--- title: "Brewing Authenticity: How Kolkata Chai Co. Uses Instagram to Reach Interested Buyers" description: As social networks become more important for organizations of all kinds, often the key question is how to integrate them into an overall marketing strategy. image: https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hubfs/Kolkata%20Chai%20Ani%20and%20Ayan.jpg --- [Skip to main content](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/brewing-authenticity-how-kolkata-chai-co.-uses-instagram-to-reach-interested-buyers#maincontent) [ «  View All Posts ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog) # Brewing Authenticity: How Kolkata Chai Co. Uses Instagram to Reach Interested Buyers November 21st, 2024 5 min read By [David Meerman Scott](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott) ![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Kolkata%20Chai%20Ani%20and%20Ayan.jpg?width=1236&height=858&name=Kolkata%20Chai%20Ani%20and%20Ayan.jpg) As social networks become more important for organizations of all kinds, often the key question is how to integrate them into an overall marketing strategy. Ani Sanyal, CEO of [Kolkata Chai Co](https://kolkatachai.co)., uses Instagram and a website to grow the business he co-founded with his brother Ayan.   Having a coordinated strategy that includes social networking, a great website, retail cafes, and offline marketing is essential when the product or service is breaking new ground. Kolkata Chai Co. aims to become the go-to name for chai in North America, specializing in authentic Masala chai and Indian street food available in its own Manhattan and Brooklyn cafés, grocery stores, and via ecommerce. Ani says chai has been repeatedly bastardized and appropriated in the Western world. He has steered Kolkata Chai Co. to ensure the culture and traditions are represented accurately and honestly. “Chai in this country has always been told through a very Western lens,” he told me. “A group of hippies went to the east and the 1980s and came back with their version of chai, and that was picked up by the major chains. Unfortunately, what you normally get is a very thin, sugary, syrupy kind of latte version of what authentic chai is supposed to be. It's never been properly represented. Our mission is to reclaim the narrative of what authentic chai is and to share with people the true Masala chai flavor: a spicy, sweet, very black tea with a cardamom-heavy formula.” And yes, Kolkata Chai Co. chai in the cafes or via mail order is delicious!  The brothers started the business in 2018 at a farmer's market and opened their first café in Manhattan the next year. Soon afterward they started selling chai and supplies via their ecommerce store and website. Growing up as first-generation Indian Americans of parents who left Kolkata in 1987, Ani and Ayan listened to hip hop, ate pizza, and begged their parents for Vans sneakers. The family regularly returned to Kolkata for several months at a time, where Ani and Ayan would jump in monsoon puddles, play cricket in the streets, and drink chai every day. It was young people like themselves, first generation adult children of immigrant parents, who became the primary target market of their new business. “There's a certain narrative—Gen Z and Millennial kids of immigrant parents trying to build a bridge between cultures that they were raised in and the culture they grew up in—that we speak to,” Ani says. ## How Instagram drives chai fandom The Kolkata Chai Co. Instagram, [@kolkatachaico](https://www.instagram.com/kolkatachaico), has nearly 100,000 followers. The brothers’ personal Instagram feeds, where they frequently post about the business, are [@anihustles](https://www.instagram.com/anihustles/) (more than 13,000 followers) and [@ayanisdreaming](https://www.instagram.com/ayanisdreaming/) (nearly 3,000 followers). All three accounts have been a crucial part of their marketing strategy. ![Kolkata Chai Instagram](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Kolkata%20Chai%20Instagram.jpg?width=941&height=626&name=Kolkata%20Chai%20Instagram.jpg) “Instagram has been a core driver of growth and brand awareness for us,” Ani says. “The key for us on that platform is to tell meaningful, relatable stories about what we were going through while building this business. Before we opened our first café in 2019, we created a documentary, a real-time video journey of what we were going through as entrepreneurs. It covered us sitting down with our parents and talking to them about the first time they went on a date and my mom spilled tea on my dad. We shared that with our community, saying ‘We have awkward parents, and this is how it relates to our company. Here's how it relates to our mission, our story.’ These kinds of stories were similar to what our community was going through and served as an invitation to people to interact with us.” The company also used Instagram Stories to create, as Ani calls it, an ongoing “reality TV” view of what is going on with the business. “If there was a massive line to get into one of the cafés, we would have someone from our team show people what was happening at the café in that given moment,” he says. “If there was a celebrity sighting in a café we would go ahead and post about it. One time we got broken into, and we posted and said, ‘We're going to open two hours late today, because we got broken into.’ This is very honest, real-time reflection of what was happening, and I think it created a very credible, believable company and story for people who don't trust corporations and don't trust brands from the big conglomerates. I think that really got people to buy into the story, and they want to play an active role in our success.” Kolkata Chai Co. doesn’t pay for influencer marketing and doesn’t employ a publicist. Yet they’ve built organic relationships with celebrities like Hasan Minhaj, Chris Rock, Mindy Kaling, and Keanu Reeves, people who are fans of the brand. That adds credibility as well. Ani, as CEO, personally oversees the content strategy and calendar, coordinating with others who create social media and website content. The strategy involves creating varied content buckets including community-oriented stories, informational content about chai (Recent post: “Chai has less caffeine than coffee, but is still long lasting — and definitely healthy for you and your nervous system.”), and entertaining posts (a recent online debate: “The question to end all questions — and here’s what New Yorkers had to say. OAT MILK or WHOLE MILK in your chai?”). The company uses Linktree—a way to share additional content—for their Instagram URL link. The link list often includes ecommerce promotions, valuable educational content, and essays on their site. A recent favorite: “The problematic alarm: South Asian restaurant tropes we have to avoid.” These kinds of links drive people from Instagram to the site and lead to ecommerce sales. And once they are on the site, they can join an email newsletter or SMS text list. Because Kolkata Chai Co. maintains a cohesive image and approach across Instagram, the cafés, and their website, they are ensuring that each contact authentically represents the brand. “We have intentionally tried to create a bridge, so what you see anywhere you come across us feels authentic,” Ani says. “Instagram is probably a little bit more playful. And the website has to be informational and transactional, but we've tried to make that experience feel very connected. So, whether someone discovers us on the Web or on Instagram or on the street, they're going to feel like they know who the brand is.” The same is true of the brothers’ personal Instagram feeds. “Very early on, my personal Instagram created a ton of discovery for the business because I was telling a story of a first-generation immigrant entrepreneur who was building something in front of everybody,” Ani says. “For five years I had a phone in front of my face documenting everyday things like talking to my lawyer, working with the contractor, dealing with an issue with the plumbing, and the time we got denied by the city for a permit. It drove credibility in a time where I think people are looking for that and was a conduit to people discovering our business.” Starting from a dream just a few short years ago, Ani and Ayan are well on the way to their goal of being the center of the chai universe in North America. They’ve enjoyed rapid growth fueled by Instagram and word-of-mouth. By the end of 2024, they expect revenue to top $10 million, with ecommerce accounting for about 80 percent and with the four cafés serving as the anchor of their branding strategy. As customers talk about Kolkata Chai on Instagram and other social networks, new people learn about the company. It sure beats traditional (read: expensive) advertising to get the word out. And it works because they have a plan for how all the pieces fit together. Click over or stop in to see what I mean. This post is an adapted excerpt of the new 9th edition of The New Rules of Marketing and PR which was published in August, 2024. *Disclosure*: I am an investor in Kolkata Chai Co. [![New call-to-action](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/413105/3ccc7bbb-51d3-436c-9374-f749af16ae9b.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/413105/3ccc7bbb-51d3-436c-9374-f749af16ae9b) [ David Meerman Scott ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott) David Meerman Scott is a business growth strategist, advisor to clever entrepreneurs who are building emerging companies, and the international bestselling author of a dozen books published in 30 languages. David’s high-energy keynote presentations, masterclasses, and virtual events educate, energize, and inspire. 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