I asked Jiten Suchede founder of “Jugmug Thela” about how he came up with the name for his venture that specializes in artisan tea and coffee. “There was a “Babool” tree over the street side tea shop where I would go for my “chai” in the evenings near the hostel. After dark there would be many fireflies twinkling in that ageing Babool. When I started my venture I thought of this name after the twinkling of the fireflies – jugmug ( ~ to Twinkle like fireflies/stars), and also because we are serving tea & coffee…. so you know a-jug-and-a mug”. Meet Jugmug Thela.
Jiten loves his tea perfect. Although getting that perfect cuppa was not always possible especially when away from home. “The idea was always there. It was just when I chose to go ahead and do it. As a student the day time tea shop near my college served tea which was really bad. I would occasionally declare to my friends that “one day” I would open one of my own.” While living and working in the UK, his love for “chai” stayed with him. In London his daily commute would take him past an empty space in Piccadilly Station, and he would contemplate how this would be a great place for a tea store.
Moving back to India, the idea resurfaced for the first time over a conversation with a friend who was an NRI. However, at that time it was discussed that this “thela” would be set up in the United States. They worked out a few ideas for a trial run; however a cancelled trip put put this on pause. “By this time I had talked about it so much that the idea became something tangible.” An opportunity presented itself for Jiten when his friends were planning to have a stall at a handicraft exhibition. As the discussions for the exhibitions were going on, he made tea for his friends. And just like that, all those conversations, all those years of mulling over the idea, it all fell into place. It was decided. They were going to have a tea stall at the exhibition.
“Initially it was just a 15 day thing that we planned. A nice little spot for people to enjoy their tea. ” Never did he expect that he would get such an overwhelming response for his “thela”, that he would be forced consider this as a separate venture. The “thela” gained a lot of popularity during the exhibition, so much so that people were flocking the place just to taste this tea that everyone was talking about. They even got written about in the newspapers. The accidental entrepreneur confirms this was definitely not how he expected it to go. “The “thela” started without a business plan, as a fun 15 day experiment. But, the response we got was phenomenal. Many people started asking us about the ingredients in our chai . People tried out the tea with the herbs and spices we we recommended, but they never got the same taste. Even the simplest Masala Chai is like Alchemy. So many of them came back offering money for us to give them some of our homemade chai masala Later, we decided to prepare a small batch of chai masala, bottle it up and sell. We prepared 24 small jars of chai masala . The bottles were simply labeled in plain black & white labels -CHAI MASALA. This we expected would last us for a few days. But the bottles were sold out in an hour. We were still trying to wrap our heads around what actually happened, before we had to think of a serious business plan”.
They got down to doing just that. They looked into packaging, and scaling up their preparations. The graphic designer in Jiten designed labels for these bottles, and soon they were getting calls from retail stores, hotels and cafes who wanted to sell their products. Their website today is a home to several interesting options like “Bhor Chai Masala”, “Masala for Lemon Tea”, “The Happy Stomach Tea”, “Chamomile & Vanilla Tea”, “Viatnamese Robusta Coffee”, and several “munchies” to go with them. The menu, he says evolved organically. They were initially sourcing cookies and other accompaniments from a third party. Due to lack of consistency, they decided to do some trials with cookies. Jiten’s Midas touch worked on the cookies as well, and people loved them. They soon added more munchies which, he says are derivatives of their menu. Chai…. mathri, coffee…. cookie. An ode to the logical foodie!
Jiten says all his learning’s were on the job. When Jiten started with “Jugmug Thela” in Feb 2013, he was still running a Branding & Strategy Consultancy. A year and a half into operation he switched gears to live his dream of serving the right cup of tea and coffee. Transitioning from a one-time kiosk to a full-fledged business meant working out the investments, hiring the right staff, training them, retaining them and learning his way through food regulations and packaging. He seems to have thoroughly enjoyed this ride, and talks about all of it with utmost enthusiasm.
Jiten says he is grateful for the wonderful response and “unexpected” success that has come his way. He proudly mentions how his products were approved by some of the biggest hotel chains, who often conduct several rounds of tasting. One episode that stands out for him is when a customer called him at night asking him if she could send her driver to urgently collect some chai masala, as she had run out of it and without the masala, neither her tea nor her day would be the same. “Jugmug Thela” is now seen at a lot of high profile events, and Jiten says he is still surprised and grateful when he observes long lines in front of his stall to get some coffee or tea.
Advice to entrepreneurs- “Progress over perfection. Don’t wait for the perfect product. Put things out there and work your way up.”
Jiten has several ideas for how “Jugmug Thela” should evolve over time. “There are several different ideas, only time will tell…” he adds with an air of mystery :). We will wait for it.
Jugmug Thela is a Delhi based venture that supplies artisan tea, coffee and various spice blends for your cuppa! Visit their website and their Facebook page to know about the upcoming events where you can find Jugmug Thela live in action and taste their products.
Images courtesy of Jugmug Thela