Bubble tea (or boba) has always been a delicious and refreshing treat ever since we were young. But in the last decade, it become increasingly popular in Canada, with big and small chains popping up dozens of outposts in North America. However, bubble tea is often criticized for being unhealthy, due to its high sugar content (its way more than you think) and lack of nutritional value.
So is there a way to satisfy your bubble tea craving…while also not feeling guilty (health wise) drinking it?
Well that’s what Andy and Justin attempted out to figure out, which led them to creating Chakra Nutrition: a Canadian protein-infused bubble tea brand.
We caught up with Andy to hear how Chakra started, what’s so “healthier” about it, and what’s next for them:
1. Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?
[Andy]: Justin and I met back in our first year at Western University. We both recently graduated and it’s been a little crazy to say the least with the pandemic and everything going on around the world, but we’re trying to make the most out of it.
Both of us have always liked to stay active throughout our lives whether it was playing basketball, or going to the gym. And of course, in our spare time, we both love drinking a good cup of bubble tea with our friends.
2. How did Chakra get started? What was that tipping point that made you start this?
[Andy]: Early on in the pandemic, gyms were closed in Ontario which made it extra important for us to watch what we were putting into our body. The one thing that we were still consistently drinking was bubble tea. It wasn’t just the pandemic though, it’s something we’ve both been consistently drinking throughout our fitness journeys.
But when you think of fitness, the first thing that comes to mind probably isn’t bubble tea.
We all know the narrative around how much sugar, calories, and in general, how unhealthy bubble tea is for you. But obviously, like us and many others, bubble tea is too delicious of a drink to give up. It’s a staple in Asian culture and something to enjoy with your friends. It’s the social equivalent of hitting up a Starbucks or Timmies with your friends.
Fast forward to October 2020, we honestly just wanted a good cup of bubble tea without feeling guilty about it, and we decided to find a balance between the two.
3. What’s so special about your BBT protein powder?
[Andy]: Product-wise, our bubble tea protein powder has the highest amount of protein out of any bubble tea protein powder in the world. We use real black tea to help strengthen the flavour, and we’re the first bubble tea protein powder in Canada.
I think what’s really special is probably the community we’ve built over the last few months. We shared our story on TikTok and a lot of people empathized with us. Since November, around 11.6K people have been following along with our journey. We’ve had a lot of real, genuine, conversations with really cool people. We hand-delivered a few orders and got to meet some people in-person, some people had special requests with their order so we made sure to pack them according to what they said; we even made a dance video for one person.
Our relationship with other bubble tea lovers and fitness enthusiasts feels a lot more authentic and human than a business trying to sell a customer a product.
As cheesy as it sounds, we wouldn’t be in the position we’re in without them and in my eyes, our community is what makes this entire thing so special.
4. Why did you decide to use Tiktok as your main marketing channel? How important would you say it was to the success of Chakra?
[Andy]: We’re broke. We’re both pretty fresh out of school so all of our money went into inventory and at that point, we were really trying to think about how we can do something creative to let people know what’s going on, so we walked people through our process of making our milk tea protein powder.
Posting on TikTok was definitely tough at first because we weren’t seeing great results, but after continuing to post, some of our videos gained some traction and it’s been a huge driver in helping us sell out for both of our launches.
Like I said, we’ve built a really solid community through TikTok and it’s trickled into other parts of our business. I feel like TikTok is a really great platform to post unfiltered and transparent content about what’s going on with our business, or anything fun and bubble tea related.
5. Do you have any memorable or “I can’t believe this happened” stories from your first few months of business?
[Andy]: Definitely has to be our second launch. We were video chatting with each other after we went live and were tracking our orders on another screen. A few minutes in, we noticed that the number of orders stopped. We refreshed the page and realized we had sold out. We checked our phones and there were dozens of DMs, emails, and comments on our social media posts asking where all the inventory is.
We felt really good for maybe five minutes and then realized that it wasn’t as cool as it seemed because a lot of people weren’t able to get their hands on what they wanted.
With the plans we have in the future, hopefully we never have to run into that problem again.
@drinkchakranutrition #Bubbletea no longer has to be UNHEALTHY #asiantiktok #proteinshake #bobatea #bobamilktea #bobalove ♬ drivers license – Olivia Rodrigo
6. To those who haven’t tried your BBT protein powder, what would you say to have them consider giving it a try?
[Andy]: Both you and I know that we’re not going to stop drinking bubble tea despite all the unhealthy characteristics.
Let’s find a healthy balance instead because life is too short to give up all the great things around you.
7. Lastly…when’s the next drop?
[Andy]: Can’t giveaway too many details, but stay tuned for spring time. This time around, everyone’s going to get one. It’s going to be accessible to everyone and as long as you want one, you’re going to get one. And who knows… there might be other flavour options too
If you want to stop feeling so guilty drinking sugary bubble tea, but can’t give up the taste of milk tea, then be sure to follow Chakra to keep up with their next drop.