Nitin Saluja, Chaayos Founder who is changing the Way India Drinks Tea, Founded Start-Up with more than 200 Branches

Nitin Saluja: There is hardly anyone in India who doesn’t drink tea. Tea is the mandatory beverage served at every function and get-together. Chai is undoubtedly the unofficial national drink of India. Despite having such a large consumer base for tea, India did not have any well-known label or chain outlet solely dedicated to chai. This is where Nitin Saluja comes into the picture. He found that more than 1500 cafes like Starbucks existed for coffee while there was not any big name in the tea cafe industry.

Nitin Saluja is a name that is synonymous with chai in India. As the founder of Chaayos, a popular chai cafe chain, Saluja has transformed the way Indians consume their beloved beverage. In fact, Nitin himself is a big-time chai lover. According to him, he was the designated chai-maker of his family. From humble beginnings, Saluja has built a chai empire that spans several cities in India, serving around 100,000 cups of chai every day.

However, starting a chai cafe was not easy, especially in a market dominated by coffee shops. Saluja faced numerous challenges, from finding the right location and sourcing quality ingredients to hiring and training staff. But Saluja was determined to make his vision a reality, and he persevered through the challenges. His determination, vision, and hard work have not only made him a successful entrepreneur but also contributed to the growth of India’s startup ecosystem. Nitin Saluja is not just the man behind India’s favorite chai, but also a role model for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Personal Life of Nitin Saluja

Nitin Saluja hails from a business family. He pursued Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. Upon graduation, he worked as a Management Consultant at Opera Solutions in the USA. He worked there for over 5 years after which he resigned and decided to begin his entrepreneurial journey. He is married to Yosha Saluja, an HR specialist. His father was against his startup idea because he had a well-paying job in the USA and he was taking risks by putting all his money into the startup during the time of his child’s birth.

The Idea to Open a Tea Cafe

Nitin is a connoisseur of tea. Nitin Saluja and his wife were seeking a cup of tea after dinner in 2008, while living in Houston, Texas, but they couldn’t find a location that served a freshly-brewed cup of strong tea. That’s when the idea for a tea shop struck him. While researching the tea habits of Indians, he discovered that an average Indian consumes about 30 cups of tea for a cup of coffee. He realized that there was a potentially profitable opportunity for “a good cup of tea outside of the home”.

The Birth of Chaayos

He had observed that while there were many coffee shops in India, there were very few places that served quality chai. Saluja wanted to change that and create a cafe where people could enjoy chai that was made to their liking. Saluja returned to India and discussed the idea of opening a chain of tea cafes with his colleague and friend Raghav Verma. Both worked together at the software company Opera Solutions LLC. Finally, in November 2012, the first store of Chaayos was opened in Cyber City, Gurugram. The concept of Chaayos became an instant hit and after that, the duo of Nitin and Raghav never looked back.

Business Strategy of Chaayos

Saluja’s vision was to make chai cool again, and he wanted to do that by making it customizable, just like coffee. Customers could choose from a variety of tea blends, add-ons like ginger, tulsi, or lemongrass, and even select the level of sweetness they preferred. Chaayos’ tagline, “Experiments with Chai,” reflects this idea of customization, and it has struck a chord with chai lovers across India. Chaayos’ tagline perfectly aligns with its business strategy. Chaayos offers more than 25 diverse flavored teas that can be customized in 12000 different ways. Many of the different flavors available at Chaayos are customized personally by Saluja. Such a vast diversification made Chaayos famous among consumers.

Chaayos Outlets Growth from 2013 to 2022

Nitin Saluja also worked on developing the perfect ambience for tea lovers. The Chaayos cafe represents the “Chai lifestyle.” The interiors are inspired by the very basic concept of chai, with lamps made by cutting Chai cups, teapots, and Chai samples in a palette that demonstrates the firm’s adventurous outlook. Customers can also select from a range of add-on flavors. As a result, it provides customized tea solutions based on the preferences of the customer. In addition to tea, it sells packed snacks and chai blends. In addition to this, Chaayos has adopted an advanced response framework for customer satisfaction.

Growth Story of Chaayos

Chaayos-financials

Since its inception in 2012, Chaayos has now opened more than 200 chai outlets in metro cities. Due to its exponential growth, Tiger Global firm invested in this start-up. Chaayos generated 99.4 crores in revenue in FY2020. But due to the Covid lockdown, the revenue in the financial year 2021 fell to 54.85 crore. But after the pandemic, the startup demonstrated strong financial results, earning Rs 135 crore in FY22, scaling 2.45X from the previous financial year. Chaayos has now evolved into a tea brand that competes with multinational coffee businesses. Nitin Saluja along with his friend Raghav Verma transformed the perception of tea by using their expertise and thinking outside the box.