How Blue Tokai Brought Specialty Coffee to India
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- Опубліковано 10 чер 2024
- Explorex’s website: explorex.co/
Listen on spotify: podcasters.spotify.com/pod/sh...
00:00 Intro
04:04 How Matt started a coffee business
07:13 Challenges while roasting coffee in India
08:58 Blue Tokai's marketing strategy
09:49 Blur Tokai's ₹40 lakh roaster
11:19 The raise of Blue Tokai
15:25 Opening their first location
21:25 Challenges faced while expanding
24:28 How Shivam Shahi joined Blue Tokai
27:01 Becoming a cafe
28:39 Delhi Police seals Blue Tokai locations
32:03 Evolving coffee culture in India
32:43 Blue Tokai during the pandemic
34:56 Blue Tokai post pandemic
36:30 Blue Tokai vs other cafes
38:56 Will coffee price increase in India?
43:27 Blue Tokai products
45:52 Blue Tokai going global?
47:14 Challenges for becoming profitable
51:08 Bootstrapped vs external capital
52:35 Blue Tokai IPO
56:11 Outro
In the United States, third wave coffee culture in the United States was in full swing. During this third wave, concepts like farm to cup and single origin beans were popularised, and Matt Chitharanjan had been living in the Bay Area from 2003 to 2007, so he’d jumped into this movement headfirst during his time there. He even bought a small roaster and started preparing small batches of coffee as a hobby.
When Matt came to India in 2011 for a 1-year job opportunity in Chennai, he spotted an opportunity. He saw the Cafe Coffee Days and the Baristas of India and realised that coffee’s third wave hadn’t reached India yet.
It was in Chennai that Matt met his wife and co-founder Namrata Asthana, and after moving to Delhi in 2012, they got to work setting up India’s first homegrown specialty coffee brand, Blue Tokai.
Now, Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters is India’s largest specialty coffee brand, with its headquarters in Gurgaon, India.
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I run a multi roaster cafe in Bangalore. Matt is really underselling how important Blue Tokai was and is to the specialty coffee space in India. And he has done it all with effortless charm and good humor. I would go so far as to state, that the business of specialty coffee in India would have tuned out very different, if anyone else would have led the charge. It's not just him, but people at his company are as much a pleasure to interact with. Open with information as all get out. In my cafe we meet roasters and producers all the time, and everyone we speak to has great things to say about Matt and his company. What I really appreciate about BT, is that even though they have over 60 outlets across India, they still run it like a small intimate neighborhood operation. A lot of "big" businesses need to learn a thing or two from them.
Facts. I have commercially been buying from him and he is my UNI alumni. The man is a legend.
Do you have any advice for someone looking to get into coffee roasting?
Now it has 96 and within a month it will cross 100
Yo anyone else feels like ordering from blue tokai while watching this?
I always feel like ordering the product that's being talked about on millionare Mondays.
I appreciate the product so much more knowing the back story.
Ive orderd from Biggies, samosa party, California burrito and now blue tokai.
These episodes are the best marketting strategy lol 🎉
Trust me, even being the one conducting the podcast I feel like ordering later on 😂 am thinking to go in and buy a bag of French press grind coffee from Blue Tokai soon. The personal connect I feel with the brand once I've hung out with the founder and heard their story is strong. It's like, "I know the person who owns this restaurant 😎" -Caleb
Why do we as Indians try to be so oversmart? He's not trying to shove or promote any product. This is an interview of a successful startup, not a product.
Imho their coffee is by far the best among all the commercial coffee brands. You can distinguish between coffee beans. Third wave and Starbucks prices are pretty much the same now. Blue tokai needs to up their game for sure!
I started ordering their beans for my Hario V60 and was very happy to see their store in Mumbai, took my parents for their tasting menu. Have been a customer for over 6 years now
How's the Hario?
Big fan of your work request you to include more pictures of the location in which the cafes has been set up so that the viewer gets to know the background and experience it. Thanks for amazing stuff 😊
This Podcast was amazing simply... learned a lot😌❤😁😀
Keep doing you are doing, great work
Last time I came to India was prepandemic and Im in India now in 2023, I see lot of change in coffee culture.
Wow 😮 thank you
Bandwagon spotted
You guys are more valuable than a MBA school
Free marketing for 'Third Wave Coffee'
“Third Wave” in the title, no pun intended 😂
lol
lmao
Didn't get it
Next time I will be asking for Blue Tokai at third wave 😂😂
@@bloodwargaming3662 third wave is another coffee brand
excellent founder, excellent interview
I DAILY go to a cafe and work, spend minimum 50prs per day,,,gotta say, blue tokai is my fav
Hey, just curious. Is the first producer / estate owner in the discussion Kerehaklu from Chikmagalur? :)
From what I could find from research, the estates were M.S. Estate, Karadhikhan Coffee Farm, and Veer Attikan. But there may have been others! -Caleb
Just brought espresso machine to sell during festival. Nagaland .
I love this channel
I thought this was a japanese chain of cafe.. my myth just got busted
Blue Tokai is by far the best brand I can find in India, I have been drinking it for about 3 years now
Better than many coffees in India. Blue Tokai is my regular brand and I think they are best in Coffees. But more than coffee I think I would give a shout out to their team especially the MG Road (Gurgaon) team.
I have a Blue Tokai bag beside me as I am watching this!
Do Third-Wave coffee
Bro iski kya garrantee hai ki yeh starbucks se best hai kyunki bolne mein karne mein diff hota hai
Bsdk jaake dekh le
Ordered a Vietnamese Cold Brew after watching this. On the 240 rupees Blue Tokai earned Caleb should receive a share😂
Caleb. I think your question should be more brief and less and more of the guest speaking. Just a suggestion, btw lovely podcast
Is it easy to get fssai license in gudgaon delhi?
Yes. You can do it online
@@alrex123 thank you very much
this could be a netflix series
I know this is a podcast but try including some relevant pics or small video clips to make it more interesting for the viewers. While listening to this podcast I kept imagining how they must have set up office in their in-laws home, so relevant pics or small video clips kind of help.
What are we comparing with ? is the caption serious? Blue Tokai is miles above Starbucks, which tastes like burnt beans. Blue Tokai is one of, if not the best coffee brand I have experienced and I am a coffee nerd.
A lot of Indian people who have never heard of Blue Tokai will be very surprised to know that it's better than Starbucks. Many non-coffee nerds think of Starbucks as the gold standard of coffee - I know people personally who think drinking coffee there makes them a connoisseur, so this video is mainly targeted at those people. -Caleb
@@backstagewithmillionaires I get your point but I still disagree. I would urge you to think that coffee culture in South India was already quite good (home coffee) and I don’t think they have ever considered Starbucks a gold standard, but then again I am speculating knowing the background. Whilst the rest of India realizes that it just a chain. I am also Indian and in daily conversation nobody considers Starbucks in the same league as specialty coffee, may be comparisons with Coffee Day might have been made. I just think you should’ve chosen a better title. But I get that you want people to click on the video. Hence, I can totally understand. Thanks for answering though, highly appreciated!
I work at blue tokai lol
I feel like you are doing some kind of promotions😅
Ikr. I feel like ordering too. 😂
We're actually in the middle of a QSR/cafe/brewery season, and all 10 podcasts are sponsored by Explorex. So not really promoting Blue Tokai, but yes there is some promotion during the sponsored segment for sure. Hope you enjoy the video and try a cup of Blue Tokai nonetheless 🙂 it's genuinely good coffee. -Caleb
Why do we as Indians try to be so oversmart? He's not trying to shove or promote any product. This is an interview of a successful startup, not a product.
Went to Blue Tokai in Kempegowda International Airport. They gave a coffee which was so hot that it burnt all our tongues. When asked for a new paper cup to cool it down, they refused saying that it counts in their books and I have to buy another. Hated the whole experience. Coffee with taxes was almost 200 rupees.
You should have waited till it cooled down.
Lol yeah what he said ^
Next time try ordering a cold brew - hot coffee is usually served hot. Also it's specialty coffee at the airport. I'm surprised it was only Rs. 200, rent at BLR is expensive. -Caleb
Maybe give them another try... their cafes have been great with very helpful staff.
@@rollsroyce4249 Sure, if you ask my pilot to wait and halt the plane.
Never heard of it. Starbucks is overprices anyways
I am using it since 3 years, they are good..
Bro starbucks has it's own customer base and they swear by their service ( I haven't been to starbucks yet not will go in near future)
Or coffee itni ghtiya kya btau
@@VitaminVSghtiya h taste...baki imported maal h acha to lgega hi indians ko colonial hangover mindset ki wjh s
@@jigsaw2281it’s an Indian brand though?
Highly overpriced. And I can do my favourite roast at home for far less.
Third Wave Coffee is wayyyy better than Blue Tokai and it's not even close.
Depends on which one you tried.
And depends on your personal taste.
Trying best of third wave and w8rst of blue tokai doesn't actually summarise the argument
You just manupulating people to trust their brand and get scamed
Really? I think this series is a genuine interview trying to show the challenges faced by an entrepreneurs
I'm legitimately just a big fan of Blue Tokai. Have been drinking it since 2017 when I lived in Delhi and was never disappointed. Many fond memories at their Koramangala location in Bangaluru too. Where's the scam? 😂 -Caleb
You seem like a bot comment from a jealous competitor lol or you're just a bitter person overall who believes everything is a scam
Why do we as Indians try to be so oversmart? He's not trying to shove or promote any product. This is an interview of a successful startup, not a product.
Focus on the concept of coffee and startup. Why are you so stuck up??