By Tanisha Saxena (cbedit@imaws.org)
Tea is an emotion for us as Indians. Each one of us has a corner reserved in our heart for this beverage. We have been consuming tea since the second century B.C. Tea, originated in China. If we look around the most common thing is tapris around us which sell a cup of tea from 10 rupees to 50 rupees at max. While it’s difficult to accept that experiments can happen around the whole idea of having tea, in the recent past, a lot of people have experimented with tea and successfully carved out their niche.
Selling personalized cups of tea Chaayos, one of the fastest-growing tea startups in India. Chaayos is a chai-café chain offering different varieties of Chai customizable in over 80,000 ways. Each Chai is handcrafted and made upon order.
Raghav Verma, co-founder tells, “I believe that the main objective behind starting a Startup is to create something big, unique and above all, solve a problem. Entrepreneurs identify the issues and create a product or provide service to solve the existing crisis in the society. When we started our thought process was simple, we wanted to solve a problem. The problem that despite being one of the largest tea producers in the world, when we step out for a good cup of tea we don’t get it. Secondly, why can’t we enjoy a good cup of tea with in the good ambience where we can meet our friends, work, or simply hang out? Why this concept is just limited to coffee where majority of the population doesn’t even prefer coffee? That’s how the whole idea of chaayos came to be. We spoke to a number of people and realised that if the environment is right then the people are willing to come to have a cup of tea in a cafe. Initially, like every other Startup we had to prove that yes it is a viable business model and that’s how we took one step at a time.” Recently, Chaayos raised $53 million (around Rs 414 crore) and promises to continue working hard and be a better version with every step.
Chai Sutta Bar is a rapidly growing Tea-Chain, founded in 2016 by two young yet passionate entrepreneurs – Anubhav Dubey and Anand Nayak. Later, the duo was joined by another passionate being – Rahul Patidar. Chai Sutta Bar has been creating memories and building connection since its inception.
Anand Nayak, founder, comments, “I started in 2016 with my friend Anubhav Dubey and we are together since class 11. We had promised each other that we would do something together once we have earned some capital. Before starting chai sutta bar I was able to collect three lakhs of capital to begin with the idea of chai sutta bar. However, we both researched a lot into the market to understand the scenario and how well our initiative could be accepted. Roaming around on bike and observing the masses was really helpful. I observed a huge gap in the market that there’s a lack of the availablity of a cup of hygienic tea. Moreover, chai was almost there on tapris where the vibes were not good and not that presentable. I felt that why can’t we talk about a startup on a cup of tea ? The answer was opening chai sutta bar. In the beginning we used our diverse friend circle to inform people about it and gradually the concept came to fruition. Our motif was always a huge turnover so that even if we have less profit we will be able to pull it off in the long run. We also started serving other food items like Burger, pasta, etc which weren’t there at tapri.” What started in 2016 as a little initiative has expanded to more than 400 outlets in more than 190 cities.
The objective of yet another chai chain, Chai Break was clear when two school friends from St. James’ School, Kolkata decided to join hands to create something unique in the F&B segment in 2010.
Covering the eastern part of the country, Chai break has broken the glass ceiling and created a brand in world’s best food destination today, Kolkata. Ask Aditya Aditya Ladsaria, Co-founder of the Startup and he explains, “To be honest, I have been a tea enthusiast since childhood and have always wanted to do something around tea. Once I completed my studies and CA, I started realizing more that since we are Calcutta based and there are a gamut of tapris/dhabas selling tea that is excellent in taste but it lacks hygiene. Also, when we started we realized that we can’t make much money just selling tea and when we started about eleven years ago there was no concept of raising money and in fact, Startup as a concept itself was at an early stage. Our families were also not really supportive of the venture so we started at about 50k and gradually expanded. After opening we also realised how would we open another outlet if we don’t make enough money. Hence, we added a variety of food to the menu to attract the millennials and young people.”
As of now, the café chain has 11 outlets (all company-owned and operated) — eight in Kolkata, two in Bhubaneswar, and one in Durgapur. Aditya believes that there’s a lot more to come in the Eastern part itself. However, he plans to go to other parts as well and is excited to execute his plans.
The MBA in MBA Chai Wala stands for Mr. Billore Ahmedabad. When Prafull Billore laid the foundation, he chose the name that people gave us! The MBA Chai Wala. Ever since that day, we’ve become your MBA Chai Wala. From serving a relaxing cup of chai to a mouth-watering Maska Bun, we do it all.
Like other chai chains in India, MBA CHAI WALA INDIA has a different story. Prafull, an everyman who wanted to climb the ladder and become successful faced huge difficulties and challenges on his way. He begins, “Opening MBA Chaiwala was never in my list. In fact, I have zero ideas about how to make tea but what I knew was that I want to live a decent life with my family. So like every Indian parent, my too thought that doing an MBA would be great and I shall be able to bag a good job in an MNC. Unfortunately, I failed thrice in the CAT entrance exam despite studying hard. I believe that not everything that you want in life really gets. In a very short span of time, I realised that not everybody is lucky enough to get high-paying jobs. Hence, I decided to quit in the middle and start a chai thela (tea cart) on SG Highway in Ahmedabad. Having tried many ways to attract customers like organizing Ludo, putting a whiteboard where people can leave a message for their loved ones, and much more. All in all, it was extremely tough. Asking me “Why tea?” So, yes I believe that we Indians take tea not just as a beverage but as an emotion and nothing can replace that. Therefore, I started with Rs 8,000 in my pocket and then worked really hard to make it what it is today.”
Today, the tables have drastically turned and Prafull is the proud owner of MBA Chaiwala, a business that has Rs 4 Crore turnover.
In conclusion, tea chains have a major role in shaping the economy of the country. If we go by a report via IMARC Group, the tea market in India is expected to exhibit a growth rate (CAGR) of 4.7% during 2022-2027.
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