Sanjiv Mehta – East India Company
Over 400 years after it was first established, the East India Company has relaunched in a new avatar – a luxury goods brand.
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. He acquired the company in 2005 and has since invested $15 million.
Now he aims to turn this company into a global luxury brand. The company’s first store has opened in London’s high-end Regent Street, where buyers are lured with a variety of historically significant products associated with the company name like gourmet tea, chocolate, coffee and gifts. Mehta also plans to open more stores and launch leather goods, jewelry and home interiors in the near future.
