171 : Founder Friday w/ Matt Chitharanjan and Namrata Asthana of Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters in India

The Indian specialty coffee market is growing by leaps and bounds. Today's guests Matt Chitharanjan and Namrata Asthana and their company, Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters, are part of the reason why Indian people are switching from instant and drink more amazing Indian coffee at home and in cafes.  From humble beginnings working shoulder-to-shoulder packaging their roasted coffee in a home's 2 spare rooms - to now 25 cafes, over 300 staff, and partnerships with over 25 Indian coffee estates, Matt and Namrata have been able to build an incredible business that makes Indian coffee the star, creates amazing coffee professionals pouring resources and training into their staff, and successfully introduces the average Indian coffee consumer to the wonders of specialty coffee grown in their own backyard.  I had such a great time talking with Matt and Namrata, I know you will find this to be inspirational especially if you are a coffee pro or business owner in a producing country.    In this episode you will learn about:  The specialty landscape in India How Blue Tokai started, scaled, and structure their business  The challenges of operating in a producing country How they overcame the hurdles and won the trust of the farmers The value of connecting with your customers on their level How blue Tokai has empowered their female staff What role presence and communication plays in breaking through harmful social norms  What Blue Tokai does to continually develop their quality as they grow LINKS: WWW.BLUETOKAICOFFEE.COM   More about Matt and Namrata: Namrata Asthana - Co-Founder Namrata graduated from Vanderbilt University with a major in Psychology and a minor in Anthropology. After working in design in Chicago, she moved to New Delhi to work with the American India Foundation where she managed the Service Corps Fellowship (now the Clinton Foundation Fellowship) for three years. Namrata then worked with PepsiCo India as the Communications Manager for four years and moved onto working as Communications Director for the Centre of Development Finance at the Institute of Finance Management and Research. In addition to this, Namrata has also worked with Alliance India and has authored a book on migration and education for the American India Foundation's Learning and Migration Programme. In 2012, she co-founded Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters with her husband, Matt Chitharanjan. Matt Chitharanjan – Co-Founder Matt graduated from NYU's Stern School of Business with a B.S. in finance in 2003. He spent a number of years working in economic research and real estate investing for a boutique consulting firm and hedge fund in Berkeley, California before pursuing an M.A. in economics from the University of British Colombia. After graduating in 2008, he spent several years working on impact evaluation in international development in Jordan and the U.S. before moving to India in 2011 to work on SME access to finance research with IFMR. In 2012, he decided to put his past roasting experience to good use by starting Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters with his wife, Namrata Asthana.   www.keystotheshop.com/bluetokai