Frank n Al Chai brewing on the Bellarine

A locally loved chai business is brewing big things on the Bellarine.

Frank n Al Chai is an 100 per cent organic, caffeine, cane sugar and gluten free chai, created and blended by Wallington resident Kristen Carroll.

The Bellarine business found its feet in farmers’ markets and is quickly becoming a local favourite, now available in cafes, grocers and markets across the Bellarine, Surf Coast and Greater Geelong, and a finalist in the 2022 Geelong Business Excellence awards.

Carroll launched Frank n Al Chai, affectionately named after her grandparents, from her Wallington kitche in the middle of 2020.

She said while she didn’t originally plan on starting a chai business, things fell into place.

“It started in COVID, I was a yoga and meditation teacher, and I was building up a business doing that when COVID Hit, so I had to rethink everything.

“Around that time as well, I was trying to give up coffee, so I was sort of making my own chai and testing out different chai’s as well because I found that most of the chais weren’t up to scratch – not for me, anyway, because they were just too sweet or not strong enough.

“I thought, ‘Well, I’ll make my own’. I really loved it, and I thought, well I may as well continue with this, I’m enjoying it so much I may as well continue.”

After that, Carroll set out to find the perfect chai blend.

“I spent about six months just experimenting with how to do it – mortar and pestle, crushing it up, or just having it leaf form, but I found when I ground it really finely it worked out to be a lot stronger for me so that made me go ‘Great, okay I want to do powdered chai’. I worked out the recipe to be exactly what I wanted it.”

“I had the idea in my head and then when I happened on it, it was like ‘Yeah, great, this is it’.”

From there, Carroll jumped into full-time chai-making.

“I was enjoying it so much it thought I should continue… so I started selling there and the response I had was just ridiculous,” she said.

“I was so good, people were just really supportive, especially locals. They were all just so supportive of me starting a business.”

Kristen said this support from theGreater Geelong community has been a significant highlight of her business journey so far.

“They’re amazing, they’re so supportive it’s ridiculous.

“I know it’s a beautiful product, but people are embracing me as well with my journey and it’s just lovely. I get so many comments on Instagram, and people passing and telling me ‘OMG I love your chai!’

“You meet people who are total strangers, and they just gush about your chai and I just feel really blessed, very very grateful for everything that’s happened to me.”

Carroll still blends Frank n Al Chai from her beautiful home kitchen by large floor to ceiling windows that overlook the luscious Wallington gardens.

Just recently, Carroll’s son Buddy joined the Frank n Al Chai team, with the 19-year-old helping run the business and making chai blending a family affair.

“Everything is done from home, it’s a registered kitchen and I’ve cleared out one of the bedrooms, I’m lucky enough to have a spare room as my office so we just run it from here. Big things are afoot.

“it’s just me and my son and that’s all… we make it all ourselves, and stamp all the packaging.”

The powdered chai can be found in several local grocers and cafes including Bliss & Co Wholefoods, The Native Co, Kiosk Foodstore, KET Baker, Wallington’s Pantry, Bricktown Queenscliff, Grow Anglesea and more.

In Geelong, the chai is stocked at Eastside Wholefoods Geelong Freshfoods, Paddington Cafe Belmont and more.

Further afield, the chai can be found at Friends of the Earth in Collingwood, Leongatha Wholefoods in Gippsland and Lifeforce Wholefoods in Western Australia.

“And we still do local markets,” Carroll said.

Looking to the future, Carroll has big plans for Frank n Al Chai, including a new product – canned sparkling black chai – and selling more chai interstate.

“This year I just got my organic certification.

And this year I am bringing out a can of chai, and I do a sugar-free version and this year I am bringing out cans of black fizzy chai.”

“And I’ve got a beautiful van so I could cruise around Australia and go to different states and just sell chai, so this year I’m going to South Australia and Sydney, and Tasmania.

“So that’s what I’ve got in my diary, I’ll be spreading the word and getting into outlets around there so people can get the chai again.”

To help her along in her bus

inessjourney, Carroll also completed a course last year for entrepreneurs hosted by local business Runway.

“They are a Geelong company that really helped me formalise my business and gave me a great structure to work from.”

Carroll said this course, and being a finalist in the 2022 Geelong Business Excellence awards, had been two highlights in the business journey so far.

“These are just two more examples of the support that the local community has given me and the amazing resources that are available to small businesses in the Geelong region.

At the end of the day, Carroll said Frank n Al Chai is still ultimately a local business with a mission to make the world a better place, one perfectly balanced blend of chai at a time.

In keeping with this, Carroll sources everything ethically and organically, from the spices to the packaging.

“There’s nothing in it that’s bad for the world, plus the meditation, I’ve got seven different meditations that I give to people with the chai and I’m working on new opens to give out to people whenever the inspiration hits.”

She is still passionate about yoga and meditation and incorporates the practices into the business in principle.

“I still do my own practise and I still put a meditation into each of the packs, so that’s how I keep sharing my won love of meditation practice with everybody,”

To keep up to date with the Frank n Al Chai journey, follow them on Instagram at @franknal_chai or head to franknal.com.au .