1:00 pm - Indian Tea: The British Built It, Now India’s Reclaiming It
1:00 - 1:45 pm; Raj Vable
The British played a central role in shaping India into one of the world’s largest tea producers, creating systems that still define the industry today. This talk explores that legacy and how a new generation of Indian farmers and entrepreneurs is working to reclaim and reshape the industry on their own terms. Through stories from the field, we’ll look at how tea is becoming a vehicle not just for income, but for equity, regeneration, and local ownership.
Presenter Bio
Raj Vable, Founder of Young Mountain Tea
Raj Vable is the Founder of Young Mountain Tea and has been confounded by the tea leaf since his first transcendental encounter with white tea in 2010. He started the company to create sustainable livelihoods for Himalayan farmers and helped launch India’s first farmer-owned specialty tea factory, which begins its inaugural season in 2025. His work—supported by the Fulbright Program, USAID, Acumen, and the Rockefeller Foundation—focuses on building a more just, regenerative tea industry rooted in shared ownership.