Sales Manager

About Croft

Croft Beverages runs India's first fully farmer-owned network of mini tea factories (FPCs) in the Nilgiris, producing premium Orthodox black teas and high-quality green teas with full farm-to-cup traceability. We sell to tea brands, exporters, and blenders who care about origin, quality consistency, and sustainable sourcing. We are scaling our B2B commercial engine and need someone who can walk into a buyer's cupping room and hold their own.

Role summary

You will own revenue for Croft's black and green tea portfolio in the B2B channel — brands, exporters, blenders, and institutional buyers. This is a hunting role, not an account-servicing role. You will be responsible for opening new buyer accounts, managing the sample-to-order cycle, negotiating on grade, price and volume, and building repeat business. You will be based at Croft's Kotagiri facility, with occasional travel required to meet customers and visit buyer sites. You report directly to the founders.

What You'll Actually Be Doing

•     Build and work a pipeline of tea brands, exporters, and blending houses across India (and export markets, where applicable) buying Orthodox black tea and panned green tea in bulk.

•     Represent Croft at trade fairs (India International Tea Festival, Tea Board events), and buyer visits to the Nilgiris factories — travel as required, base remains Kotagiri.

•     Manage the full sales cycle: lead generation → sample dispatch → cupping feedback → price negotiation → PO → dispatch coordination → payment follow-up.

•     Read and act on factory-level quality reports; discuss liquor character, grade specifications (whole leaf, broken, fannings, dust), and defects credibly with a buyer's quality team — not just forward a spec sheet.

•     Coordinate with the production/factory team on grade availability, lot sizes, and delivery timelines.

•     Track market pricing (auction trends, Tea Board bulletins, competitor pricing) and advise founders on pricing strategy.

•     Own monthly/quarterly sales targets by volume (kg) and realization (₹/kg).

•     Maintain CRM discipline — pipeline stage, next action, sample status — this is non-negotiable, not optional admin.

What We Need

•     2–4 years of B2B sales experience, with at least 2 years directly in tea (garden, tea company, brokerage, or exporter side).

•     Working knowledge of tea grades and classifications for both Orthodox black tea (OP, FOP, BOP, BOPF, Dust grades) and green tea, and the ability to interpret a tasting/cupping note.

•     Comfortable with numbers: costing, ₹/kg realization, margin impact of grade mix — not just deal-closing.

•     Willingness to travel for buyer visits and factory visits, while based primarily in the Nilgiris.

•     Based in or willing to relocate to Kotagiri / Coonoor region.