Minimal investment, handsome earning attracting youngsters to open Chai stalls over jobs in Guwahati.

Tea- the most preferred drink in Assam, and why not when the state is the second largest producer of tea in the world. For the people of the state, tea is an emotion, an addiction.

But in the past few years this addition has changed, or rather altered. While the love for tea is unbeatable, the younger generation, however, is more inclined to have the hot drink in a clay cup rather than the old ceramic or glass cup.

To be specific, the recent craze is not just for tea but tea served in clay cup or 'kullad chai'. And the trend has taken over the city. Years ago while every second shop was a PCO, today it is a 'Chai' stall.

The crowd in all such tea stalls interprets the success of this newly trending business. Some of the well known names in this business are Kadak Chai, Graduate Chaiwala, Kesariya Chaiwala to name a few. Some of them have also expanded their stores to different places and even gave franchises. Alongside the popularity the earnings are handsome.

Business Northeast came across young entrepreneurs who have ditched their
regular 9 to 5 jobs and are earning good from a chai stall.

One such owner said, “ I have quit my regular private job and started this tea store as my regular earning was very meager. I opened this tea store as I wanted to do something of my own. Serving a variety of tea in Kullad was a very good idea as it required very little investment. I have opened it with my savings and the business is doing quite well.”

The newly opened tea stores not only serve tea in Kullads, but they also have a variety of flavours and the price ranges from Rs. 10 to Rs. 80. The most unique is the Tandoori chai which is a best seller in most of the stalls. Other varieties include kesar tea, chocolate tea, and even chilli tea.

The proprietor of Hangout, famous for its Tandoori Chai said, “We sell around 200 cups of tandoori chai everyday and our average sale is of Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 12,000 per day.”

Debajit, owner of RJ Bistro said that everyday they sell around 100 to 150 cups of tea easily and the average tea sale is of Rs.8000 to Rs. 10,000 and their tea business is running quite well.

Most tea stalls claimed their average monthly profit to be around Rs. 30,000.

Most youngsters opting to open a tea stall over a regular job have also cited unemployment to be a major cause for choosing such an endeavour. Additionally the investment is minimal compared to other businesses- just about a lakh or two rupees to start with.

However, as businesses of this new concept of serving the traditional drink in a kullad is thriving, the old tea stalls that continue to serve the 'cutting chai' in glass and paper cups are struggling to survive.

When asked by the public why they prefer to have tea in kullad rather than in traditional old stores, they said that they are worried about hygiene as the cups are made of glass and not sure whether they are washed properly or not. The clay cups on the other hand are one time use which are disposed off and are biodegradable. Even paper cups are also harmful for the environment.

With every other person opening a chai stall in Guwahati, in a copied format rather than opting for an original idea for business, it remains to be seen how long the craze for kullad chai continues.

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