Chaayos in expansion drive, to add 35 outlets in 2017-18

Tiger Global-backed tea cafe chain Chaayos is laying out plans to add 35 outlets this fiscal to expand footprint while it aims to change tea drinking habits in the country through its cafes, delivery channel and products.
"We want to become synonymous with every chai occasion... it's a massive growth opportunity. We will add 35 stores this fiscal to take our total store count to 75," Chaayos co- founder Nitin Saluja told PTI.
"Our intent is not just to be able to open more stories, but bring back same customers over and over again. Our repeat customer rate is 42 per cent. On the revenue basis, we have been growing 300 per cent for the past four financial years," he added.

Chaayos, which runs 40 outlets across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Chandigarh, has divided its business into three parts -- cafe, delivery and products.
The company expects products to become a major business, going forward, which accounts for 5 per cent of sales and delivery 20 per cent.
Chaayos offers three products and plans to take it to 10 by the end of this fiscal.

Asked if the company is looking at distributing its products outside the Chaayos network, he replied: "Why not?"
The tea cafe chain, founded in November 2012 by Raghav Verma and Nitin Saluja, had raised USD 5 million from Tiger Global in 2015.

To a query, if the company is looking at raising fresh funds, he said: "We recently started to get in business partner to invest in capex of the store. However, we operate the stores. Going forward, we will go with this business partnership model to expand. So, we won't require funds in the near future.