This 'B.Tech Chai' In Kerala Is Run By Three Engineering Graduates, Has 50 Flavours Of Tea

The COVID-induced lockdown last year has had many unintentional consequences. Job and income losses were one of them, and affected a large section of the population, including both in the organized and unorganized sectors.

Many including high-skilled and experienced techies were also given the pink slip or were asked to take a huge pay cut to keep their jobs.

Being jobless to entrepreneurs

Anandu, Mohammed Shafi and his brother Shanavas, three young men from Kerala's Kollam District were among the thousands of techies in India who lost their livelihoods during the lockdown last year.

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Anandu and Shafi, who were classmates during their B.Tech Electrical Engineering days had worked with several tech companies in Kerala before the lockdown took away their jobs.

Shanavas who had done Mechanical Engineering had worked with firms in the middle east and Gujarat, before the lockdown.

But ever after the lockdowns ended and the job markets showed no signs of improvement, they decided to end searching for a job and become entrepreneurs.

Adding unique twists

And that is how B Tech Chai was born. Opened last month in a busy area of Kollam, the tea stall has already become a hit among locals. Not just because three engineers are selling tea, but for the unique flavours they have introduced.

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According to Anandu, B Tech Chai's menu already has 50 flavours of tea, all of them developed by them and more will be added in the coming days.

"The most unique and sought-after tea on our menu is what we call Ginja - a special Indian masala chai. It is a mix of several ayurvedic herbs. We came up with the mix after a lot of experiments and knew that this was the right combination and it worked. Currently, we have 50 different flavours of tea, most of them, unique and we are working on more which will be introduced soon," Anandu told Indiatimes.

Despite the exotic flavours, a tea at BTech Chai is cheap, dirt cheap in fact - the price starts from Rs 9 and the most expensive tea will cost you Rs 45.

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While the cafe only opened recently, Anandu said was an idea that was in his mind for at least two years.

"I wanted to do this for a long time and even had discussed this with Shafi. But since both of us were working it never became a reality. Things changed after the lockdown last year. I lost my job and Sahif was also only getting odd gigs. Given how bad things have become, we felt that it is going to find a new job in the future. So we started working on the cafe again. At this point Shanavas also joined us," he said.

B.Tech Chai is built around an old pull-cart to retain the street food feel and caters to mostly those passing by on their vehicles.

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Not an easy journey

The journey so far has not been easy, and the three men had to do almost everything on their own to set up the cafe -- from re-designing the pull-cart to the recipes, even after they failed to convince their parents.

"Both me and Shafi come from middle-class families. For my family, it was nothing short of a shock that an engineering graduate is going to sell tea for the rest of his life. They wanted me to apply for jobs, if not in India, at least in the middle east. However I insisted on doing this, and finally my mother, somewhat reluctantly came around. My father is still angry, and we don't talk that often these days. For Shafi, it was a bit easier as his family had a background in the events sector. So once I was able to convince them, they were onboard," Anandu said.

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The next challenge for them was to raise capital - with no savings left and no support from the families, the friends depended on the goodwill of friends who lend them small amounts. In total, the friends raised around Rs 1.5 lakhs using which everything including the cafe and the furniture was purchased.

In less than one month, Anandu said the B.Tech Chai has become a hit among the people and is becoming more popular every day, thanks to the word-of-mouth publicity from their satisfied customers.

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Building a brand

"The response so far has been phenomenal. We had customers coming back for our tea, at times with family and friends. We even had some franchise inquiries in the past couple of weeks," he said.

Anandu added that they are now working towards developing BTech Chai as a brand.

"We feel that BTech Chai has a great potential to grow. Not just here in Kollam, but beyond the district as well. We can market our flavours under our brand and add more unique twists to the list," he said.

"I want to prove to the world that such a brand can be grown in Kerala and do good business. I also want to tell people that a losing job shouldn't necessarily be the end of your dreams. It can give you a different opportunity to grow. I also hope that one day my father will also embrace the path I have chosen, instead of looking for a job as he had wished," Anandu added.

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