Today we’d like to introduce you to Farah Jesani.
Hi Farah, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I started my career journey in NYC, working as a tech business consultant. I eventually left this job because I was burnt out and unfulfilled by work. I was always interested in entrepreneurship and was really intrigued by the specialty coffee space (mainly around the supply chain and why my oat latte cost $8 when Folgers was so cheap!). This intrigue took me to spending a summer in Portland, Oregon, a specialty coffee hub, where I started learning how to barista and the basics around sourcing and roasting coffee. Here, I quickly realized that while I love coffee, it’s not where my heart was. As a novice barista, I was amazed by the coffee I was surrounded with but completely disappointed by the average chai offering at the same craft coffee shops.
The best coffee shops serving the best coffees were serving subpar chai. The chai options were either too sweet or completely bland and lacked the spices and bold tea I grew up with. As I dug in deeper, I realized that because coffee shops often don’t have full-service kitchens and lack stovetops, they aren’t able to brew chai up in the traditional way. Most shops were relying on liquid concentrates or powder options, so we decided to create a chai concentrate that was easy to use (mix 1:1 with any kind of milk), used organic tea that was directly sourced by us personally, had the perfect balance of spice and sweetness. A coffee shop is the first place many people in the West experience chai, so my goal is that they can walk away with a more delicious, authentic, and intentional experience!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Absolutely not! We started out as a 100% B2B company in that all of our customers were exclusively coffee shops and other food service clients. Of course, when the pandemic hit, all of our customers shut their doors overnight and we went to 0 orders overnight. I had to decide to either close the doors because we didn’t know how long this would last or quickly pivot our channel strategy. I had always wanted to launch loose-leaf chai blends so people could learn how to make chai at home in the traditional way. Our customers were no longer at coffee shops, they were at home, so we quickly launched our first direct-to-consumer chai blend called “Chai Me At Home” followed by our turmeric latte blend “It’s Haldi, Doodh”.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about One Stripe Chai Co.?
One Stripe Chai is a woman-owned South Asian beverage brand that offers authentic, small-batch masala chai concentrates and blends crafted to be enjoyed from the comfort of your home or at your favorite coffee shop. Using tea sourced directly from a small organic and biodynamic family-owned farm in Assam, India, One Stripe Chai is brewed in Portland, OR, with a focus on taste and simplicity – just add milk and you’ll have yourself a cup of One Stripe Chai!
Founder and Chief Chai Officer Farah Jesani grew up in an Indian household where chai was brewed twice a day, every Friday evening after mosque, and every single time she visited family. Shortly after leaving her job in tech consulting in New York City and drawn to making a big career change, Jesani found herself in the heart of Portland’s coffee culture. As a novice barista, she was disappointed by the average coffeehouse chai — doused with cinnamon or nutmeg yet bland, flavorless or overly sweet — and set out to recreate the bold, spicy beverage she recalled drinking as a child.
Since 2015, One Stripe Chai has combined the deliciously rich spices of masala chai with high-quality black tea to create an all-natural chai concentrate now used by coffee shops all over the country. In 2020, the brand expanded beyond concentrates to introduce at-home DIY blends that retain the robust flavors of spiced chai with the added benefits of total customization. One Stripe Chai is available at specialty retailers and cafes across the nation (including Erewhon!) and online at onestripechai.com.
Any big plans?
While we started out as a chai company, my vision is for One Stripe Chai to evolve into more of a South Asian beverage brand, spanning different regional flavors and drinks. We have started to introduce non-chai products and flavors, starting with its Haldi, Doodh Turmeric Latte Blend and Aam Nom Nom Mango Tea Blend. We have plans to expand our production for our chai concentrates so we can launch in coffee shops and grocery nationwide and are also working on creating a wellness line.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.onestripechai.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onestripechaico/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/onestripechai
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/farahjesani/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/onestripechaico
Image Credits
@mackenzie.smithkelley @daniellegadams
