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Tradewatch
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The Official E-Newsletter of the Caribbean Export Development Agency • Vol. 8 No. 3 July 2014
SUCCESS STORY
SMAKS: From Luxury Shop
to Luxury Brand
Eight storeys above the hustle and bustle of
Biscayne Bay, with a breath-taking view of the iconic
downtown Miami skyline, it’s not hard for Kiran
Akal to feel like he’s sitting on top of the world. A
reaction that is symbolic of the rise to fame that the
SMAKS Luxury Group has recently undergone. In
less than 24 months, Kiran took the classic family-
owned business based in Trinidad and Tobago, and
transformed it into a globally celebrated tea and
spirits brand.
SMAKS began as a luxury gift shop manned by the
matriarch of the Akal family in 1979, but moved into the tea
business in 2011.
“On my return to Trinidad, I learned that my mother
wanted to sell the boutique that she had run for some 35
years. I felt a deep sense of loss, because here I was working
with all these companies and developing their brands, so
there must be something I can do for my family’s business,”
Kiran recounted.
As a child, Kiran accompanied his mother on most of her
buying trips. As an adult, he spent his formative years studying
and living in Europe. Overtime, Kiran became increasingly
exposed to fine products and gained a greater appreciation
for luxury branding and marketing.
“Besides becoming a china and crystal fanatic, I got an
understanding of what quality means and how grand firms
in Europe made fine products for market. There was no
reason why this knowledge couldn’t be applied to my family’s
business.”
The idea for SMAKS Bespoke Teas started as joke suggested
by Kiran’s sister, given his undeniable love for the beverage.
Kiran, however, thought it was a brilliant idea.
“The West Indies is predominantly African, Indian, and
Chinese. These are three regions in the world that grow a
lot of tea, and this tea came with them to the West Indies.
I immediately saw the connection with these teas, and the
things that people came to the West Indies for; things that
grew naturally like citrus, chocolate, cocoa, molasses, rum,
and exotic spices.”
Kiran saw an opportunity to take the tealeaves from one
part of the world, one aspect of West Indian history, and
combine them with the very essence of the Caribbean life.
With that, he set about telling the tale of two Indies, East and
West, and bringing them together to create a new chapter in
Caribbean history.
Today, SMAKS is the Caribbean’s premier luxury tea brand
with eleven teas in the company’s product range: Antillean
Green, Barbados Silver, Bermuda Pink, Caribbean Chai,
Grenadines Purple, Hispaniola, Parang, Tobago Afternoon,
Trinidad Breakfast, Trinitario Dark, and Trinitario Light.
SMAKS’ Award-winning Chai Rum
SMAKS teas have won several international awards, and were
also presented to Queen Elizabeth II for the Diamond Jubilee.
However, as Kiran began to work with tea, he realised the
potential for the company to innovate using the aromatic
beverage.
“Our entire focus was to create the first true luxury tea brand
from the West Indies that would be globally recognised. It may
seem ambitious, but with the growth and rate of the global tea
market, I felt it was something we could do.”
Kiran had the desire to create a tea company with a unique
model, that would appeal to people all over the world simply
because they were the only ones doing it. A model of luxury,
quality and innovation, and with this ambition SMAKS Chai Rum,
the world’s first tea-infused rum, came about.
“Rum, like tea, is synonymous with the West Indies and
unique to the entire world. So we decided to do what no one else
is doing, be the first company in the world to create Chai Rum.”
With the creation of the Chai Rumcame several opportunities
for the SMAKS Luxury Group, two of which set the foundation
for a whirlwind global encounter. First, the company participated
in ANUGA, as part of Caribbean Export’s Caribbean Kitchen
pavilion, the world’s leading food fair for the retail trade and the
food service and catering market, staged in Cologne, Germany.
“I found out about ANUGAwhile showcasing at the Trade and
Investment Convention in Trinidad. I jumped at the opportunity
because I recognized this as one of the most important food and
beverage trade fairs in Europe. I knew that it was going to be a
huge event and an occasion to reach hundreds, maybe thousands
with our product.”