Chai Point betting high on expansion, growth to scale its beverage business

Bengaluru-based Chai Point, founded in 2010, is scaling its business to become one of the largest beverage platforms in India. 

Speaking about the startup’s journey, Amuleek Singh Bijral, Founder and CEO, Chai Point, said, the platform has been an omnichannel brand since its inception.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the startup realised the brand needs to be in the kitchen cabinet of the customers, and, in the last year and a half, it started focusing on expanding its fresh food and delivery segment.

ALSO READ

Celebrity chef Ranveer Brar’s recipe of creating appetising digital food content

“I’m very happy to share that there are some categories within which now we are the market leaders on Amazon,” he added. 

Amuleek mentioned there is no change in Chai Point’s core strategy, which has always been to make chai or coffee available to customers in a convenient fashion.

Now, with the world getting back to normal, the startup will aim to rewind and rearrange its core channels, riding on the digital wave. 

“You’re going to see a lot more of Chai Point in a much more balanced way across all channels,” said Amuleek. 

In terms of offline expansion strategies, Amuleek said, if in the past the company had opened 60-70 stores a year, this year, it aims to ramp up that number by 2X.

Moreover, the startup will focus heavily on its storefront segments — walk-in, takeaway, and delivery. Besides, Chai Point is planning on exploring newer geographies while continuing to grow in the existing cities. Additionally, customers can expect more customer experience enhancements. 

While talking about fundraising, the founder said Chai Point’s focus is on delivering strong EBITDA on the back of solid growth, which will require a balanced fundraising strategy. 

In terms of revenue, Amuleek said, in FY20, Chai Point had a Rs 190 crore topline number. In the coming years, the startup is expecting a number higher than that.

Additionally, its average order value has increased by 90 percent since the pre-COVID times, and its vending channel has grown significantly. In fact, The Chai Point direct-to-consumer (D2C) business is growing at a rate of 24-25 percent monthly.