From the day the British introduced us Indians to that hot and steaming cup of tea, its taste went straight to our hearts, and our craving for a cup of tea remained forever in our taste buds. You may believe it or not, but tea remains the best morning, noon, evening, and night refreshment drunk by billions not only in India but the world over.
And further, it might sound unbelievable but tea remains the best thoughts, ideas, discussions, memories, innovations, discoveries, relationships, employment, and even entrepreneurship generator in a nation with 100 billion growing minds. Entrepreneurship in the form of tea stalls everywhere and of every size and type offering tea to the craving hearts and fuzzy minds for their rejuvenation. Everyone drinking and reliving over a cup of tea might be getting inspiringly innovative, but Haritima Food Products’ Director, Aarin Ratnesh Sorathiya went beyond them all and innovated the tea itself by brewing ‘Chaiwala Ki Chaipatti (Tea Seller’s Tea Leaves)’ bringing the best brew for your taste buds in such a wide range of varieties that the tea lover in you will say with aplomb: this is indeed…
Indigenously Ingenious Tea-Innovation
Retelling his mesmerizing tale over a cup of Masala Tea, Aarin regales his brand Chaiwala Ki Chaipatti by sharing that the story of how he started HFP as an FMCG is rather funny. “I have been a passionate tea-lover for as long as I can remember. In my youthful zest, I wanted to come up with a restaurant that would serve tea of all kinds, most importantly, the finest blend from the gardens of Assam.”
And when everything was just about set, another idea came to his mind. Rather than limiting the finest tea blends to one restaurant, wouldn’t it be far better if those tea leaves reached every Chaiwala across the nation? That was the moment Chaiwala Ki Chaipatti was truly born. The idea had sublimated from a restaurant to an FMCG within no time. But even then, it wasn’t easy. There were a lot of challenges that rose on the way, and it was only after a prolonged series of struggles that it went on to become an enterprise, a brand.
Tale of the Travelling Kettle
Aarin adds, “We, at Chaiwala Ki Chaipatti, also love travelling. It rather comes to us naturally.” Their most enthusiastic traveler is a green kettle, which loves to go places and flaunt. This kettle and its journey symbolize their brand and its struggle to reach each nook and corner of the nation and connect with all the Chaiwalas to provide them with the best Chaipatti. In a way, this is, therefore, also a long struggle to eventually make sure that each person sipping tea around the nation gets only the best that is available and nothing less.
“And if you’re thinking why chai, why not tea? Let me in you on a secret: In our hearts, we are all a desi lot. Chai appeals to us. Chaiwalas comfort us,” he believes.
Every great enterprise rises with a great idea, and Aarin says that they had the idea already. “So, what is left for us to do now is, go on an endless quest to improve ourselves continuously and win your hearts. And we believe, with good tea, that mustn’t be difficult,” he feels.
A Sustenance to Success Story…
Speaking about his inspirations, Aarin again breaks stereotypes and says that when it comes to inspiration, he does not get inspired from famous successful personalities, but rather from people connected to the grassroots that haven’t gained fame. He finds so many people like that around him–the local Chaiwalas around us, are a real inspiration to him.
…of Incredible Inspirations!
Here, he reminisces about a very unique experience of his. When he worked as an HR in Mumbai, he used to have a 30-minute lunch break. During it, he mostly used to go out of his campus and visit a local Chaiwala. “I learned from them how they used to survive in Mumbai, how they successfully ran their businesses in India’s most expensive city, and much more. I have heard their stories while having tea with them and learned one of the biggest lessons: To establish a business, you need to sustain yourself and this sustenance will eventually turn into success one day. This process of survival in any condition, come what may, can’t be learned from any famous personalities. Due to this I am into the tea business and I have learned it from Chaiwalas, the way they open a small tea stall, with a low budget and sell a ₹6-to-₹10 cup of tea and at the end of the day, they take enough money home to sustain their family and also for the next day’s operation. Believe me, I haven’t seen any tea stall shut down in Mumbai, on my way from Andheri to Malad between 2013-2017. Whatever I have learned, has come to me due to my research on Chaiwalas, and they were the real inspiration behind my brand, ‘Chaiwala Ki Chaipatti’ to provide them with good quality tea leaves based on their requirement at the lowest possible prices.
Clearing the Menace
Speaking about the initial challenges Aarin had to surmount to ensure his startup’s success rate reached greater heights, he says when he initially started this business, he went about it in a conventional way and formed a chain of dealers and distributors which turned out to be a real disaster. “I had to incur a lot of losses. There were moments I wanted to take a step back but somehow I held on and introspected where did I go wrong. In our society, when you start a business, everything and everyone is either against you or after you, so this makes it even harder to pave a path with all the financial constraints you already have. This period either makes you or breaks you. Managing capital, allotment of funds, and setting priorities helped my company a lot,” he conveys.
Other than this, he ditched the conventional business model and started fresh. He chose digital platforms for marketing and set up a dedicated team that would directly contact their prospective customers. This helped clear the menace created by dealers and distributors and also helped them improve their products. “Since we were directly in contact with our customers and got their valuable reviews which helped us improve a lot,” he reveals.
A Transparently Tasty Taste
According to Aarin, their professional values and qualities further helped them in establishing trustworthy credentials among their clientele. They are honest towards their work and don’t shy away from calling a spade, a spade. “Since I am a certified tea taster myself, we taste every batch before It’s ready for dispatch and also expects our customers to order and taste our samples before making any big purchase,” he informs. This assures clients about the quality and makes them know what HFPs products actually taste like. This process makes sure no one has any false assumptions and also that people don’t rely on others’ reviews. “Also, if our customers are satisfied with the taste of our products, they automatically get the confidence to further sell it to their customers,” states Aarin.
Other than this, they also provide clients with customization options and assist them in every possible way, right from setting up a cafe or tea stall to providing them with training on how to operate it.
Tea Sellers’ Tea Leaves
Sharing brand ‘Chaiwala Ki Chaipatti’s USPs Aarin says that first of all, being in the food industry, where they cannot sustain if their products are substandard or lacking on the taste front. Their products are high-end luxury products prepared specifically for commercial use, priced so as to suit even the smallest of Chaiwalas. They use the best ingredients and maintain quality not easy for anyone to match. “Our per kg prices may be slightly on the higher end from the rest of our competitors but our yield per kg is almost double compared to them which makes our per cup prices much lower than theirs,” he assures.
Other than this, they keep updating their products, and every now and then new products are added to their list which helps their customer serve new exciting flavours to their customers.
A Rejuvenating Wisdom Drink
As an experienced professional, Aarin’s advice to budding aspirants willing to enter the business world is exceptional. He recommends that listen to everything people have to say “But only rely on your research. It’s definitely important to follow your dreams but at the same time, don’t forget to keep a constant eye on your pocket. Accept change. Don’t be afraid of competition as it is a sign that your chosen venture is both, profitable and scalable. Just with a little out-of-the-box thinking and a lot of hardwork, it can give you the desired result. You just need to be consistent.”
Offering an Array of Tealeaves for Your Cup of Tea on an App
Envisioning his brand’s operation with the emerging technologies and automated tools that are revolutionizing the business world by enabling innovations, Aarin shares that their company’s manufacturing process is currently manual as it provides jobs but in the long run if needed, they can easily move towards automation.
“Also, we are currently working on our own mobile application with which we will be able to connect with our over 10k customers with more ease and it will increase our efficiency as well as provide our customers with a platform to connect with each other. This way they can share their experience which can help new customers to grow,” he concludes.
