American ‘Hippie’ Woman Has Earned Over ₹227 Crore By Selling Desi Chai To Videshis

Just like the Germans love beer, the Scottish love whiskey, the Jamaicans go crazy over rum and the Russians have Vodka, India has it’s very own ‘chai‘. From taking substantial decisions to solving the most complicated of problems, everything can be smoothly done over a cup of tea.

For centuries, the Indians have taken immense pride in the drink and our hospitality is never complete without it. However, it seems that our speciality has now started inspiring people across the boundary!

Meet Brook Eddy, who came to India in 2002 after hearing a National Public Radio story on Swadhyay, according to Inc.

“Swadhyay seemed like this really cool movement that 20 million people were practising but no one had heard of. At the time, I was asking myself questions like, how can we make our nonprofits stronger? Can we make businesses more like nonprofits?”

The Swadhyay Parivar is a devotional movement based in Maharashtra India with the primary objective of self-development, self-learning and social awareness.

But it was while roaming the villages of Western India where she came across chai and fell in love with the magical concoction. And, moved by the fragrance of the drink, she turned her liking into a venture.

After going back to Boulder, Colorado she formed an organization and named it ‘Bhakti Chai’ that tasted massive success in 2018 with a revenue of $7 million.

She started brewing her own jars of tea and sold them from the back of her car which became a hit in her region. Eddy often came back home to $10 on her kitchen counter from friends and family for the missing jars in her fridge.

“I realized the recipe I had crafted for myself, a fiery fresh ginger chai, could be produced for cafés and retailers to bring people not only ‘India in a cup,’ but build a mission-driven company on the tenants of bhakti.”

She has raised over 10 million from investors and private firms and has returned it in style. Eddy has recorded a total revenue of $35 million ( INR 2274125000 approximately) since the birth of the brand.

She now has 26 employees working behind the processing of the natural and organic chai concentrates. All her ingredients are shipped from outside the U.S including her ‘special sauce’ – 300,000 pounds of organic ginger delivered annually from Peru.

If you are thinking that’s that, you’re mistaken. She went on to launch GITA – Give, Inspire, Take Action, an organization which aids the homeless and the poor. GITA has donated $500,000 to date. She even opened up about her love for India and said,

Inspiring, right? We wish more power to more women like Eddy, and of course our very own ‘chai‘.