Chai Point opens 100th outlet

Chai Point, the largest organised tea retail chain the country, on Friday opened its 100th store in Bengaluru and touched a turnover of Rs 100 crore for FY18.

Chai Point Co-founder and CEO Amuleek Singh Bijral said the 100th store marks the beginning of giving enhanced customer experience.

“We achieved this by incorporating our learning from the last seven years. From the store design philosophy to the new ‘made-for-chai’ menu to billing which uses face recognition technology, everything has been designed to create a rich store experience,” he said.

Bijral said the company has achieved Rs 100 crore revenue and registered 65% growth last fiscal. “We have over one million consumers across India and are present in seven cities now. We are looking at omni-channel business so that the company will register exemplary growth,” he said.

India’s organised ready-to-drink chai market is Rs 1.5 lakh crore and targeting one billion Indians. The average per capita consumption of the beverage is increasing at a steady rate of 20-30%.

The opening of the store also marks the beginning of Chai Point’s entry into a branded menu with a mix of authentic and contemporary foods. Items include Rajdhani Cutlets, Tutti Frutti Bun Maska, Nawabi Chicken Croissant or Mathri with three beans masala and Mexican Nachos.

The store is also Chai Point’s first cafe selling store where it has installed its first vending machine. The company says it sells around 0.3 million cups of tea per day via stores, delivery and dispensers (fresh-milk based platform called boxC).

On the company’s global expansion ambition, Bijral said the company received an invitation from London Mayor’s office. “We plan to start our global expansion from London by starting a couple of outlets there,” he said.

Karnataka State Minister of Social Welfare Development Priyank Kharge inaugurated Chai Point’s 100th store at Indiranagar.