Reverse history of sorts will be created tomorrow when the East India Company – one of the most well known trade brands across the world – will open a high-end foods store under the ownership of an Indian-origin entrepreneur.
Sanjiv Mehta, 49, is all set to launch the Company's first twenty-first century trade 'expansion' in the form of Fine Foods in Mayfair.
He acquired the company in 2005 and has since invested 15 million US dollars.
Located off Regent Street, Mehta's new store measures around 2,200 square feet, and reminds many of the Company Bahadur's heritage – its coat of arms hangs on the wall while ancient Indian coins are placed across sales counters.
Mumbai-origin Mehta told PTI: "This once powerful brand can bring together its heritage, origins and products like no other organisation in the world".
"It is this connectivity between different cultures, countries and ingredients that will be showcased in every product and service".
The store on Conduit Street will sell 350 high-end products, including over 100 varieties of tea, chocolates, biscuits and mustard.
Mehta has ambitious plans to expand across the world, including in India, where the company's rule spanned over much of the sub-continent.
Established in 1600, the East India Company is one of the most recognised brands in the world: over two billion people know of its history.
It once employed a third of the British workforce and was responsible for 50 per cent of global trade, influencing and changing the world we live in today.The company was nationalised by Queen Victoria in 1874.
Over a century later and thanks to a group of visionary entrepreneurs, the brand has been brought back to life, with permissions granted by the Treasury to use the name and original trademarks.
Mehta said: "The East India Company holds limitless opportunities across many products, sectors and countries. We are determined to capitalise on the impeccable pedigree and enviable heritage of our brand".
Mehta graduated from Sydenham College, Mumbai, in Finance and went on to study Gemmology. In 1983, Mehta joined the family diamond trading business.
In 1988, he set up an international trading house in London with a special interest in metals, petrochemicals & agro-commodities.
