One Stripe Chai pivoted from a cafe-focused wholesale model to a successful DTC brand during the pandemic. Founder Farah Jesani shares how adapting products for consumers, leveraging organic PR, and strategically balancing DTC with renewed wholesale efforts led to profitability with minimal ad spend. This episode offers key lessons on business model flexibility and resilient growth for any ecommerce operator.
Key takeaways
When faced with market disruption, quickly pivot your business model to adapt to new realities, as One Stripe Chai did by shifting from wholesale to DTC when cafes closed.
Develop consumer-focused products and packaging tailored for direct online sales, even if your existing business is wholesale-oriented, to unlock new revenue streams.
Leverage organic PR and media mentions (e.g., Bon Appetit) to efficiently drive brand awareness and customer acquisition for a new DTC channel, minimizing reliance on paid ads.
Balance DTC growth with renewed wholesale opportunities by strategically allocating focus (e.g., 60% DTC, 40% retail) to build an omnichannel presence.
Proactively plan for supply chain challenges when expanding into new retail channels or scaling existing ones, as disruptions can significantly impact growth timelines.
In 2019, startup chai brand One Stripe Chai saw coffeeshops as the ticket to its success. Then the pandemic came and everything changed.
After a bumpy few months, the brand focused predominately on its direct-to-consumer website and finding online customers. And while its foodservice business has resumed, founder and “chief chai officer” Farah Jesani says she’s still focused primarily on growing the DTC sales.
Jesani joined the Modern Retail Podcast and described the quick change. Right before 2020, Jesani said, One Stripe had over 70 coffeeshop wholesale accounts. “That’s where I was like, okay, this feels like this is a viable business. This feels like something we can really grow,” she said. Then the pandemic hit and “everything tanked.”
At that time Jesani was faced with a decision: does she close up shop or does she pivot? She opted for the latter, and began testing out consumer-focused products and packaging -- something she had never done before. After a few months of trial and error, it worked. The brand got written up in publications like Bon Appetit, and this helped launched the DTC business -- which Jesani says has remained pretty profitable since launch. “To date, we’ve barely put in any ad dollars,” she said.
Now that things are opening back up, Jesani is focusing on growing both DTC and wholesale channels -- although supply chain hiccups have made things slow going. As Jesani described it, 60% of her focus is on DTC and 40% on other retail partnerships. With that, she’s enthusiastic about the prospect of more growth.
The hope now, she said, is to find a national retailer. I would love for our concentrates to be in Whole Foods,” she said. “More than that, I would love our concentrates to be the concentrates that are used at the coffee shops at Whole Foods.”
When faced with market disruption, quickly pivot your business model to adapt to new realities, as One Stripe Chai did by shifting from wholesale to DTC when cafes closed.
What does this episode say about brand & content?
Develop consumer-focused products and packaging tailored for direct online sales, even if your existing business is wholesale-oriented, to unlock new revenue streams.
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Leverage organic PR and media mentions (e.g., Bon Appetit) to efficiently drive brand awareness and customer acquisition for a new DTC channel, minimizing reliance on paid ads.
What does this episode say about supply chain & operations?
Balance DTC growth with renewed wholesale opportunities by strategically allocating focus (e.g., 60% DTC, 40% retail) to build an omnichannel presence.
What does this episode say about dtc strategy?
Proactively plan for supply chain challenges when expanding into new retail channels or scaling existing ones, as disruptions can significantly impact growth timelines.
