Akhila Krishnamurthy in conversation with Jahabar Sadique – Co- Founder & CEO, Chai Kings at Super Chennai Arattai
Chennai-headquartered new-age tea retail brand Chai Kings is on an expansion spree and is looking to add around 30 more stores in Chennai this year as it sees robust brand recall and demand for its flagship tea and food combos. Further, it also plans to widen its reach in Coimbatore and Hyderabad, where it already has a few stores, and will also be in Bengaluru by July.
The company, which is operationally profitable unlike many in the new age Chai retail segment, is looking at closing the fiscal at around ₹56 crore of revenue and has a target to clock around ₹90 crore next fiscal. This will come on the back of expansion and same store sales growth, Chai Kings co-founder and CEO Jahabar Sadique, told businessline.
Sadique was speaking at the second edition of Super Chennai’s Arattai where he recalled the journey of how two friends-turned co-founders (Sadique and his co-founder Balaji Sadagopan) put their savings in a tea store back in 2016 and grew to now serve customers across all walks of life – from MS Dhoni, MK Stalin to even road side workers.
With the Metro expansion happening fast in Chennai we have already sealed some spots near stations for store expansion, and also looking to grow this further. Coimbatore, Hyderabad and Bengaluru will also see store growth this year, he added.
With the tea retail chain segment being a crowded place, the co-founders say that Chai Kings’ first-mover advantage and strong network of stores have helped them stand out. With 50-50 split in online and offline orders, the company says that food tech platforms helped them gain brand recall with innovations such as the disposable chai flasks.
In March last year, Chai Kings raised $3 million (around ₹24 crore) in the Series A funding round from packaged tea company A.V. Thomas and Co. (AVT). Sadique says they will look to raise more funds after a few months and the first preference will be to raise from existing investors. “The Chai retail space does not seem to be an area of interest for VCs; but now with investors prioritising profitability, things could be different,” co-founder Sadagopan said.
Acknowldeging that it’s difficult to build national consumer brands from Chennai/Tamil Nadu, the founders say they have tried to make ‘consistency’ in practices, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and taste as their key differentiator. A strong operational execution, sophisticated tech and data from food tech platforms has help us grow in this journey, Sadique added.
During the session, Sadique reflected on how Chai Kings emerged as a bold idea in a city traditionally known for its filter coffee culture. He elaborated on identifying a gap in the market and building a scalable brand around a simple everyday product.
Published on March 22, 2026