Of the 580,000ha land being used for tea cultivation, 65% is managed by large estates and only 35% by small tea growers. Average land holding of these small tea growers is less than 1ha. At the same time, they face considerable challenges, such as non-availability of finance, pest and disease attacks accelerated by climate change, poor agronomic practices that lead to low quality tea leaves, very limited access to high value markets and hence low share of the consumer rupee. 

Iron Kettle is a unique business model that challenges the notion that small growers have inherent and unsurmountable diseconomies of scale. It starts with the premise that a small grower can deliver superior quality that the market will reward with higher prices. 

Iron Kettle aims to establish a leading front-end tea brand, providing premium tea grown by small tea growers using sustainable tea practices. The market position is centred around small tea growers with end-to-end traceability and premium blends to cater to high value tea consumers.