In a recent episode of Shark Tank India 3, entrepreneurs Jay Sotta and Aakash Sotta stepped into the tank with their innovative ready-to-sip green tea cups under the brand Cup Ji. Hailing from a family deeply rooted in the tea business, the duo highlighted their expertise in curating quality tea products, leveraging their family’s export business.
While the ‘sharks’ commended the product’s taste, packaging, and branding, they raised concerns about its pricing. Amit Jain was quick to bow out, citing the product as overpriced and expressing doubts about its mass appeal. Vineeta Singh echoed similar sentiments, noting that the focus on cups could limit the brand’s potential. She said, “Why are you all not preparing tastier and healthier green tea as compared to your competition in the market? Why are you making cups like these? What’s the need?”
Aman Gupta had a different take, criticising the entrepreneurs’ modest revenue target of Rs 50 crore over three years. He emphasised the substantial effort required to differentiate Cup Ji in a saturated market and dismissed the venture as a ‘time waste’ due to its slim margins.
Namita Thapar also opted out saying that the product is ‘easy to replicate’ and ‘the sales are low’. Anupam Mittal couldn’t understand why the founders were trying to “bring life into a boring category like tea”. He opted out stating that the brand will have to compete with well-established markets of China and Japan who already are known for their green tea exports.
Though all the ‘sharks’ refused to give investment to the founders of Cup Ji, they were impressed by their enthusiastic pitch and asked them to keep trying and prove them wrong.
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