Parag Desai Turned Wagh Bakri Tea Into A ₹2,000 Cr Empire Before Death

Parag Desai, who was a top person at Wagh Bakri Tea Group, has died. He was only 49 years old. This happened because of a terrible incident with street dogs near his home. 

While trying to run away from the dogs, he fell and hurt his brain very badly. After this, a security guard quickly told the family and Parag was taken to Shelby Hospital. Doctors looked at him for one day and then moved him to Zydus Hospital for surgery.

Despite best efforts, he couldn’t survive and passed away after being on a machine that helped to breathe for seven days. His last rites were done today morning at Thaltej crematorium in Ahmedabad.

Parag Desai took the company to new heights, increasing its revenue from less than Rs 100 crore to over Rs 2,000 crore. 

Under his leadership, Wagh Bakri didn’t just stick to Ahmedabad but spread its wings across India and even outside. 

He was forward-thinking and started the eCommerce platform buytea.com two decades ago, way before many others thought of going online.

Speaking of the company’s long history, Wagh Bakri was started in 1892 by Narandas Desai in South Africa. However due to racial issues, he returned to India in 1915, and that marked a big change for the company. Now it’s a family affair with multiple generations involved.

Today, Wagh Bakri is a big name in the tea industry with current earnings of over Rs 2,000 crore. The company sells its tea in 24 Indian states and exports it to more than 60 countries. They sold an amazing 48 million kg of tea last year alone.

As for their future, they are planning to grow slowly and carefully. After focusing on Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh for a decade, they moved to Maharashtra and Delhi. 

Now, they are the third biggest player in India’s packaged tea market, right after Tata and Hindustan Unilever. Quite an impressive journey, I must say!