Student’s tea business success in the bag

Kangra, the region and the tea have a special place in Ashlea’s heart. In 2019, she was travelling solo, teaching in schools, and found herself in the area, which is situated in the very north of the country. She began working with a local tea estate owner, raising funds to ensure estate workers were paid a fair wage and to build a school where their children could be educated for free.

But then Covid struck and donations dried up, making her mission more urgent. Faced with the challenge, Ashlea came up with an ingenious idea – relaunching the rare and high-end Kangra tea from one of the smallest tea-growing regions in the country, back on the world market. 

The idea grew into the Mansimble Tea & Estate Ltd, which sells hand-filled cotton tea bags to UK hotels and tea houses. And now the flourishing enterprise reflects a commitment to making a difference through tea, embodying a unique blend of business success and philanthropy.

It is a mission supported by the University. Ashlea said, “UEL is fantastic with support. It has a great support network, especially the enterprise school. They’ve provided me with opportunities that I could never think of, introduced me to Pierre Rolin, the founder of Ankh Impact Ventures, via Female Founders and to the Haberdashers’ Company through the UEL BACK:ED enterprise grants programme. It was fantastic.”

But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Asked about her biggest recent challenge, Ashlea said, “Customs! Import and export from India is very tricky indeed. We recently bought an envelope tea machine - to produce individually wrapped teabags for larger hotel service.

“We bought this machine from China and had it shipped to India and it was caught up by Indian customs for a week due to one slight issue on the address of the invoice - this was due to the order being made in English, sent in Mandarin and received in Hindi. The language barriers can be very tricky and essentially organising a business overseas with time differences is hugely challenging.”

The company’s expansion has seen Mansimble move into other sectors. Ashlea said, “We have launched a gift set of tea which is available to buy online via our website and Amazon. This is our first retail product as we focus largely on supply and wholesale. It is a beautiful copper tea tin, filled with our hand-tied organic teabags and captured in a crisp white sleeve.”

As Mansimble Tea & Estate sets its sights on the future, Ashlea wants the momentum to continue into 2024 to safeguard her dream of sustaining that school in India. She said, "We aim to expand our tea business into four hotels. We aim to launch our tea-infused gin to the Indian market. And we aim to win at The Leafies again next year!"

The company is not only seeking expansion but is actively pursuing larger equity investments. The company is now based in Liverpool and Ashlea is optimistic that investment from the Northern Powerhouse Fund is “in the bag,” underlining the ambitious trajectory Mansimble Tea & Estate is charting: an entrepreneurial spirit infused with an ethical mission.

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