Surat: 2 engineers brew up a chai story in Varachha

When Ganesh was almost unsure of his next step, he met his old friend Pradeep Jadav, a mechanical engineer, who had also incidentally come down to Surat after working for some time in the Gulf.

A chance meeting between two friends and the tea shop was born. They took a place on rent in Varachha and set it up.

The shop offers nine different flavours of tea containing 19 different types of masalas in it. Some of them are rose tea, hot chocolate tea, bon bon tea, black tea, fancy green tea and lemon tea. Each cup costs Rs 15.

“I had never thought of opening my own business. Like any other student, I would dream of a good job with a handsome salary. But the reality was different. When I started looking for jobs in Surat, the maximum salary that I was offered was Rs 9,000 per month. I knew this will not be enough. That is when I thought why not pursue my love for tea,” Ganesh said.

“Ganesh loves his tea! He can also make very good tea,” Pradeep quipped.

“I did some research like the types of teas, how masalas can enhance its taste… I shared the idea of setting up our own tea shop with Pradeep who readily agreed. Though it is not even a month old, but it is getting good response. On an average every day we are doing a business of around Rs 10,000,” Ganesh added.

“I had faith in him. When he came up with this proposal, I knew this would work,” Pradeep said.

“Before launching this business, we did a little survey in Surat city. People have become very health conscious nowadays. Moreover, business is not only about earning profits. It comes with a lot of responsibilities. One has to take good care of the customers. We wanted to come up with something that will strike a chord with the public,” Pradeep added.

“We prepare our tea in brass vessels. We also use sulphurless sugar which is healthier. Our prime focus was to maintain hygiene. If the business continues to be good, we open branches in other parts of the city. So far, plan is to open five more such outlets in next six months,” Pradeep said.