The month of June is home to both International Refugee Week and World Refugee Day. So this month, we caught up with Pranav Chopra, CEO and Founder of NEMI Teas, a London-based tea company that supports and empowers refugees.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your brand, NEMI Teas? 

A Social Entrepreneur, ex-Management Consultant, ACA and MBA graduate. I am a passionate changemaker and have been involved in a number of ventures with a social development agenda at their core ranging from empowering refugees by selling specialist tea in the UK (NEMI Teas) to tackling the issue of illiteracy in India through the power of tourism (Slumdog Travels). I have also worked as a Management Consultant for over 10 years where I advised a diverse portfolio of market-leading clients in a range of industries across different regions.

NEMI Teas is a specialist London-based tea company that offers a variety of whole-leaf tea blends, both as loose-tea and tea bags and a Chai Syrup. As a sustainable brand, all the products are Organic, Fairtrade and plastic-free. It also employs refugees to give them local work experience to help them enter the UK workforce.

What is it like running a social enterprise like NEMI Teas? What are some of the struggles you have faced?

Running a social enterprise is an adventure, with a lot of ups and downs! I’d say balancing business and impact is one of the biggest challenges we have. Without sales, we’re not able to support our beneficiaries, so it’s easy to be lured into focusing only on the commercial side of things. For us, consistently being in touch with our beneficiaries has been a great anchor for our impact. It brings us back to our mission and reminds us that we’re not working on something abstract, but very real indeed.

What inspired you to start with NEMI Teas, and what is the NEMI vision?

The idea for NEMI actually came out of a supper club where I met Anwar and Mohammed, two refugees from Sudan. We all got chatting and ended up talking about what it was like to be a refugee in the UK. Despite getting their refugee status (which gave them a right to work), they were struggling to get employment. Time and time again, employers told them that they didn’t have any local work experience nor a local referee.

That’s when the idea came of setting up an organisation that solely employed refugees, no questions asked. This would help them gain local work experience that they much needed to get onto the job ladder as well as act as their referee to vouch for them to remove any hurdles they may face in securing a job. 

For you, what has been the most rewarding part of running NEMI Teas?

It’s been a hugely exciting journey so far and the most rewarding moment is when I see our hires find their feet and build their lives in the UK.

How can we help support refugees who are integrating into society?

We really encourage businesses to think about hiring refugees. In fact, we’ve got a blog post breaking down the reasons why you should hire them! It’s one of the best decisions you can make from both an impact and commercial perspective.

Otherwise, there are some great organisations out there to get involved with. Some of our favourites are Migrateful, Bloody Good Period and Breadwinners.

We love sharing new things for everyone to discover! What would you recommend to others?

Since things have been opening up more in the UK, I’ve been loving eating out. Fat Macy’s (another kick-ass social enterprise) have just opened up a restaurant in Victoria, and the food is incredible!

And of course, what is your favourite way to drink chai tea?

Call me old-fashioned, but I love having chai the traditional way. My mum always made it nice and warm growing up, so that’s still my go-to.

Words by Leonie Carver