Q&A with Andrew Moore and Jacen Wilkins, co-founders of ChaiGo
Andrew Moore (BSBA 2024) is pursuing a major in management and a minor in entrepreneurship. Jacen Wilkins (BA 2023) is majoring in emergent digital practices, with minors in marketing and entrepreneurship. While taking Professor Neil Pollard’s course, “First Idea to First Dollar Sale” (EVM 3350), they got the idea for their new startup, ChaiGo. ChaiGo produces canned chai lattes as a health-conscious and environmentally friendly alternative to other canned energy drinks.
Entrepreneurship@DU sat down with Moore and Wilkins to discuss their new startup, past ventures, and their love for the great outdoors.
How did you get the idea for ChaiGo?
Wilkins: During Covid, I spent a lot of time outdoors. I was getting up early, going on a lot of hikes…that sort of thing. I realized there were not many “ready-to-drink” energy drinks that were a good fit for me. Early hikes don’t really mesh with a can of Monster or Red Bull. I’ve never been a huge coffee guy. But I’ve always loved chai lattes. It just hit me one day while I was hiking around—this concept of “Adventure Chai.” Since then, it has morphed into a sustainability- and health-centered project, which fits with the young target market we are going for: the “granola crowd,” you know what I mean? I’m from Portland, Oregon, so I know that demo well. I pitched the idea to our “First Idea to First Dollar Sale” class, and it just so happened Andrew had great experience in the food and drink industry.
Moore: I’m kind of an outdoors junkie too. I love mountain biking, backpacking and anything that gets me outside. I’m born and raised in Denver, and I don’t know if I’ll ever leave—there is just so much beauty here to explore. So, I’m in the same boat as Jacen here. My family has owned coffee houses, cafes, bakeries…they currently own The Urban Cookie here in Denver. After Jacen pitched his idea, he and I walked over to Starbucks and just talked it out. It worked out well when we met in this class, because the curriculum walked us through the process of getting started, creating a business plan and experimenting around campus. That’s what got us to the canned chai product we have today.
Brewing chai
Could you tell me more about the product?
Moore: ChaiGo is an oat milk-based chai latte. We make the concentrate ourselves out of The Garage, Entrepreneurship@DU’s hub off-campus. We toast the spices, brew the tea, and do the canning all in-house. The tea is sustainably sourced black tea, which is high in caffeine. It’s nut-free, gluten-free and vegan. We were keeping health in mind, but it just so happened the best flavor combinations we found were vegan and gluten-free. We tried almond milk, skim milk, etc., but oat milk tasted great and was gluten-free and vegan. We might try other combinations later, like adding hazelnut or making it dairy-based. But it was happenstance that our favorite flavor was also the most accessible.
Wilkins: Being someone that loves chai, I realized that nearly every big coffee chain—Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, Dutch Bros.—sells a chai latte in-store. Most small mom-and-pop shops do too. When you go to the grocery store, there are all kinds of canned coffees by Starbucks and Dunkin’. But you do not see their chai products on the shelves. We realized, if all these places are selling chai in-store, but not “ready-to-drink” like their other products, there must be a hole in the market that we could plug into. We also want to stand out as this healthy and sustainable alternative to other energy drinks. Our drink is a “healthy boost wherever adventure takes you.” We are closely tied to an outdoorsy lifestyle, and we want to appeal to folks looking for a healthy energy boost.
Q: What experience with startups did you have before ChaiGo?
Moore: I’ve been involved with my parents’ startups for as long as I can remember. Right now, I am a part-owner of The Urban Cookie. My parents run the show, but I played a big role in the business development. I own 5% of the company, I am the director of community development, I train all our staff and I have helped with product development. We are franchising, so it will grow quickly soon. Beyond that, I have some of your standard childhood ventures: snow shoveling, yard landscaping, unofficial things like that. I’ve sold art publicly in Denver as well. I consider myself a go-getter, always trying things out and taking on leadership roles in different scenarios. That’s me in a nutshell.
Wilkins: My dad owns a debt firm called True West Capital Partners. Unlike an equity firm that takes stake in a company, a debt firm lends money to companies looking to grow. I was around his work a lot while I was growing up. He’d be on the phone in the car, and I’d listen to the work he was doing. I realized I wanted to work for myself one day. My dad has this amazing drive that inspired me. He taught me all sorts of things as a mentor. The last couple of years, while I was taking time off school, I started a real estate photography business. I did contract work with real estate agents, provided social media assets, photos, videos, and so on. It’s been on the back burner since returning to school, but the company, JW Reel Productions, is still a registered LLC in Colorado.
Q: What is next for ChaiGo?
Wilkins: In the future, we plan to create depth in our industry by offering different varieties and flavors of chai lattes. Some flavors we are considering are vanilla, nutmeg and so on. This is not traditional in the chai industry. In addition, we are planning to sell our product in glass bottles. We believe that there is also an opportunity to create a subscription business model for our product. We would send customers their very own ChaiGo refillable container, as well as our concentrate and oat milk. The subscription would be oriented toward sustainability, and it will help establish ChaiGo as a “lifestyle” brand, rather than just a product. We believe this will resonate with our target market.
