THE CHAI WAALE STORY,

Till date
How two leaves and a bud was picked by Chai Waale:
The hot beverages market has been experiencing a churn over the
past couple of years. Earlier, the market was polarised with the road-
side tea stalls having the USP of affordability and the cafes with the
plus point being the drinking experience in an air-conditioned ambi-
ence. The gulf between the two was that the tea vendor was found
wanting in the quality and hygiene departments, while the cafes con-
centrated only on the niche urban populace.

A third angle was created by the advent of quick service restaurants

(QSRs), who wanted to capture their slice of the beverage pie with
competitive pricing, and offered freshly prepared beverages and
finger foods as value additions. QSRs came with the added advantage
of having a professionally staffed kitchen, which became a naturally
attractive business model.

Enter: Chai Waale! Since they operate in the mid-range segment,

the brand grew exponentially by way of competitive pricing, focusing
on customer delight and opening outlets at strategic locations
in Chennai.

When the kettle boiled for Chai Waale:

Chai Waale showed grit to make inroads into an established hot bever-
ages market. But, what actually set the teapot boiling was the scope to
be the prime mover in retailing affordable and quality chai, in an
organised yet unexplored hygienic tea market.

They took small but sure steps when they opened their inaugural
outlet in Mint Street in June 2018. Their first location was their acid test,
as the said location is a huge determinant of customer sentiments
towards a beverage like chai. They waited patiently to see the footfalls
and secure the public’s trust before opening their second outlet in
December the same year. The tactic paid handsomely.
2019 saw them expand with zeal and their store count rose to a healthy
ten, all the while maintaining their strict quality measures and brewing
hygienic chai with an authentic taste. They currently have 14 opera-
tional outlets including 3 cloud kitchens and 5 more outlets are waiting
to open and serve their customers at new locations.

Why Chai Waale stays in top gear:

There are four wheels that propel Chai Waale’s success story. First, their
staunch belief that customer delight is of paramount importance, as
their success depends on their satisfaction. The ideology that the cus-
tomers are at the core of driving the business forward and achieving
goodwill for the brand is deeply entrenched in the company’s charter.
The second being their admin and storefront team members, who
they consider as their partners in their growth journey. The third wheel
comprises their vendors, who are integral to Chai Waale’s supply chain
and maintain daily operations in a fluid manner. The fourth wheel, and
no less important, are the investors with whose confidence and sup-
port, Chai Waale’s expansion and scalability becomes a reality. They
believe in the principle of making it beneficial to all their stakeholders
and delivering beyond their promise.

What makes Chai Waale’s cutting, special:

It’s a well-established fact that India is one of the largest producers and
consumers of tea. More than 80% of the tea produced is consumed do-
mestically. Therefore, this was a potentially unexplored market that
Chai Waale ventured into, with a winning tea making formula. They
source the best tealeaves directly from Assam, and other spices and
ingredients from their respective manufacturers. Priced competitively,
Chai Waale offers a range of specialty teas including milk, black, herbal
and iced tea variants along with a variety of savouries including sand-
wiches, noodles, poha and khakhra among others.

Another thing to note is that Chai Waale operates on the very principle
of high volume business by catering to the masses. It also serves the
trademark variant, Chairman’s Special® across all their outlets. It is an
interesting concoction of lemon, ginger, honey and chaat masala,
which lends it a strong flavour and reminds one of a tangy candy.
Chai Waale has a strong footing in the mid-range beverage providers
segment across Chennai, with strategic locations and a customer-ori-
ented service delivery.

Chai Waale’s leverage with the beverage

during Covid-19:
The Covid-19 phenomenon has impacted Chai Waale’s business pro-
jections in a positive way. While the lockdown phases saw nil revenue
due to the conscious decision to keep the outlets closed to avoid
exposing the employees to risk and also avoid the additional over-
heads with minimum revenue, there was a healthy outlook during the
unlock phases of the economy. Chai as a beverage saw a rise in con-
sumption as health practitioners advocated its various qualities and
benefits. There is a shift in spending pattern observed, as customers
now surely rank value for money higher than other parameters, when
choosing a product or service like Chai Waale. What has also worked in
their favour is the tilt in the behavioural pattern towards hygienic chai
that is prepared freshly and tastes authentic. The quality standards of
Chai Waale ensures that the product guarantees customer satisfac-
tion, with a higher quantity per cup than the average tea vendor, ably
backed by competitive pricing and topping it with the hygiene factor.

Why hygiene is a byword for Chai Waale:

The Covid-19 situation has enabled businesses to undergo a pivotal
shift and Chai Waale has dutifully capitalised on it. They have inculcat-
ed a cleanliness and hygiene-first approach right from the preparation
stage to the serving stage. At a time when health, hygiene and afford-
ability have rubbed shoulders with responsible consumerism, they
have fully answered the void felt in the segment, along with the de-
lightful bonus accompaniment of authentic taste. The thrust on
hygiene is always of utmost importance and healthy snacks from Chai
Waale are making greater inroads into the customer’s psyche. Given
the global predicament, health and hygiene are factors that are inter-
dependent on each other.

This is a highly scalable business with a competitive price point and a

product portfolio that offers something for every member of the
family. Even in this niche segment, Chai Waale has taken care to
position them as a family-oriented brand and cover a wide age catego-
ry with healthy variants of traditional Indian snacks. A case in point is
the introduction of the Cutting Flask during the Covid-19 lockdown
phase. The tea flask comes in a 250ml packaging instead of the usual
500ml, and again underscores their ability to innovate with quantity
and quality that greatly hinge on value for money, not to mention the
affordability.

A partner in progress:
Chai Waale scores high on recall value among their regulars, as they
stay in direct touch with their huge and envious database of 8 lakh
customers. Even their vendors and delivery partners rate them highly
in terms of building relationships and honouring their commitments
every single time. In a market segment where loyalties in buying
patterns shift, with a difference of one Rupee, Chai Waale has indeed
built an admirable reputation with customer and evendor r retention.
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Their stores spread strategically across Chennai, providing touch
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points within a 2-4 kms range, prompting both walk-ins and online
deliveries in the neighbourhood. For Chai Waale, the ratio of offline to
online sales is pegged at 60:40 and the company posted profits in its
first year of operations. They continuously strive to achieve economies
of scale and to secure a price and purchase preference among their
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Promoting inclusive growth:
Chai Waale believes in giving back to society and actively conducts
CSR activities around the year. They support schools, colleges, hospi-
tals, NGOs, religious institutions in generous measures across the
social fabric. It is a remarkable rise for a chai brand within a short span,
given that they are in the heart of India’s coffee drinkers stronghold.
Each outlet clocks an average sale of 1300-1500 cups per day, along
with other quick bites. All their units are profitable at the store level.

Ensuring a desirable aftertaste in the

customer’s palate:
Chai Waale has another offering up its sleeve - not just another loyalty
program, but one that still helps accumulate points and obtain cash
back offers when ordered from food aggregators Swiggy and Zomato.
They are also the first to introduce both online and offline loyalty pro-
grams to their customers. It is this customer-first approach that’s
making Chai Waale stand out from their competition.

Angels who descended to the aid of Chai Waale:

The current set of angel investors includes Tharun Dhariwal, ED of
Dhariwal Group, Sunil Kumar Singhvi, Managing Partner of South Han-
dlooms, Chennai-based HNIs, Arun and Vishal Ostwal, who belong to
the top management of the DK Group of Companies. Gunavanth Vaid
of 4G Capital Ventures who is a practicing Chartered Accountant with
over 25 years of experience, and has raised funds in excess of Rs. 700
crores for various companies. Chai Waale also has the esteemed sup-
port of Bharat Kumar Sohanraj from the family of heritage jewellers,
Mahalaxmi Jewellers. Mr. Sivaramakrishnan, who runs a wealth man-
agement firm M/s Sincere Syndication and Corporate Services LLP and
Mr. Satya Kumar of TechIndia Infoway Private Limited, a leader in
Healthcare Management Solutions. All the above investors are Angel
Investor, who are well known for their guidance and contributions to
the start-up ecosystem. Chai Waale is working towards expanding its
product portfolio and store footprint, and is open to talks with inves-
tors to secure the next round of funding.

Meet the founder:

Chai Waale’s founder, Vidur Maheswari is the 4th generation scion of a
traditional business family based in Chennai. He has ingrained the per-
fect blend of proven traditional business principles and ethics along
with the modern business techniques, which forms the backbone of
brick and mortar businesses. The usual teething issues faced by first
generation business families are vastly negated in Vidur’s favour. He
possesses the frugal mind-set of an entrepreneur, which is a much-ad-
mired quality for resource optimisation during the initial growth phase
of a technology-backed brick and mortar business.

His journey is one of passion fuelled by ambition. His genuine desire for
food and beverages from his early years stoked his appetite for launch-
ing Chai Waale. One of the principal reasons that made him envision
Chai Waale, was his father’s love for the homemade brew, which saw
him consume 15 cups daily. But, he noticed his father’s reluctance to
consume it outdoors anywhere else. The reasons cited by the senior,
laid the foundation for the junior’s start-up dream! He took inspiration
from the saying, ‘Tea is a beverage, and Chai an emotion’ and founded
Chai Waale. Chai Waale’s beverages have pocket-friendly prices and
are backed by taste, quality and hygiene. Vidur’s business model is
aimed at leveraging the allegiance of the customers in the mid-range
segment. It is this scalability that has catapulted Chai Waale to where
it is now, within 2 years of commencing operations, powered by his
steadfast determination.

Vidur embodies the perfect blend of education with age, being on the
right side of 30. He is enthusiastic, firm but flexible and adaptive to any
changes during the business cycle. He is steadfast in achieving his mis-
sion but open to taking different paths to reach his goals. This does not
come across as having a wavering mind-set, but possessing the prized
virtue of being able to take a reroute that is practical, yet aligns with
the company’s ideology. His vision of Chai Waale constantly evolves
with every growth phase, that helps cross the milestones along the
way. Vidur reimagines newer possibilities as Chai Waale inches closer
to their initial targets.

He is academically sound, having secured a degree in business man-

agement from King’s College London. He has also completed ad-
vanced courses in financial statement analysis and corporate gover-
nance from the Harvard University. Vidur is known for his people skills
and networks with his alma mater’s influential alumni around the
world. His mode of operation is one that forges the perfect blend of tra-
ditional business acumen with the integration of modern technology;
it is common knowledge that only with each supporting the other will
it lead to the desired bottom-line.

The growth story to be continued over

the next few years…