Riding the wave of modernity while keeping tradition in mind

The tradition of eating paan or betel leaf has a long history. In fact, having paan also has various health benefits. In regards to this, The Pioneer connects with Prem Raheja, founder of The Betel Leaf Co., India’s first online FSSAI-certified paan delivery company that redefines the traditional Indian dessert paan into a new avatar. He talks to us about his association with Hyderabad and more in this week’s segment of Hyderabond.

Tejal  Sinha

The love that the Indians have for the age-old tradition of having paan or betel leaf is inseparable. The tradition of paan has a history of over 5000 years. Be it ancient Indian mythology or Ayurveda, it can be found everywhere with its effective medicinal values.
In fact, one of Bollywood’s most iconic songs from Don by Shahenshah of the B-Town Amitabh Bachchan says, “Khaike paan Banaras waala khul jaaye band akal ka taala”(After eating the Banaras paan, the mind’s lock opens).

You might have guessed by now what we are going to talk about today. But, hey, no! We’re not going to talk about the history or benefits, but take you through the journey of how Prem Raheja’s real-life incidents made him come up with the age-old tradition of paan with a modern twist.

Around six years ago, Prem envisioned the idea to start The Betel Leaf Co. But we wondered, how did he get the idea? He begins to share, “Prior to this, I had a couple of other businesses due to which I had to travel across the world. Due to the different timings and odd hours of a meal, I suffered from a severe bloating issue which was uncomfortable most of the day. When I came back, I went to a dietitian/nutritionist.

They had later come to the conclusion to have some basic changes in diet and bring in food. One of the dieticians had also suggested that I have a pan after every meal, and that’s actually where the journey started.”

It was similar to how we do not get the same food taste at every restaurant, it was the same when we go to have paan. And, every time that he was not personally present, they would simply put in any ingredient that was not supposed to be used. This made him want to have a saada pan, but he had to reverse the customization.

In a nutshell, even if women want  to have paan, which is a male-dominated purchase, they cannot just go and buy it, as was also the case in Prem’s case. And, also with the improper packaging of paan, it triggered him to come up with The Betel Leaf Co.

“The most important question that was raised was how do we take it to the people in a more comfortable place with a better experience. Then we bought various flavours because we are simply not in the business of deciding what food people eat, but can we relive this whole Indian tradition of bringing out the pan, which in the past the Rajas Maharajas gave pan to only people who enjoyed their dinner with.”

They offer over 45 flavours, including chocolate, coffee, and rasmalai. In fact, their products also include paan-infused chocolate bars and ice creams, with an aim to bring the essence and benefits of paan to the whole family. But that’s not it! Tea lovers, they have something for you all too. Headquartered in Bengaluru, they have stores in different cities, including Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Mumbai, Gurgaon, and Delhi. How could we not remember the experience in the city of pearls? And during this, we found out that Prem has always been associated with Hyderabad.

“We started the business in Hyderabad over 13 months back, and we currently have three stores; Sindhi Colony, Banjara Hills and Hitech city. We chose Hyderabad because my maternal side family has been in Hyderabad and I spent most of my childhood summer holidays in Hyderabad. As a kid also, we saw that the city had a great paan eating crave and I’ve had the maximum number of paans even as a kid here. So, what better than going into a city which has its heritage and Hyderabadis known for the city of nawabs and what can be more appropriate than the city. It’s been an exciting journey,” he says and continues, “Every city, every consumer is different. In Hyderabad, we didn’t experience different questions from people but definitely kind of recognition that we’ve got from the city which knows its paan really well.”

“Hyderabad is a fabulous city, and there’s a lot of opportunities and more visibility that it can give us in terms of recognition, consistency, customers wanting to re-order with us, and being an important part of the weddings. If the love and motivation that we’ve got here weren’t there, we wouldn’t open three stores in such a short span.”

In terms of future expansion, they intend to not only open over 100 stores by December 2023, but also to open international markets and experience centres in every major city in the country.