No Experience Required

Tweet

Chai.

Chai? Well, maybe.

Chai rhymes with high, and the ch is pronounced like the ch in chair. Chai is the generic word for tea throughout parts of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. In this country it refers to a sweet, spicy, milky beverage that combines black tea, honey, vanilla, and spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and even pepper. Though it's been sipped hot and cold for centuries in India and Nepal, chai first appeared here during the 1960s and survived as a local phenomenon in crunchy communities like Boulder and Portland. Now Howitt and company intend to make the drink as ubiquitous as caffè latte.

THE MARKET. "Every year there's a product of the show. A couple of years ago it was syrups, in 1995 it was baked goods, and in 1996 it was chai." Colin Campbell, editor of the trade magazine World Coffee & Tea, was making the rounds at the annual trade klatch known as Coffee Fest, in Seattle. Four chai companies bought booths here in 1996, and they spent most of their time defining the product for quizzical visitors. "We don't consider ourselves a tea or a coffee. But we do contain tea, and we're kind of like a latte," explains Oregon Chai chief operating officer Brian Ross for the umpteenth time.

Different chais have different tastes. "Mine's more peppery, gingery," says Jan Drabek, whose company, the Chai Guy, also exhibited at Coffee Fest. But the most significant difference between Oregon Chai and its competitors is the company's strategic approach to winning a piece of the projected $3-billion specialty-coffee market (and $2.7-billion tea market). "These guys," says J.B. Groh, associate director at Crown Point Group Ltd., the Portland investment firm that has helped Oregon Chai raise $450,000 to date, "are more aggressive from a marketing standpoint than their competitors, many of whom seem content to remain backwoods mom-and-pops selling chai out of the back of a VW bus."

"We are definitely a culture unto ourselves," concedes Claudia Murray, who has been brewing her LiveChai product in Boulder, Colo., since 1990. The six principals of another competitor, Sattwa Chai, who live and work together in Oregon Chai's backyard in the wine country outside Portland, describe their foray into chai in spiritual terms. "What's important to us is not being entrepreneurs but living a healthy life. We have a purpose and are involved in a healing journey, but we have no idea where it will lead," explains Sattwa's Faye Fields.

THE STRATEGY. The willingness of Oregon Chai's founder and her employees to seek the advice of experienced professionals has already paid off. For instance, Sinclair taught the first-timers the merits of using contact-management software and schooled them in distribution practices. "We had no clue about these things," recalls Ross. Since Sinclair's arrival, in September 1995, the company's distributor list has swelled from 6 to 130, and Oregon Chai picks up new accounts daily. The company's polished marketing and point-of-purchase material--designed by board member and 40-year ad veteran Lewis--has attracted some of those accounts. "I like the way they put their program and packaging together," explains San Francisco distributor Norm Weil of Gourmet Express about his decision to carry Oregon Chai. "Their competitors are not as professionally handled--a bunch of folks stuck in the '60s."

The veterans who are approached for advice say it's hard to turn down bright young people with passion and a high-quality product who ask for help. "There are two types of people who start companies: people who know it all, and people who seek out information. The folks at Oregon Chai are an excellent example of the latter," remarks ad man Lewis. "The Oregon Chai people are open-minded about where they should be and how they should get there. To me, that's evidence of a company that wants to do it right," he says.

 PREV  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5  NEXT 

Read more:

Sign-up for our Leadership and Managing Newsletter

Email Address: