East India Company Revived As Luxury Brand

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Aug 13th 2010 at 11:01PM

If you've ever studied the history of the British Empire you've probably heard of the East India Company, the English trading giant that shipped commodities to the West from India, China and the Spice Islands. The company began way back in 1600 under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I but now it's back in the hands of Sanjiv Mehta, an Indian-born importer and entrepreneur who bought the intellectual property rights to the company in 2005. He plans to revive the label as a luxury brand after it had lain dormant for more than 100 years, ceasing trading in 1874. The new East India Co. is a luxury story on London's Regent Street that sells tea, chocolate, coffee and other gourmet gifts with an exotic feel, an echo of the time when the company brought the exotic foods of the East to the rest of the world. The store has a "tea library" with more than 100 different types of tea. According to a CNN article, Mehta has invested around $20 million in the company and hopes to eventually sell leather goods, jewelry and home decor items.

Tags: East India Company, gourmet foods, london