You know, I don't just blog about food and eateries. I much rather write about the people behind a successful brand. So today, I'm featuring the face behind this cafe, CHAIWALLA & CO.
The driving force behind this successful small-medium business is a Mr Nazrul Hakim, a young lad still in his early thirties. Suprisingly he has no prior experience in the F&B world. He, in fact worked in the shipping industry for more than a decade and climbed the corporate ladder until finally he earned his Masters!
So why opened a cafe, you asked? Well, this business plan was embedded in his mind long long time ago, when he was still an employee. While his friends and colleagues would spend money on luxuries, he saved his own with the vision that he will use this as an investment to open his own business. Fast forward many years later, he felt the time was right to implement his dream and tadaaaa, CHAIWALLA & CO. was born!
.jpg) |
| Me interviewing the boss |
Chai means tea in hindi.
Walla means someones who serves.
.jpg)
UNIQUENESS:
The look of this cafe is so simple yet compelling. 2 containers stacked on top of the other, the upper one used as storage and the lower one serves as a cafe counter. They are, in fact, the first in Malaysia to implement the container cafe idea! The industrial look is both mod and rad! So original, so creative, I love, love, love their concept!
.jpg)
WHY THE TAGLINE HONEST TEA?
Because the boss loves tea? hehe. And he believes honesty is the most important value in any kind of business. So honest+tea, geddit? :p
.jpg)
FOOD:
CW & Co serves a variety of drinks and pastry. So before you order, you might want to look at the menu at the counter. Too confusing! What do I order? Aha, lemme guide you step by step;
* Choose a BASE - Tea, Milk tea, Coffee, Fresh Milk, Smoothies.
* Choose a FLAVOUR - Caramel, Pure Honey, Saffron Rose, Double Choco, Winter Melon, Strawberry, Apple, Japanese Matcha, Banana, Vanilla, Mango, Passionfruit, Pure yogurt, Ice cream, Lemon!
* Choose a TOPPING - Pearls, Grass Jelly, Pudding, Coffee Jelly, Yogurt Pops, Basil Seeds, Nata de coco AND my favourite, PINK POPS!
 |
| Vietnamese Coffee |
.jpg) |
| Ice cream Brownie with a dose of caramel |
.jpg) |
| Pies available in mushroom chicken or black pepper beef filling |
TEABLES?
It is the name assigned for the group working in the cafe. Hmm why? Oklah I say for the 2nd time, the boss LoVeS TEA and also a fan of the band Beatles. So again we do some math, tea+beatles & jumble the alphabets a bit and you get ........<give yourself a pat in the back!>
VISION & CULTURE:
The vision of Chaiwalla & Co is that they want a brand that engage with the community, the subculture and serves as a platform for fashion, arts & music. And they, as a young company, also aims to educate and empower the young people and aspiring entrepeneurs out there! <1000 rounds of applause!!>
.jpg)
COLLABORATION:
So far, Chaiwalla has collaborated with many like-minded people; the group of architects who will display their creative work at the cafe and they will also be joining forces with the ever so popular band, BUNKFACE! Psst, from what I heard, dari sumber-sumber yang boleh dipercayai, Bunkface will make an appearance on *cough* 2nd November *cough*. Did I hear the squeals of excitement from the girls?
.jpg)
So singaporeans, if you want your tea to be brewed & served by the members of Bunkface, save the DATE & beat that causeway jam!!
.jpg)
What impress me most is that Chaiwalla is shorlisted as one of the top 20 finalists, out of hundreds of submissions, for the Alliance Bank SME Innovation Challenge! What an achievement for a 2 year old brand! True to the intention of the owner, he hopes his success will be an inspiration to the Malay/Muslim community to further involved themselves into the world of business. Kudos to you & your team!!
Chaiwalla & Co. Container Cafe
- Address: Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 Johor Bahru, Johor, MalaysiaPhone:+60 17-622 4536
Note: They also have another outlet at The Curve, Damansara
No comments:
Post a Comment