Celesté’s curated brews for the festive season

Everyone loves gift hampers. Celebrations, family and friends get-together accompany the festivities, and visits, filled with food, fun, and gifts exchanged. New Delhi-based Celesté tea offers specially crafted gift hampers to tickle palates in the festival season. The young, premium quality brand (founded in January 2020) delivers the unparalleled tea experience of a wide range of quality grade teas. Whether you are looking to gift a tea lover some new flavors to explore or for an out of the box homage to their favorite sip, Celesté brings gifting options for all.

Founded to go beyond a merely hot beverage, the company offers teas with a range of emotions that Indian tea lovers aspire to – in their search for the perfect cup. Celesté is a non-traditional artisanal blend of the finest herbs, and its founder, Anubha Jhawar, believes that fine teas should not be a rarity but an everyday treat. The company aims to make a luxurious tea that has strength, rich color, and refreshing taste.

Celesté sources its tea leaves from select estates and plantations across Darjeeling, Assam, Nepal, and the Nilgiri hills. It produces one of the country’s most delicate and unique teas after withering and processing, tasting, and hand blending in small batches. Individually labeled, the teas are then vacuum-packed in three-layered aluminum packaging. The vacuum-packing process ensures the tea is protected from exposure to air and moisture. It also prevents the growth of micro-organisms that can otherwise harm the tea’s freshness, flavor, color and aroma.

The packaging is the first point of contact with the consumer. Manufacturers and processors mainly focus on the package’s shelf appeal so that it stands out in the store to catch a consumers’ eyes. With Diwali (one of India’s most festive and widely celebrated holidays) soon approaching, brand owners vie for the best customer experience, not just with product quality and discounts but also with their attractive, luxurious, and engaging packaging. Jhawar explains, “If you see Celesté’s packaging, apart from making it attractive, we have tried to make it an experience. It gives you the story behind the blend, and it has graphics to which consumers can relate. A consumer is always attracted to the packaging first, which prompts him to experience the product.”

However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many businesses are taking a preventive approach, and Celesté is among them. “We are slightly conservative in terms of product quantity since the market is not as steady as last year, but we have not cut corners or compromised on quality at all,” she said.

According to her, the consumer today is conscious and inclined towards environmentally friendly packaging options. “People have always preferred recyclable and bio-degradable or environment-friendly packaging, and hence our packaging fits this preference. They also want to know from where the tea or packaging is sourced. Moreover, they want to support locally produced products.”

Celesté’s gifting range of luxury teas starts from Rs 1599 and goes up to Rs 3299. “For those who want to order a collection or variety, we do have smaller boxes but with a wider range of teas, while the other ones have a ‘ready to drink tea’ gift where we are offering a choice of a tea box, spoon and a kettle with an infuser.” Jhawar observes a change in consumer buying behavior, “People are skewering towards a healthier habit now, more than ever. However, their approach also has become slightly conservative in terms of the budget for a gift.” Nevertheless, she says the company is witnessing steady growth and a surge in demand in the festival season.