On completion of his education from Chandigarh, Sandeep Singh Sidhu embarked upon a career in the tea industry with Duncans Industries Limited in Dooars, West Bengal. After a stint with Duncans, Sandeep moved on to Tata Tea Ltd in 2001, which was the world’s largest integrated tea company at that time, as an Assistant Manager on its tea estates in Munnar, Kerala. In 2007, he joined his present employers, Craigmore Plantations (India) Private Limited and over the years, Sandeep steadily rose from being a Manager to the General Manager of the company and took over as Managing Director in November 2023.
Sandeep holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration, with specialization in HR and has undergone multiple management development programs and courses in Tea Tasting and manufacture of tea. He is a certified Tea Taster by Tata Tea Ltd. Sandeep’s areas of expertise include cultivation and manufacture of tea, independently managing plantations and factories, launching Selling Marks in Tea, carrying out various innovations and improvements to plant and machinery as well as quality of products, and extend to finance, quality control, sales and marketing strategy and general administration. Sandeep has also been on the Executive Committees of various industry bodies such as the Nilgiri Plantations Association and the Planters’ Association of Tamil Nadu; he has been involved in wage negotiations etc with Trade Unions, while serving on these committees. He is currently the Managing Director of Craigmore Plantations (India) Private Limited.