New age makeover of ‘Chai’: Tea-a-ddiction

Consuming ‘tea’ is engrained in the social fabric of India. For ages, it has been the favourite beverage of majority of Indians. It is not only used to kick-start the day, but is also an important means of socializing throughout the day. The popularity of tea (Chai) is evident by the fact that ‘Chai pe charcha’ was the most popular election campaign rolled out by BJP in year 2014 to connect with people at ground level.

A quick look at facts by Euromonitor (August 2014) states that the global consumption of tea in year 2016 was approximately 2.9 million tonnes. Out of this, Asia accounts for more than half of the total consumption; the top three markets being China, India and Pakistan.

Though chai has seen many variations over the ages, one of the major changes that has been witnessed in last five years has been the makeover or café-isation of chai. From its dominating presence in local eateries and nearby tea stalls, it has now transitioned to sophisticated environment of cafes and specialty tea shops; appealing strongly to young and upper-middle class consumers.

Here is a quick look at buzzing Indian Tea-preneurs:

Chai Point – Conceptualized and launched by Harvard alumnus Amuleek Singh Bijral in 2010 in Bengaluru, Chai Point is now India’s largest chai retail chain. With over 100 stores spanning across 8 cities, Chai point claims to serve a daily average of about 3 lakh cups of chai across its various channels. Chai Point has strong presence in corporate and caters most of them through its tea dispensers along with specially designed services – ‘Chai-on-Call’ and ‘boxC.in’ (India’s first cloud based platform for beverage services). Along with the café-isation of chai, it has also forayed into various related segments. Whereas Garden to Glass contains signature teas of Chai Point, Made-For-Chai offers bite sized snacks. Proudly positioned as a technology-based beverage pioneer, Chai Point continues to innovate constantly in order to provide unparalleled chai experience to its customers

 Chaayos – Chaayos was founded by IITians Nitin Saluja and Raghav Verma. The first café was introduced in November 2012 in Gurgaon. Currently Chaayos has about 53 cafes with presence in Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Chandigarh. Chaayos strongly focuses on serving ‘Meri Wali Chai’ a customized offering made exactly as per customer’s liking. Various permutations combinations available at Chaayos enable a customer to customize their Chai in 12000 different ways. Deployment of ‘Chai Monk’; IOT enabled chai machines is underway at various Chaayos outlets in order to ensure consistency in taste. Chaayos also runs its ‘LoyalTea’ program to win over repeat customers.

Chai Thela – Chai Thela was founded by an IIT Kharagpur alumnus, Pankaj Judge in year 2015. It is a chain of tea outlets based out of Noida with additional presence in Gurgaon, Delhi and Mumbai. Synonymous to its name, Chai Thela operates on a kiosk format; a modernized makeover of conventional next door tea stalls. It offers to its customers freshly brewed tea, which is hygienic and affordable; along with street snacks like vada-pav and poha. The venture strongly focuses on commercial hubs and offices.

 TPot – This was founded by Robin Jha in 2013 and has about 30 outlets in various parts of Delhi NCR. The brand believes in offering premium services to customers at a low price point. It serves more than 40 types of tea.

 Tea Trails – Tea Trails is an exclusive range of cosy tea-themed restaurants that revolves around providing exquisite teas from across the globe. The first café was launched in Mumbai by Kavita Mathur (Euro Kids fame) in year 2015.It currently operates 31 outlets in 8 different cities. It offers to its customers more than 100 varieties of teas with various blends along with added health benefits.