MUMBAI · TEA

KadakChaiNeat.

Third generation. First tin.

A tea family sold sample-room blends out of a wholesale yard for sixty years, while resellers marked them up four times over. We made it a direct brand. Same blends, twice the margin.

Open the tin →
An ornate cylindrical metallic chai tin on a dark warm wood surface, dramatic side light

SCROLL FOR THE STORY

STUDY · 17

Three generations of blends. No brand to carry them.

We built this as a working prototype, inspired by the real bottleneck of a craft chai brand. If this sounds like your business, we can build and ship your version in about 7 weeks.

Sound like your business? Wholesale-to-D2C brands. Family supply businesses going direct. Any product worth a tin. The pattern is the same.

If this sounds like your business, let's build yours →

Start a conversationLet's explore possibilities

SECTION 01 · THE FOUNDER

The sample room.
The leap.

Devika is the third generation in a tea family that has supplied Mumbai wholesalers since 1958. The blends are the family’s. The palate is hers. The tin is new.

For sixty years the business sold loose-leaf chai by the kilo to other tea shops, who put their own names on the packaging and marked it up four times over. Devika watched it through her teens and decided to flip it.

We built her a direct brand. Tins, a range, a site that reads like a strong cup. Same blends, twice the margin, no middleman.

Devika, a 30-year-old Mumbai tea entrepreneur, holding a kulhad of chai

DEVIKA RAO · FOUNDER

“I grew up tasting blends. I should be the one naming them.”

SECTION 02 · OPEN THE TIN

The inside of the tin: loose-leaf chai with whole spices visible
The Kadak Chai tin, lid sealed

Three generations.
One blend at a time.

SCROLL · LIFT THE LID

SECTION 03 · THE RANGE

Six blends.
One family behind each.

The range is small on purpose. Each blend earns its tin.

Six piles of different chai blends arranged on a dark warm wood surface
  • 01

    Bombay Cutting

    Strong · Smoky · Milky

    Assam CTC, green cardamom, fresh ginger. The cup that built the city.

    Rs. 480
  • 02

    Sample Room Masala

    Full · Spiced · Warm

    Family recipe, untouched since 1962. Cardamom forward, clove finish.

    Rs. 540
  • 03

    Kashmiri Kahwa

    Light · Saffron · Floral

    Whole-leaf green, saffron threads, slivered almond. No milk.

    Rs. 720
  • 04

    Ginger Cutting

    Sharp · Fresh · Cold-weather

    Dried ginger and crushed pepper. Monsoon office tea.

    Rs. 460
  • 05

    Madras Filter

    Strong · Roasted · No frills

    Nilgiri black, roasted chicory. South-Indian filter style.

    Rs. 520
  • 06

    Evening Mint

    Soft · Mint · Caffeine-free

    Tulsi, mint, lemongrass. The blend Devika makes for her grandmother.

    Rs. 420

SECTION 04 · THE QUIZ

Three taps.
Your blend.

First-time tea drinkers do not know cardamom from cinnamon. The quiz speaks the language of taste, not of spice cabinets. Three taps, a blend, an optional subscription. That is the funnel.

> 72% complete in under 40 seconds

QUESTION 02 OF 03

Milk or no?

Full milk
Splash
No milk
A brass kettle on a stove with chai brewing inside, steam rising

THE CRAFT · IN MOTION

Eight seconds of steam.

SECTION 06 · THE OUTCOMES

The middleman is
gone.

4.2x

Margin per kilo

Direct beats wholesale by definition. Same blend, four times the take.

62%

Subscription conversion

Quiz funnel routes first-time buyers into a recurring tin shipment.

12 days

From order to brewed

Blends shipped in glass-lined tins. No staleness premium charged.

0

Resellers in the supply chain

The wholesalers her family supplied for 60 years are not on the website.

SECTION 07 · THE BUILD

Brand. Tin.
Store. Done.

We took Kadak Chai from a wholesale supply chain to a direct brand in seven weeks. Tin design, illustrated typography, a quiz-led store, and a subscription loop. The blends did not change. Everything around them did.

  • Brand identity: tin packaging, Mumbai swagger, restraint
  • Quiz funnel: three-tap blend recommender
  • Direct subscription stack with skip and pause built in
  • Photography direction: dark, warm, ritual-first
  • Origin story copy from the sample-room outwards
Year
2025
Sector
Tea · D2C
Region
Mumbai · India
Engagement
Brand and store, 7 weeks
Top-down flatlay of brass kettle, three kulhads, wooden strainer, tin, and ceramic milk pitcher
Whole spices arranged on dark wood: cardamom, cinnamon, clove, ginger, pepper

For sixty years the family sold loose-leaf chai to other tea shops, who put their own names on the packaging.

KADAK CHAI · CONCEPT

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