‘Tea has been a legacy trading business run by men for generations’
Saumya Ancheri
PUBLISHED: MAR 07, 2021 | 17:00:08 IST
Ami Bhansali, Chai Diaries
The inspiration? In 2010, I was doing a refresher business course at New York Business School and our dissertation was a business plan. I thought it would be cool to present a chai café—someplace where mindfulness and great teas meld! My grandfather, whom I was very close to, had passed away a few years ago. Among other things, I was in awe of his entrepreneurial skills. Our family has tea gardens in south India and he pioneered a culture of bringing people together in networking clubs over tea. Sitting in Central Park after class, watching New Yorkers and tourists bustle by, I was reminded of the quiet life on our tea estate and that captivating aroma of tea leaves as I walked our factories with my dad as a little girl. That moment that inspired the dissertation and led to some fantastic meetings that felt like the Universe was guiding me over the years in launching Chai Diaries!
One thing you wish you knew early on? How difficult running a product-based business really is! I had spent a decade in the service business, most of which was entrepreneurial with my public relations firm. The crazy world of logistics, inventory management, customs, shipping, sales data didn’t exist for me! With Chai Diaries, I had to learn everything on my own, in a new country, selling to people I didn’t know.
Hardest part? One of the most challenging times was when I decided to start Chai Diaries. It was launched in India in 2011 and in the USA in 2013 with no back-up. No investment from family or outside. No friends or interns to help with the business. I had taken the last of my savings and gone to New York from Mumbai. I wanted to attend a tea show scheduled in Philadelphia and so borrowed hotel money from my friend (I was that broke!) and took a 2.5 hour bus ride there! I had the concept and design of Chai Diaries but needed an opening to formally “launch”. Luckily, that show was God-given; it brought in an opportunity that finalised our launch.
Are there challenges you faced as a woman in the business? Challenges from my own home all the way to vendors. While my family has a background in tea, Chai Diaries is a specialty tea brand so I had to create my own blends and find my own sources. My dad was skeptical of my business. Vendors wouldn’t take me seriously, always waiting to see if there was a “man in the business” they could talk to or email or discuss costings with! At trade shows where my husband would be helping me, it was automatically assumed that this is his business and I am helping him! Tea is a pretty closely held industry and there are a handful of manufacturers in India–all run by men and their families or immediate circle. My dad introduced me to a few people and that helped break ground, otherwise they wouldn’t give me the time of day as a newbie! There is a lot of incredulity when they see Chai Diaries is a woman-owned brand, a lot of mansplaining in meetings which I have now learned to navigate. There is a tendency to wait for a man to show up for their comfort and to make sense of this crazy girl thinking she can export tea and have a successful global brand! But, these last seven years have changed my skeptical naysayers to cheerleaders wanting to do business with me. And I think that’s great, because not only is it a win for me, it opens doors for so many other young brands and women-led enterprises.
What change would you like to see? I really wish doing business in India was easier, that vendors delivered by the timelines committed and communication was easier. I genuinely wish more people understood the importance of entrepreneurship and were willing to back small businesses.
Advice? As a small business owner, you need to be your own best cheerleader. It is easy to spin down the dark alley of self-doubt and loathing. You need to trust you are doing something bigger than yourself. You are providing a service and helping your community. That is what kept me going, I wanted more women to accept entrepreneurship as a way of life. As a mom of two, it is a constant juggle of roles but somehow we find the strength to do it. Don’t get threatened if you are the only girl in the room, stand tall and proud and let your voice be heard. It gets overwhelming, but you break each problem into a smaller challenge, and you remember to celebrate each win. I remember being disheartened after a retail meeting and a friend gave me the best advice ever. She said, “Take the emotion out of it.” What that meant is that a “no” isn’t a “no” forever, it’s a “not right now”, and that changed the game for me. I followed up without my ego getting in the way with vendors, suppliers, customers, networking associates until they heard me. That is one of the biggest challenges I overcame for Chai Diaries to finally catch a break.
Personal favourite teas? We have Tulsi Green and Good Moringa immunity-building teas for the morning. Everything is Mama is a tea to help with lactation, which I created when I was nursing my baby during lockdown in India. My toddler loves to sit with me at tea-time and that inspired our Sweet Like Chocolate rooibos-based tea that is rich in minerals and caffeine-free so it can be enjoyed by kids. I love to drink the organic Bombay Masala Tea straight, with no milk or sugar. Sometimes I crave coffee so I make our “dirty chai” with our instant vanilla premix and a shot of nespresso. There is so much fun to be had with tea–as a cocktail, iced tea, salad dressing and now you can use it as a mask too!