Alchemist Roastery Coffee Company: A Trend-Setter Coming Up With Pioneering Ideas To Elevate The Indian Coffee Industry
Gaurav Choudhary & Mohit Choudhary
Co-Founders
In an exclusive interview with CEO INSIGHTS, Mohit and Gaurav talks more about their professional journey and the unique business operations of Alchemist Roastery Coffee Company.
Can you talk more about your educational and professional background?
Gaurav-I was in Merchant Navy earlier for five years and this gave me an opportunity to visit various places around the globe. After quitting that job, I wanted to do something in India itself and I have always been passionate about food and beverages and I like to try different cuisines. That was the inceptions story behind our establishment and we started to grow organically.
Mohit-I also did my chemical engineering from IIT Guwahati and then I decided to work for Microsoft as well as a car rental startup called Zoom Car. I have a business background and he have an engineering background and this helped us to start the firm. After that, I have also done Masters in Interaction Design. Right now, we are aiming to expand our business.
What are your roles and responsi bilities at Alchemist Roastery Coffee Company? Also, what were the major challenges that the company faced during the early days?
Mohit-I am taking care of the product and business development part of it and Gaurav is looking into the coffee roasting and café operations.
Gaurav-The biggest challenge was the knowledge part and how to learn roasting, café operations and all was a hassle. There are also no good courses that one can enroll in to learn all this and we didn't have any mentors to train us in this field as such. There was also a lot of trial and error but we are learnt a lot from those mistakes as well.
Mohit-Another challenge was that this is a machine intensive business and we faced a lot of challenges to get the right machines and talented personnel.
Can you describe the various range of products that you offer?Also, what are the marketing strategies that you have introduced?
Mohit- In the roasting side, we have three product categories. a) Single origin coffee in which we directly deal with three estate owners and offer the product to our customers, b) Espresso Special we have three varieties in this segment as well, and c) Elemental Series which is something we are going to launch very soon and under this we will have four primary products. We have structured all these based on the various elements of alchemy to give it a unique touch. We have also done various collaborations as well and we are planning to get into the tea industry as well in the near future.
What are the major milestones in your career and do you keep yourself and the employees updated with the latest industry
Mohit-I am taking care of the product and business development part of it and Gaurav is looking into the coffee roasting and café operations.
Gaurav-The biggest challenge was the knowledge part and how to learn roasting, café operations and all was a hassle. There are also no good courses that one can enroll in to learn all this and we didn't have any mentors to train us in this field as such. There was also a lot of trial and error but we are learnt a lot from those mistakes as well.
Mohit-Another challenge was that this is a machine intensive business and we faced a lot of challenges to get the right machines and talented personnel.
We have not done any promotional activities in the last two years and we have grown completely organically through social media and word of mouth
Can you describe the various range of products that you offer?Also, what are the marketing strategies that you have introduced?
Mohit- In the roasting side, we have three product categories. a) Single origin coffee in which we directly deal with three estate owners and offer the product to our customers, b) Espresso Special we have three varieties in this segment as well, and c) Elemental Series which is something we are going to launch very soon and under this we will have four primary products. We have structured all these based on the various elements of alchemy to give it a unique touch. We have also done various collaborations as well and we are planning to get into the tea industry as well in the near future.
What are the major milestones in your career and do you keep yourself and the employees updated with the latest industry
trends?
Gaurav-We have set benchmarks of two of the best names in this industry but we want to create our own space and be a unique entity. This has been what we were concentrating from the beginning itself. Soon we are aiming to bring in some Colombian, Brazilian and Costa Rican coffees also.
What will be your advice to the future entrepreneurs who wants to get into this industry? What are your future plans?
Gaurav-Training and knowledge are very important to not waste time and money and if you want to get into this industry, go and gain some work experience to understand the workings of the industry. Even though we did various courses before starting the business, we found out that if we had practical work experience, we would have saved a lot of time and money.
Mohit-On the roasting side, we are operating panIndia and we want to increase our customer base outside metro cities. Then, as we mentioned before, we want to bring in international coffee variants into the Indian market. On the café side, we want to look for like minded people and do collaborations with them.
Mohit Choudhary, Co-Founder
Gaurav Choudhary, Co-Founder, Alchemist Roastery Coffee Company
Gaurav is the head Barista and Roaster at Alchemist. He studied Maritime Engineering and navigated Oil Tankers to safety around the world. His travels got him hooked to the delicate charms of coffee.
Mohit Choudhary, Co-Founder, Alchemist Roastery Coffee Company
Mohit leads the Online Product and Social Presence at Alchemist. After his engineering from IIT Guwahati, he worked in Bangalore in Analytics and Product Management.He currently can't stop talking about his love for iced pourovers.
Gaurav-We have set benchmarks of two of the best names in this industry but we want to create our own space and be a unique entity. This has been what we were concentrating from the beginning itself. Soon we are aiming to bring in some Colombian, Brazilian and Costa Rican coffees also.
What will be your advice to the future entrepreneurs who wants to get into this industry? What are your future plans?
Gaurav-Training and knowledge are very important to not waste time and money and if you want to get into this industry, go and gain some work experience to understand the workings of the industry. Even though we did various courses before starting the business, we found out that if we had practical work experience, we would have saved a lot of time and money.
Mohit-On the roasting side, we are operating panIndia and we want to increase our customer base outside metro cities. Then, as we mentioned before, we want to bring in international coffee variants into the Indian market. On the café side, we want to look for like minded people and do collaborations with them.
Mohit Choudhary, Co-Founder
Gaurav Choudhary, Co-Founder, Alchemist Roastery Coffee Company
Gaurav is the head Barista and Roaster at Alchemist. He studied Maritime Engineering and navigated Oil Tankers to safety around the world. His travels got him hooked to the delicate charms of coffee.
Mohit Choudhary, Co-Founder, Alchemist Roastery Coffee Company
Mohit leads the Online Product and Social Presence at Alchemist. After his engineering from IIT Guwahati, he worked in Bangalore in Analytics and Product Management.He currently can't stop talking about his love for iced pourovers.