Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Tipu’s Chai receives national press!

Tipu’s Chai is a small US-based Right Livelihood supplying Chai mix across America.  Operating out of Missoula, Montana, they employ four members of the Triratna Buddhist Order.  It's not easy for new start-ups in the States right now, but looks like they're just about to break out big time!  Abhayanaga writes with their latest news - and a request for your help.  He says -

"At the beginning of August, Relish, a national magazine dedicated to celebrating the best of American cuisine that is carried in daily newspapers all over the country, published a highly positive review of Tipu’s Chai new instant mix in its inside cover. To quote the review, ‘Tipu’s Instant Chai is peppery and spicy and the best we’ve tasted. Made in Montana by Bipin Patel (Dh. Buddhapalita), whose family hails from Gujarat, India, the chai includes organic black tea and ‘spices.’’

"Since the publication of the review, Tipu’s website, www.tipuschai.com has been bombarded with over 5,000 orders and requests for samples. The small Tipu’s team, Varada, Naganataka, and myself (Abhayanaga), with the help of Sanghadevi who happened to be visiting Montana at the time the review was published, (thanks for all your help!) have barely been able to keep up with the demand generated by Relish.

2All the attention has given our small Right Livelihood business a timely boost and we are very keen to capitalize on all the new interest. Our chai has begun popping up on food blog websites like www.angerburger.com and www.perkdup.blogspot.com, and is being very favorably reviewed on specialty tea websites like www.teaviews.com, www.steepster.com, and www.teareviewblog.com.

Web commerce is an excellent way for a small specialty food biz like ours to compete with much larger companies in the same industry, as we can take Tipu’s directly to the chai lover without having to navigate through the web of distributors, brokers, and retailers who can often be resistant to newer products.

Get involved!
"If Order members, mitras, and friends would like to support us, the best thing they can do is to follow us on social media sites such as facebook and twitter and leave comments and reviews on those sites. Currently we have just under 500 facebook fans and we would like to increase that number to 1,000 during the autumn of 2010. 1,000 fans is one of the facebook thresholds after which we would come on to the radar of more food bloggers and food and drinks buyers. Additionally, if anyone who has ever savored Tipu’s chai would take the time to write reviews on the above mentioned sites, or go to Amazon.com and review us there, we would very much appreciate it.  the above links should take you to those sites.

"And lastly, if any centers would like to carry our dry mixes as an extra revenue stream we’d love to have Tipu’s Chai on shelves in Centers around the movement.

"All of this attention really does help our business and we would be very grateful if those in the larger Triratna community could take a bit of time to help boost our online profile in the ways I’ve mentioned. And if you ever find yourself in Montana, we’d love to give you a tour of our headquarters, i.e., Varada’s place. You just need to be comfortable sharing some space with horses, goats, ducks, chickens, a noisy rooster, and 3 dogs!

"With metta
Dh. Abhayanaga

PS - a few of their latest tweets copied below...


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