrepreneurs by Bhushit.
First they wowed me with their "White Tea" and then story of their inspiring entrepreneurship journey. Back in 2018, Lashang and some lads had two options in front of them. First was to go to Gulf and work as an immigrant worker and the second option was to start an entrepreneurship journey in the home land. They chose second option. This is a journey of youths who decided to stay in Nepal and honed their skills in spiritual craft of tea making.
The venture of "Norling Specialty Tea", started with 4 young lads, which later turned into a group of 5. The Key tea maker is Mr. Sambhu Rai. Nima Chhiring Lepcha is their secondary tea maker. Phurba Yelmo is designated as field manager. Pemba Yelmo works on office management and marketing. Lashing manages overall operations.
Sambhu and Nima have worked in the field of tea production over a decade. In the beginning Sambhu worked in a factory called Gorkha Tea where he started as a floor support. After a bunch of years, he started training with Monk and Tea Guru- Sonam Palijor Lama. After the training from Sonam, Sambhu worked as tea maker at a factory called "Mandala". Later, he moved to work at a factory in Pathibhara, Panchthar where he honed his tea making skills. He joined Norling team in the year 2020 and has been working since.
Norling Specialty Tea is renowned for their 6 different teas. "Classic Ruby" and "Golden Tips" are their signature crafts. They sell their products in the local market, some to Indian brokers and some to European Tea wholesalers. "Nepal Hills Tea", imports a fraction of their produce.
Norling is also known for their small scale production and hand sorting which yields best teas. When I met them and asked Lashang about what differentiates them from others he said " Most Tea Producers sort with Machine and that is done at the end stage, we only buy best green leaves and do hand sorting at the end. On every batch we ensure, highest quality produce is yield". He also added, "what makes me happy is : we decided to work here in the tea making craft, first it seemed like an untenable task, now that we have established ourselves, supported over 25 families with this venture, it gives me pride and satisfaction".
Image: Lashang Lama- Infront of Norling Tea Factory
