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After completion of the case study, students will be able to identify the strategic key components of the Woolah tea brand through the business model canvas framework, to evaluate the major challenges faced by different stakeholders, to analyse the potential effects of bagless tea dip innovation and understand the principles of design thinking and its application in developing innovative solutions, to assess the strategic framework of Woolah tea brand to scale up its business and operations and to align the Woolah tea brand’s sustainability practices with a triple bottom line approach and contribution to UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Upamanyu Borkakoty and Anshuman Bharali, the founder duo of Woolah tea, began their entrepreneurial journey on a noble note. They recognised that plastic tea bags, which customers worldwide consume, create harmful health effects in the form of microplastic. They aimed to provide an authentic and sustainable tea experience while making it microplastic-free. When the world is heading towards securing a sustainable future, they envisioned adding a feather to it by proposing their Truedips. The USP of their product is Truedips – a tea ball they prepare by compressing one bud and two premier leaves. The founders were convinced that their innovative idea of tea consumption would provide customers with an authentic and exhilarating experience. However, there were dilemmas and roadblocks. They faced roadblocks related to the farmer’s traditional approach to growing tea, untrained tea growers, lack of financial assistance and customer readiness for a bagless tea experience. The dilemmas they faced related to their customer acceptance of their idea and the price affordability of the product. The big question hovering around was the customer’s feedback and acceptance of the product.

This case study suits graduate and postgraduate business administration students and other management programmes. The case study can also be used for business, marketing, design thinking, innovation and and social entrepreneurship courses.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the tannase-assisted extraction of tea stem pigment from waste tea stem, after which the stability of the purified pigment was determined and analyzed.

The extracting process was optimized using the response surface methodology (RSM) approach. Material-liquid ratio, temperature and time were chosen as variables and the absorbance as a response. The stability of the tea stem pigment at the different conditions was tested and analyzed.

The optimized extraction technology was as follows: material-liquid ratio 1:20 g/ml, temperature 50°C and time 60 min. The stability test results showed that tea stem pigment was sensitive to oxidants, but the reducing agents did not affect it. The tea stem pigment was unstable under strong acid and strong alkali and was most stable at pH 6. The light stability was poor. Tea stem pigment would form flocculent precipitation under the action of Fe²⁺ or Fe³⁺ and be relatively stable in Cu²⁺ and Na²⁺ solutions. The tea stem pigment was relatively stable at 60°C and below.

No comprehensive and systematic study reports have been conducted on the extraction of pigment from discarded tea stem, and researchers have not used statistical analysis to optimize the process of tannase-assisted tea stem pigment extraction using RSM. Additionally, there is a lack of special reports on the systematic study of the stability of pigment extracted from tea stem.

The purpose of this study was to assess the repercussions of eucalyptus bark and tea leaf extract as natural dyes and antibacterial agents for jute–cotton union fabric.

The dye was collected from the eucalyptus tree’s bark and tea leaves by the aqueous extraction method. The fabric was dyed with potassium alum mordant, using pre-mordanting, post-mordanting and meta-mordanting methods. Examine the color performance analyzed the K/S, L*, a*, b*; fastness to washing using standard test method ISO 105 C06 A2S, rubbing fastness was performed by Crock meter using AATCC 115. The dyed fabrics were characterized by Fourier transform infrared radiation for the existence of various functional groups. Also, antimicrobial activity testing was done by the agar diffusion method (AATCC method SN 195 920) where Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were used.

The extracted dye tea leaves meta-mordant dyed samples were determined to have the strongest relative color. Fabrics pre-mordanted and post-mordanted with extracted eucalyptus and extracted tea dye produced the same outcome, which was excellent for wash fastness to staining and very good for wash fastness to fading. For both eucalyptus bark and tea, rubbing fastness on the pre-mordanted fabric produced very positive results. In mordanted colored fabric, significant antibacterial activity was discovered against S. aureus and E. coli.

This study demonstrates that the eucalyptus bark and tea leaves extract encompasses a solid antimicrobial action with amazing coloring execution for jute–cotton union fabric.

This study aimed to compare the performance of sustainable shoes made with bacterial cellulosic composite and commercial leather shoes using an experimental research design. The two specific research objectives were: (1) to examine the basic material properties of multi-layered bacterial cellulosic materials (MBC), which include green tea-based cellulosic (GBC) mats, hemp fabrics, and denim fabrics, in comparison with those of two-layered leathers (MCP) consisting of calf-skin and pig-skin – commonly used in shoe manufacturing; and (2) to explore wearers’ performance in the two types of shoes by assessing quantitative kinematic and kinetic parameters of lower body movements.

This study focused on assessing the basic materials testing and performance of sustainable shoes through a biomechanical approach, in contrast to commercially available leather shoes, through human wear trials. In this study, green tea-based cellulosic (GBC) mats were developed using the optimal combination of ingredients for cellulose growth. Subsequently, the GBC, denim fabric (100% cotton), and 100% hemp fabric were combined to create multi-layered bacterial cellulosic materials (MBC) as an alternative to leather. Additionally, calf-skin and pig-skin leathers were utilized to produce a commercially available two-layered leather (MCP), commonly employed in shoe manufacturing. 37 of the 42 human subjects who participated in wear testing were collected. A paired t-test was conducted to determine whether significant mean differences existed between the two shoe types, a paired t-test was conducted.

To develop a biodegradable and compostable material that could be used as a leather alternative for the footwear industry, we proposed MBC and examined its properties compared with those of MCP, a product often used when making shoes. These findings confirmed the similar properties of MBC and MCP from the material testing and the possibility of using a men’s sustainable shoe prototype as a leather alternative, in terms of kinematics and kinetics.

The new multi-layered bacterial cellulosic materials (MBC) could be an alternative to commercial leathers such as innovative sustainable material construction, advanced design, and advanced techniques to optimize the overall performance of sustainable footwear.

Investigating the integration of smart textile technologies, ergonomic design principles, and personalized customization will contribute to developing MBC and making sustainable shoes using MBC compared with commercial leather shoes. This study provides valuable insights into further refinement and innovation in the sustainable footwear industry.

This study aims to explore a new restaurant category’s development from birth to maturity, thereby explaining the rationale for category innovation strategies.

The authors conducted a qualitative case study analysis of the New Chinese-style Fusion Restaurant category’s development from birth to maturity. Thematic analysis was conducted on data collected from semi-structured interviews and textual information.

A new restaurant category’s maturation is determined by the formation of society’s shared knowledge about the category’s crucial attributes, which is an outcome of market participants’ category-related social practices. The authors develop a novel, four-stage framework for the socialized construction of this shared knowledge: a knowledge creation (KC), knowledge diffusion (KD), knowledge integration (KI) and knowledge structuralization (KS). This knowledge evolution along this KC–KD–KI–KS sequence can holistically describe the category maturation process. This framework can help understand the rationale for a restaurant category’s maturation by analyzing the interrelationships among market participants’ social practices, knowledge-related activities and market development.

This study explains how market participants’ knowledge-related activities facilitate a new restaurant category’s maturation. This can help restaurant managers cope with increasingly homogeneous competition by applying a category-innovation strategy.

This study extends product categorization research on restaurants by articulating a product category’s maturation process from a knowledge perspective.

This paper aims to explore recent advances in drift compensation algorithms for Electronic Nose (E-nose) technology and addresses sensor drift challenges through offline, online and neural network-based strategies. It offers a comprehensive review and covers causes of drift, compensation methods and future directions. This synthesis provides insights for enhancing the reliability and effectiveness of E-nose systems in drift issues.

The article adopts a comprehensive approach and systematically explores the causes of sensor drift in E-nose systems and proposes various compensation strategies. It covers both offline and online compensation methods, as well as neural network-based approaches, and provides a holistic view of the available techniques.

The article provides a comprehensive overview of drift compensation algorithms for E-nose technology and consolidates recent research insights. It addresses challenges like sensor calibration and algorithm complexity, while discussing future directions. Readers gain an understanding of the current state-of-the-art and emerging trends in electronic olfaction.

This article presents a comprehensive review of the latest advancements in drift compensation algorithms for electronic nose technology and covers the causes of drift, offline drift compensation algorithms, online drift compensation algorithms and neural network drift compensation algorithms. The article also summarizes and discusses the current challenges and future directions of drift compensation algorithms in electronic nose systems.

Research indicated that dietary antioxidants could improve immune system performance. This study aims to investigate the association of COVID-19 symptoms, total antioxidant capacity and serum inflammatory markers, with dietary antioxidants intake among angina patients.

A food frequency questionnaire was used in a cross-sectional study among 135 angina patients with COVID-19, to assess dietary antioxidants consumption. Serum levels of tumor necrosis factor, interleukin 1ß, malondialdehyde, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and total antioxidant capacity were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay methods.

Among study angina patients, 76.67% followed unhealthy food patterns and 23.33% followed anti-inflammatory dietary patterns before hospitalization. The angina patients with anti-inflammatory food pattern had less fever (p = 0.021), cough (p = 0.018), dyspnea (p = 0.024), diarrhea (p = 0.014) and pneumonia severity index (p = 0.014) compared to patients with unhealthy food pattern. The serum levels of tumor necrosis factor, interleukin 1ß, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and malondialdehyde, had a significantly negative association with dietary antioxidants intake (p < 0.05).

There are significant association between antioxidant intake with serum inflammation markers in COVID-19 patients. There is a need for more clinical trial studies for approval of these results.

Natural food colors used in food are generally perceived as additives. Therefore, many studies have been conducted to prove the health benefits and risks of using natural food colors, which play an important role in the food industry, and to identify realistic stabilization methods. This paper aims to examine the health effects of natural food colors from a pharmacological approach.

The paper searches for relevant literature using keywords such as “natural food coloring”, “stabilization” and “antioxidant effects”. For the case study area, this paper added “food science and technology” to identify methods for stabilizing natural food coloring. From this review, the authors ultimately selected 79 articles that appeared to meet the research objectives.

When using natural food coloring in food, there are concerns about stabilization. However, with the development of food science and technology, the authors have found that there are multi-layer emulsification methods that can be applied before, during and after food manufacturing, and storage standards are also important. Natural food coloring is playing a diverse role in food science.

Natural food coloring has been reported in various types of literature to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antitumor effects. The most common pigments are carotenoids. Considering the positive effects of natural food coloring on human health, the authors suggest future directions for the development of food science and technology and provide a perspective for changing consumer perceptions.

The utilization of oilseeds in food formulations is prevalent due to their health benefits and nutritional value. These protein-rich oilseeds serve as an affordable and essential source of nutrients and bioactive compounds, fulfilling human protein requirements. As such, this study sought to investigate the impact of partially replacing wheat flour with oilseeds in different proportions on the nutritional and quality characteristics of biscuits.

Oilseeds, including terebinth, sesame and flaxseed, were partially substituted with wheat flour in amounts of 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25%. The effects of this substitution on the storage stability, nutritional content and physical properties of the resulting biscuits were examined.

The L* (from 69.75 to 54.06) and b* (from 28.59 to 21.60) color values of biscuits decreased with the supplement of oilseeds. The oilseeds addition increased the protein, fat, energy, and ash values of biscuits. At the highest level of added terebinth, sesame and flaxseed, respectively, the amounts measured were 5984.62 mgGAE/kg, 1553.85 mgGAE/kg and 2169.23 mgGAE/kg, which were higher than the control biscuits (715.39 mgGAE/kg). The incorporation of oilseeds resulted in a substantial decrease in pH and peroxide values, while the moisture content was increased throughout the 6-month storage period. The use of terebinth in biscuits led to better oxidative stability than sesame and flaxseed-containing samples. The biscuit samples with terebinth had a longer induction time. The lowest induction time of biscuits with 25% flaxseed was chosen, approximately 3.5 h.

Oilseed flours, which are rich in lipids, have been shown to enhance the quality of biscuits. However, further studies could aim to reduce the amount of shortening used to improve their quality even further. Reducing the shortening could keep the lipid content at an acceptable amount, especially considering consumers' current expectations for low-fat foods.

Plant-based bioactive are generally known as secondary metabolites and have promising therapeutic attributes, especially antioxidative properties.

Thanks to this composition, some of these seeds have proven effective in controlling and preventing metabolic diseases (hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, coronary heart disease and several types of cancer) as well as providing interesting properties to foods.

As result, oilseeds can be successfully used as functional and sustainable food ingredients to improve the functional, nutritional and storage stability of biscuits.

The research methodology used for this case study follows a comprehensive approach, combining both primary and secondary sources to ensure a well-rounded understanding of the subject. Primary sources include in-depth interviews with the founders of the company, providing valuable firsthand insights into their experiences and decision-making processes. Multiple company visits were also conducted, enabling a closer examination of the operational aspects and allowing for a more holistic perspective on the case. Complementing these primary sources, secondary sources were used, consisting of a diverse array of articles from leading journals, newspapers, magazines and other reputable sources. These secondary sources offer a broader context and perspective, enriching the case study’s content and ensuring a robust foundation for classroom discussion and analysis.

True Elements was a clean health food brand that emerged from the vision of Mr Sreejith Moolayil and co-founder, Mr Puru Gupta, who recognized the potential of promoting healthy foods in India inspired by the health-conscious lifestyle that they observed during their work tenure in China. The co-founders began their entrepreneurial journey in 2011 with “Healthy World” kiosks inside IT company campuses in Delhi, Mumbai and Pune. However, early challenges surfaced as the target market narrowed. Undeterred, the founders sought innovative solutions to expand their reach and created “True Elements” – a brand that resonated with health-conscious consumers given its positioning as a clean and minimally processed food brand devoid of chemicals, preservatives and added sugars. True Elements excelled in the online market and catered to a few offline markets. To sustain and augment their success, the entrepreneurs sought a strategic partnership and succeeded with Marico Ltd. However, challenges remained on the horizon. One was the need to appeal to a new target group: the 25–45 age group with a lower monthly income of INR 30,000. Another pressing question was exploring the entry into the modern trade sector.

This case can be taught in undergraduate and post-graduate business management programs for marketing, strategy and innovation and entrepreneurship related courses. Apart from that, this case can also be discussed in incubator programs as cases highlighting entrepreneurship can facilitate discussions among early-stage founders, providing practical insights and lessons for their ventures. This case also can be discussed very effectively in management classes for working executives.