21-Jul-2009
Pioneering Pakistan tea company Tapal Tea (PVT.) Ltd. was introduced to the Tejari online marketplace in the middle of 2008. Initially, they had concerns about online sales and e-commerce in general, since many features sounded too incredible or theoretical. However, their positive results soon overcame their concerns after Tapal Tea found new large corporate customers using the Tejari online marketplace.
Last month alone, Tapal tea received 14 invitations to participate in tenders to supply their products. “We sold our black tea, green tea and ice tea products online, which include tea bags, packet tea and ice tea cans. The market for such products is very competitive offline, and the new way of making sales online adds good value to our operations. The speed of procurement transactions conducted online is also very impressive”, commented Mr. Sharif Hussain, Sales Manager of the Out of Home section of Tapal Tea.
Interestingly, Tapal’s remarkable success is due to the combined efforts of three generations. Mr. Adam Tapal was the founder of the Tapal Tea Company, which began by marketing his unique tea blend formula that came to be called “Family Mixture”. This eventually led to the Tapal brand becoming a hot-drink favorite and the largest selling tea brand in Pakistan.
Evolving and innovating throughout its almost 60-year history, Tapal Tea is presently the largest, 100% Pakistani- owned tea company in that country. Tapal has also set new standards for modern tea blending and packaging factories, has warehouses equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, and employs a dynamic team of professionals headed by Mr. Aftab Tapal himself.
Tapal Tea only joined the Tejari network to participate in online business last year, so its proportion of online business in comparison to its traditional offline business is still relatively small. However, Tapal Tea is considering its new online presence as an opportunity to expand its business globally.
According to Mr. Sharif Hussain of Tapal Tea, “We started our operations with only two auctions with a total value of a bit more than US$10,000. However, we received this business very quickly, and we got the opportunity to know the exact requirements of our potential clients and were able to show them our products at our best selling price.” Mr. Hussain goes on to say that: “Tejari is the best online marketplace to get introductions to big corporate organizations and to establish a new way of doing business, new sales streams, and of course new sources of revenue. Certainly, combining both offline and online commerce will help us achieve the best results, but e-Commerce is a very important and growing part of the mix.”
Recent research is forecasting a 36.4% increase in overall food consumption in Pakistan from 2009 to through 2013. Modern advanced B2B platforms, such as the Tejari marketplace, are well-positioned to support this growth in coming years by introducing buyers and sellers across the region.