America's first (formal) Chai Cart coming soon!

Remember the days when I used to sell chai in the Mission out of a bicycle cart? So, it turned out, it wasn’t quite legal to do that. A lot has changed with The Chai Cart business since then. For the last year, the main focus of the business has been the production and distribution of the Chai Brews, which are being sold in stores around the Bay Area. 

 The question I get asked most often is “Where can we find the cart?”. Ever since my bicycle got stolen on Labor Day last year, there has been no chai cart. 

How can “The Chai Cart“ have no cart? This had to be fixed. After all, I have to be true to the name. Plus, I wanted to get back to my roots of selling hot cups of chai on the streets of San Francisco. But this time I want it to be legit. I want to get a Health Dept approved cart and all the permits necessary. 

 If you've been to India, you probably remember the little carts on the side of the road selling chai and other goodies. My vision of a chai cart is very similar to those carts. 

Ideally, I would have liked to brew the chai on-site. After speaking to SF Heath Dept, I realized I would need to add quite a few things (like a 3-compartment sink, ventilation, etc), which would turn the cart into a food truck. But I really wanted was a simple cart and that meant I had to change my plan. I now plan to brew the chai at the commissary, fill the Cambro containers, and use the cart as a point of sale. The people at the SF Health Dept were very cooperative. They agreed to approve this plan if I complied with a few simple regulations. 

 Also, I need permits to park the cart at a particular spot. My application for two spots (one in the Financial District and the other on Valencia St in the Mission) is currently being processed by Dept of Public Works. 

 To finance the cart and the permit fees, I have a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter. You can help by giving $10 or more and receive cool rewards like vouchers for cups of chai or a gift bag with many of our products. There are only 17 days to go and I still have a long way to go to meet the goal. I want people to feel invested in The Chai Cart and this is a great way to make that happen. I hope others will also see the value in this and help me reach my goal of $10,000.