Interviewer- Can you provide me with a description of your business?
Sanjeev Potti - We offer more than 80 varieties of finest whole leaves teas from across the Globe; ranging from hot to cold and every-day to extravagant. Our TEAS menu constitutes a carefully curated mix of Blacks, Greens, Whites, Oolongs, Herbals & Coolers and also flaunts our perfected varieties of 15 Desi Chais. We believe in serving our teas as whole leaves and not to restrict their flourishing in a tea bag.
Food items in our EATS menu, which are served fresh, complement our Teas to justify the pairing concept world over. We also use tea as an ingredient while preparing few of our signature dishes in our menu, making Tea Trails, perhaps one of its kind place where you can eat tea ! In the retail space Tea Trails runs primary runs different formats as Dinning Tea Cafes, casual cafes & On the Go.
Whereas in corporate space, Tea Trails serves a perfectly brewed cup of Chai made with fresh, natural ingredients to offices and working professionals in kiosk formats. Our offerings include varieties of 15 varieties of hot Chai, Iced Chai, Shakes; and Snacks perfectly accompanying the morning and evening ritual of “Ek Pyali Chai”
In order to deliver on our promise of a great tasting cup of Chai, we source the highest quality whole leaf tea from tea gardens in Assam, Darjeeling and the Nilgiris. Our Tea Guru choose the best teas from premium plantations each season, through a meticulous process. The top-grade tea leaves we use are free of artificial colours and flavours, offering customers not just great taste but also, good health.
Interviewer- How did you get started in this business?
Sanjeev Potti - For us it all started almost 5 years back when our passion for tea, inspired us to build a business concept around tea as a beverage. We strongly believe, in a country like India where consumption of tea is second only to China, there is a huge business scope for a concept like ours.
Post 2 years of rigorous R&D, our concept turned into reality when our first Tea Trails Café started operations at Viviana Mall, Thane, Maharashtra in December 2013. Today Tea Trails is a chain of premium tea cafes in India having its presence in 10 cities, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, New Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Vizag, Lucknow, Surat, & Baroda.
Interviewer- Why do your customers select you over your competitors?
Sanjeev Potti - We offer more than 80 varieties of finest whole leaves teas from across the Globe; ranging from hot to cold and every-day to extravagant. Our TEAS menu constitutes a carefully curated mix of Blacks, Greens, Whites, Oolongs, Herbals & Coolers and also flaunts our perfected varieties of 15 Desi Chais. We believe in serving our teas as whole leaves and not to restrict their flourishing in a tea bag.
Food items in our EATS menu, which are served fresh, complement our Teas to justify the pairing concept world over. We also use tea as an ingredient while preparing few of our signature dishes in our menu, making Tea Trails, perhaps one of its kind place where you can eat tea ! In the retail space Tea Trails runs primary runs different formats as Dinning Tea Cafes, casual cafes & On the Go.
Interviewer- What are the biggest issues for running this business?
Sanjeev Potti - In general, high real estate cost highly impacts the retail business so as the retail f&b outlets. Quality & skilled manpower is another challenge that all F&B business face.
Interviewer- What suggestions would you like to give to the young budding entrepreneurs?
Sanjeev Potti - We are the only one tea café in our segment who franchise the business for aspiring entrepreneurs. We believe, franchised business could be a strong stepping stone for budding entrepreneurs who wants to start F&B business as the support systems and infrastructure that the franchisor provides helps the franchisees to tide over the challenges in the business and keep their business upto date to latest trends in the market.