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Meet Bala Sarda: Founder of VAHDAM® India, an Award-Winning, Sustainable & Digitally Native Global

Updated: Dec 28, 2021

Shipping India's finest teas & superfoods to over 2 Mn consumers across 130 countries.



  • Established in 2015, by then 23-year-old Bala Sarda, VAHDAM® is now India's largest home-grown premium tea & superfoods brand.

  • VAHDAM® has over 2 Million customers and shipped to over 130 countries so far.

  • During Financial Year 2020-2021 VAHDAM® achieved revenue of US$ 21.5 Mn with a valuation of US$ 80 Mn and raised US$ 17 Mn, and is on track to achieving US $ 71 Million in revenue in the next three years.

  • VAHDAM® has built a truly vertically integrated global brand, by leveraging technology & cutting out unnecessary middlemen.

  • VAHDAM® has over 2 Million customers and has been shipped to over 130 countries so far

  • VAHDAM® closed FY20-21 with a revenue of US$ 21.5 Mn. It has raised US$ 17 Mn so far and is valued at US$ 80 Mn.

  • VAHDAM® has been awarded with 30+ awards globally including one by Jeff Bezos in person.

  • Certified Plastic & Climate Neutral brand.

  • 1% of its revenue is directed towards the education of its farmers' children in India.

  • Endorsed by global icons like Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Mariah Carey, Martha Stewart and Chris Pratt amongst others.

  • VAHDAM® India is also the only Indian brand to feature on ‘Oprah’s Favourite Things’ two years in a row (2018 & 2019).

Bala Sarda, founder & CEO of VAHDAM® India comes with a lineage of over 85 years in tea. He started VAHDAM® at the age of 23 with a vision to make available high-quality, garden fresh teas & superfoods, direct from source and devoid of any middlemen.



India produces 25% of the world’s tea production and some of the finest teas in the world supplying 250 million kilograms globally in 2019 alone. Despite that, the tea industry, which is one of the largest employers of labour in the world, is still plagued with problems like low wages, poor education & an uncertain future. Additionally, most of the tea being sold across the world passes through multiple middlemen before reaching consumers and by then, most of the prime freshness and flavour of the tea is lost.


By eliminating all unnecessary middlemen, Sarda was not only able to make garden-fresh, high-quality teas & superfoods available to consumers across the globe, but also able to retain all earnings in the region where they are grown and nurtured by millions of farmers with immense love, care, and passion. A process that ultimately helps every farmer get a better price for their produce.


Entrepreneurial since his childhood, Sarda is now creating his own legacy, underpinned by his overarching philosophy ‘Do Good by Doing Good’. Which, in Sarda’s case, meant seizing the opportunity to fix the fragmented supply chain from plant to consumer, and create India’s first truly ethical homegrown tea & superfoods brand.


‘Our commitment to people and planet, along with our customers, is central to everything we do at VAHDAM®’ - Bala Sarda


‘TEAch Me’- 1% for Education Initiative


‘TEAch Me’ is VAHDAM’s flagship social initiative where it directs 1% of its revenue towards the education of tea growers’ children. Every parent wishes for their progeny to have a better life than theirs. VAHDAM® simply wishes to honour this aspiration. It recently also partnered with BYJUS, the world's highest-valued edtech company, and committed access to 100,000 academic programmes free of cost to the tea growers’ children.


Certified Plastic Neutral & Climate Neutral Brand


Environmental issues and sustainability were also of great importance to Sarda when creating VAHDAM® India. While its shorter supply chain already boasts environmental benefits, Sarda took it a step further to make the company a Certified Plastic and Climate Neutral brand with goals to become entirely plastic-free by 2024.


Entrepreneurial & Award Winning


VAHDAM® India now serves fresh and flavoursome cups of tea to over two million customers across over 130 countries, direct from source. Bala has been awarded by Jeff Bezos for his incredible entrepreneurship and social initiatives at VAHDAM®.






He has also been featured on prestigious lists such as :

  • Forbes Asia’s 30 Under 30

  • GQ’s Top 25 Influential Young Indians

  • Entrepreneur 35 Under 35

  • Entrepreneur of the Year in Manufacturing Business & FMCG.

VAHDAM® India has seen boundless success since its creation, becoming the favourite of super celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Ellen Degeneres, Mariah Carey and more.


Sarda combined his knowledge of the tea industry with his fiery entrepreneurial spirit to create a tea that not only tastes good, but does good, and turned the outdated tea industry into a socially benefiting business venture.


Find out more about Sarda & VAHDAM® India in this two minute video:



All VAHDAM Teas can be bought online on www.vahdamteas.com and from Amazon.


For more information, imagery or appointments, please contact:



Helena Baron

07951202397

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