Imagine, a regular day at work with a pile of assignments, constant meetings, presentations, etc., often pooh you out and leave you. During those dreary moments, you desperately need something that can revitalize your soul and pour streams of vigor so that you can pull off your next task ingeniously.
However, the regular tea that you get at cafeterias at or around your workplace might not recharge you. Considering this, Nitin Saluja and Raghav Verma, the duo of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) graduates, had set up Chaayos, where you can customize tea as per your taste and mood.
The idea of Chaayos came into his mind when Nitin Saluja was in Houston with his wife. One day, they craved for a cup of tea after dinner, but no place would serve a freshly-brewed strong cup of tea. This event triggered Nitin to start a cafe, which only serves tea.
Nitin returned to India in 2010, even after getting lots of tapri's and restaurants who serve tea along with food were here. Still, he was stuck with the same idea of starting a cafe for tea, so he decided to discuss the same with his old friend, Raghav, who also was his colleague at Opera Solutions LLC. Raghav liked the idea, and he realized that the market is full of cafes that majorly serve coffee. The duo researched and found that the ratio of consuming tea to coffee is 30:1. Also, they discovered that 1500+ cafes for coffee but no one approach for tea cafe. Yet the tea stalls are everywhere, but the concern for hygiene is no-where.
Tea is the most basic and mandate need which everybody has failed to look after. Besides, starting a tea cafe was not that easy task; it was all together going out of the box. It took them almost 2 years to come across thorough research of people's preference and finally they decided to start customized tea named "Meri Wali Chai" the same way you have at home with adrak (ginger) or a combination of tulsi, adrak, saunf, and kali mirch with less or more milk. Besides, it also offers different flavors of lassi's.
"Meri Wali Chai" was loved by customers as here they didn't have to adjust with any taste, but just the way they like. With tea, they have also introduced snacks and fancy ambiance. In 2012, Chaayos launched its first cafe and gathered popularity with more than 100% growth every year, which led them to multiply their franchises.
In 2015, Chaayos spread all over Delhi with a total of 15 cafés, and by 2016, it had touched a count of 33 cafés by heading to Mumbai. Currently, Chaayos is operating in Chandigarh, Delhi, Noida, Mumbai, Gurugram, and Ghaziabad, with 53 cafes and upcoming 70 cafes by March.
Chaayos is not in a very competitive space, Bengaluru's Chai Point and Mumbai's Tea Trails are among its competitors. Besides, with customized tea, Chaayos has also customized every cafe into different decor, saying that the customers should not get bore. Presently, it faces competition from heavyweights international coffee houses like Starbucks and Café Coffee Day.
Looking at Chaayos' growth, Tiger Global Management had invested $5 million in 2015, and after that, it started home delivery services, which adds up to 20% business. Besides, it has developed a web app and website.
According to Nitin, the factor behind the rapid expansion is the first and foremost consideration of customers' experience, and expectation with the product, which, when accomplished they are hooked with you, and that is the reason for Chaayos' 42% repeated customers. Another factor is adding a variety of product categories to the snacks and beverages.
