The Australian Education Reporter
Bondi Chai sets sights on the schoolyard
BONDI Chai’s premium chai latte pre-mix has been a leading light on Australian café menus for more than a decade.
And now, with the backing of nutritional experts, Bondi Chai is poised to extend its reach… into the school canteens of Australia.
Last year Bondi Chai was given the ‘green light’ and recommended under the Star Choices program by the WA School Canteen Association after nutritionists assessed the product against the national Federation Of Canteens in Schools’ nutritional criteria.
It was just the result that co-founders, Martin Buggy and Melissa Edyvean, were aiming for as they responded to growing interest in their product from schools.
“We’ve known for some time how popular Bondi Chai is with young people, but before entering the school market we wanted to officially ratify our belief that the product was an appropriate and nutritionally balanced drink to offer children,” Mr Buggy said.
“So we were pretty excited to not only have our product endorsed at the highest level, but also recommended under WASCA’S Star Choices program,” he said.
“It means that school canteen operators can serve Bondi Chai – cold or hot – with absolute confidence that they’re offering a healthier option that the kids will love.”
Mr Buggy said while chai latte was typically served hot, Bondi Chai could also be enjoyed cold as a frappe and was a great thirst quencher for the summer months.
“The great thing about Bondi Chai is its versatility; it can be enjoyed as a hot drink in winter, or a cold frappe or smoothie in summer and its great taste (kids call it ‘donuts in a cup’) makes it really easy to get young people drinking milk.”
As a milk-soluble powdered concentrate, Bondi Chai is quick and extremely economical to prepare and serve.
It’s rich in dairy, is gluten-free, 99 per cent fat free when made with skim milk, has no trans-fatty acids or ‘industrial nasties’ and is low in caffeine. Bondi Chai is also Halal certified.
“Chai latte is, of course, a tea-based drink, but Bondi Chai contains very little caffeine – about the same as a green tea or about half that of a normal black tea,” Mr Buggy said.
“Chai latte is traditionally a sweet milk drink and we used Australian honey and sugar in our recipes.
“Using honey helped keep the sugar content to a minimum so a 200ml Bondi Chai contains just one teaspoon.”
The product is available in three pack sizes and two flavours; Vanilla Honey and Club Cinnamon – and both have proved just as popular with children as they have with adults.
“The Vanilla Honey variety is a smooth, softer flavour with fewer spices, while Club Cinnamon is closer to India’s traditional ‘chai masala’ flavour with stronger spices,” he said.
Since launching in 2005, Bondi Chai has been sold into thousands of cafes and hospitality venues around the country and the world – even India itself, where chai masala is the de facto national drink.
“Bondi Chai’s popularity has grown year-on-year since we began and these days a Bondi Chai is being served somewhere in Australia every two seconds,” Mr Buggy said.
The product is the most awarded product of its kind in Australia and the company itself has also snapped up a host of industry awards including national finalist and 2014 NSW Micro Business of The Year in the prestigious Telstra Business Awards and the 2015 Asia Pacific Food and Beverage Company of The Year in the international Stevie Awards, known as the ‘Business Oscars’.
“Our product began winning medals for quality and taste about eight years ago and along the way has also been named by the Healthy Food Guide Magazine as one of the four healthiest milk drinks in Australia,” Mr Buggy said.
“We’re certain that Bondi Chai will be a big hit in schools around the country.
“Nutritionists have long recommended that children drink milk; our product will make it really easy for school canteen operators to make that happen,” he said.
More information can be found at: www.bondichai.com.au.