Millionaire Chai Wala: Who Is Nitin Saluja, The IIT Graduate Who Quit A Successful American Job To Open Chai Cafe Chain Chaayos

Taping into India's unique tea drinking culture, Nitin Saluja thought of starting a tea cafe that could cater to the tea drinkers in India and thus Chaayos was born.

New Delhi: It is a dream of many to get a job in the US, but few really get it. IITan Nitin Saluja was fortunate enough to land a job in the US but he left the position to launch a startup business called Chaayos. There was an initial struggle in the startup business, but with his strong grit and determination, Nitin took the company to its pinnacle of success. In a country dominated by coffee shops like Starbucks, Café Coffee Day, Café Mocha, and Barista, Chaayos established a name for itself and became India’s leading chai café. Let us know the story of Nitin Saluja who established a chai-selling business, turned it into a 100 crore business and ignited a chai revolution in India.

Consultancy Job To Selling Chai In India --Nitin Saluja's Story

Nitin Saluja studied mechanical engineering at IIT Bombay. Post completion of his study, Saluja started working as a corporate management consultant for one of America's big firms. Nitin's salary in the American firm was in lakhs. It was after a disappointing incident where Nitin and his wife had a hard time finding tea sellers in the US that Nitin decided to open a cafe that would serve tea. Nitin quit his job, moved back to India and started generating ideas to start his own tea business.

Birth Of Chaayos

When he was in America, Nitin discovered that it was challenging to buy tea from tea booths. From that point on, Nitin believed it would be a fantastic idea if a high-end tea shop could be established where people could sip tea. He also understood that in India there are a lot of cafés that serve coffee, but none that serve tea. 

India has a unique tea drinking culture and people brew several varieties of tea. Taking advantage of this, Nitin thought of starting a tea cafe that could cater to the tea drinkers in India. In 2012, Nitin and his friend Raghav founded Chaayos and established their first café in Gurugram. 

Nitin started Chaayos with much love and passion and began serving customers ‘meri wali chai’. During the initial years, Nitin struggled to survive with the issues of capital and investment. He used to personally take orders, prepare tea, and serve it. Additionally, Nitin saw to it that each client had a unique cup of tea that was constantly supplied. While still quickly expanding, Nitin wanted to make sure that each outlet gave a distinctive Chaayos experience. During the Covid era, Chaayos experienced financial difficulty. However, the chai business survived the pandemic and revived in 2020. 

After the initial years of hardship, Nitin's diligence was rewarded. The company generated 100 crores in revenue in 2020. Chaayos stores were eventually set up in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, and Pune. Today, there are over 200 Chaayos cafes located all throughout India. Chaayos is today nation's premium chai serving cafe, catering to the chai drinking needs of the chai lover Indians.