Home-made chai blends and chai kits
Blend and sell masala chai mixes and kits online or at local markets, made in a registered home kitchen.
- £300-2k
- Side hustle
- From home
- Licence or permit needed
Estimates for a small start in the UK, not guarantees.
Official data
345 active UK companies have “chai” in their name, 64% registered since 2024
Name search “company names containing “chai””. Source: Companies House, November 2026.
What it is
A small brand selling loose-leaf masala chai blends, spice mixes and gift kits made at home, with an optional pop-up chai tasting at markets or local shops. A low-cost way to test the idea before opening a cafe.
Your first three steps
- Develop two or three blends and test them with friends, then fine-tune the recipe and portion sizes
- Register your home as a food business with the council and check how to label allergens and ingredients
- Set up a simple online shop or social page and sell at one local market to gather feedback
Who pays
Home tea drinkers, gift buyers and local shops or cafes who want to stock a chai blend.
How it makes money
Pouches and kits sold online or at markets, with repeat orders from subscribers and wholesale orders from small shops.
Skills that help
- Recipe development and blending
- Packaging and labelling
- Social media and photography
- Order handling and posting
Watch out for
- Register as a food business with your council, even from home, and expect a hygiene check
- Food labelling rules (ingredients, allergens, weights, best before) must be followed
- Check with your landlord or mortgage lender about running a food business from home
- Public liability and product liability insurance
- Postage costs and packaging can eat into margins
Deep research report · UK
Everything you need to start: home-made chai blends and chai kits
Researched with live web search for United Kingdom: real startup prices, the licences and rules, what others charge, a break-even example, how to find your first customers and a 30-day launch plan. With sources.
- Startup costs with real prices
- Licences, registration and rules
- Pricing: what others charge
- Break-even example
- Finding your first customers
- 30-day launch plan
- Risks and how to reduce them
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