What is it about tea that evokes an enduring love amongst most, if not all, Indians? Is it perhaps its long-held association with quality time spent with family savouring a hot cup of chai? Or could it be its light kick of caffeine that provides just the right amount of energy but never too much? Whatever the reason for this enduring love may be, there is no denying that tea is India’s national drink by choice.
Aware of this simple fact, Satvir Singh, owner and co-founder of India’s fastest growing tea café brand Chaiops, chose to focus his business on this humble beverage. He shares, “Chaiops was started in the year 2017 with its first outlet in Gurugram in Haryana. The vision for Chaiops was to create a dedicated tea brand that would serve the perfect combination of taste and health. It aims to be the leader in the food and beverage industry.”
Having successfully served tea to a discerning and steadfast clientele for the last five years, Chaiops’ growth of has been phenomenal. In 2020, Chaiops sold more than one lakh teacups every day, and presently, the brand sells five lakh teacups every day. It has over 55 outlets across India and by 2023, aims to open over 200 outlets including in international markets.
“As a tea lover myself, I consume a lot of tea on a regular basis. However, I felt there was a lack of authentic taste and flavour. I realized that India needed a brand dedicated to tea that would bring the finest quality and superior taste to customers. The beverage industry is filled with cafes, but Chaiops is India’s first tea-café brand that serves delicious, healthy tea to tea lovers. Our brand also offers an exclusive range of products other than mouth-watering teas. These include cold coffees, shakes, iced teas, and our signature dish which is the kulhad pizza. The most exciting part of Chaiops is that all these delicious and unique dishes come at a great price. While other cafes serve their beverages at high prices, keeping in mind the population and the economic circumstances of India, Chaiops has kept everything affordable,” says Singh with a smile.
It is a fact that Indians enjoy sipping on their chai with every conversation. Yet till quite recently, the market was saturated with coffee chains. Hence, this concept of a tea-café was fresh and innovative. The most loved teas served at Chaiops include the masala, paan, and chocolate flavours, but nothing beats their hottest serving item till date which is the kulhad pizza.
Chaiops outlets are located in places like Dehradun, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Uttarkashi, Jalandhar, Phagwara, Gurugram, Jammu, Janakpuri, Ahmedabad, Shillong, Raipur, Bengaluru, Bilaspur, Bhubaneswar, Solapur, and Gokarna. Singh explains his business model by saying, “We provide all the materials and instructions to our franchise owners. Chaiops offers three types of franchise modules kiosk café, standalone café, and master café. Our chef less model enables shop owners to run the café at an affordable cost price and operations are easy to handle. The tech-enabled management and efficient waste management system ensures quick return on investment and 50-60 percent average gross profit. We also provide interior and fit out support, sales growth and marketing activity support, staff hiring and training support as well as license support.”
Tremendously happy with the love and support of the customers, who have appreciated the taste, quality, and aroma of the tea that Chaiops produces, from its very inception, Singh talks about their imminent expansion plans. He says, “We are all set to launch our first international outlet in Dubai very soon. Taking Chaiops international has always been in the pipeline and we have been working relentlessly to make that dream comes true. Now with the first ever international outlet in Dubai, Chaiops is ready for a bigger future. We also plan to launch our tea cafes in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and other Middle Eastern countries soon. This will of course be in addition to the 200 outlets we are planning to open in India soon.”
With this ambitious plan, it seems Indian tea lovers have cause to rejoice, as India’s favoured beverage is set to become the favoured beverage of the world.
Noor Anand Chawla pens lifestyle articles for various publications and her blog www.nooranandchawla.com.