We have had tea bags for so long, and it was a no-brainer why we don’t have something like this for coffee. The focus was on freshly brewed coffee where it should taste the way it should and not like a filtered coffee with chemicals in it.
Beanly was started by Samayesh Khanna and Rahul Jain in 2018 with a view to making fresh gourmet coffee available in the comfort of our homes. All their products are free of any preservatives, their brew bags are sealed in a vacuum, in a near-zero oxygen environment before being nitro flushed for freshness. In this conversation, they speak to Urvi Shrivastav, BWBusinessworld about their journey, the launch of their new products, challenges an entrepreneur faces along the way, and Beanly’s future plan.
How has the last year been?
Rahul Jain: Professionally we saw an upswing in demand when people were resorting to instant coffee. We saw this as a perfect opportunity to push our own product. We have also had a lot of partners reaching out to us to manufacture their products.
Samayesh Khanna: Professionally we have kept the grind on, we have been hustling, and launched quite a lot of new products like the draft coffee cans, which is the first of its kind in India.
How did the idea of Beanly materialize?
Smayaesh Khanna: We have been very goal-oriented and focused; we have never looked at doing brick-and-mortar cafes. We have developed it as an FMCG brand from the very outset. It was a pain point for both of us, as freshly brewed coffee was not easy to get at home, which is how our first product, the pour-over bag came about.
Rahul Jain: We have had tea bags for so long, and it was a no-brainer why we don’t have something like this for coffee. The focus was on freshly brewed coffee where it should taste the way it should and not like a filtered coffee with chemicals in it.
How do you plan to stand out from other players in the market, and what have your new launches been like?
Samayesh Khanna: When Rahul got the first dip bag to me, we spent a good one year just figuring out how to make it pour over ready. The challenge was to retain its freshness, and ground coffee was something that was losing its freshness every 7 to 8 minutes. Our manufacturing and packaging have been in-house and top-notch, which is what makes us stand apart. We pride ourselves in the products we make and stand out because of them.
What were the challenges you faced along the way?
Rahul Jain: None of us are from coffee backgrounds, and none of us had ever run a business before. There are other challenges like not having enough money to go out to the market as to how we would have liked.
How did you overcome logistical challenges as a D2C brand during the lockdown?
Samayesh Khanna: The logistical supply chain has been sorted. What we have seen during the last year during the pandemic has been tough, but our strong supply chain has not broken down. But during the lockdown, there have been constraints like procuring raw materials.
Do you intend to have milk-based cans?
Samayesh Khanna: They are high on our priority list, but have been affected badly due to the pandemic. The milk-based coffee cans will further facilitate expansion and we can reach a much wider audience base given that Indians are acquainted with adding milk to their favorite beverages. We will be coming out with them soon.
Source: Business World
