Chai Point is India’s largest organized beverage chain, with a vast network of retail outlets and a large installed capacity of brewing systems catering to corporates. The Company seeks to serve India’s large workforce with a delectable selection of beverages and associated food items via a network of consumer-facing outlets, dispensers for corporate enterprises, and on-demand delivery.
The Company has established a robust pan-India footprint with industry-first innovations such as a specially developed use-and-throw heat retaining chai flask and a fully automated chai dispensing machine. In addition, the Company has developed an extensive range of packaged food products that can be served with beverages and are distributed through offline and online channels.
The Saama team had tracked the founder since our first meeting at a food and agriculture investment summit in 2011. The founder’s simple yet powerful realization that “India runs on chai” (now espoused in the Company’s official slogan) and that the market lacks a beverage product delivered consistently with high quality and hygiene resonated well with the Saama team. This, along with a delightful and extensive diligence process of trying several cups of tea at various early Chai Point stores, gave us the confidence to be the first institutional investor in the Company.