Chalu Diaries: Chasing the new frontier
Chalu Founder Fraser Kennedy in Lijiang, Yunnan
When I first arrived in China back in 2013, I came for opportunity. I was a young brewer from New Zealand chasing the next horizon — not just to build a career, but to be on the frontier of something new. Back then, it was the Chinese craft beer industry. Shanghai was where I landed, and for a while, it was thriving: the energy, the promise, the feeling that something was about to break wide open.
But frontiers don’t stay wild forever. Over time, the opportunities that once seem boundless began to contract. Consumer trends shifted. Legislation tightened. The spark dimmed. Passions waned. And I reached a crossroads: leave China entirely, or take one more leap.
In 2017, I travelled to Yunnan for the first time. The moment I stepped off the plane, something clicked. The air was different. The pace was different. The people, the food, the culture — it all felt vibrant, full of potential. I’d found a new frontier. And once again, the pull of opportunity and adventure was too strong to ignore.
By 2019, I’d convinced my wife Mia to move down with me, and we began our life here in earnest. I didn’t come with a master plan — just a feeling and intention. A sense that this place had something to teach me, if I took the time to listen. And so we did. We waited. We wandered. We tasted and explored. And in return, Yunnan revealed itself.
Six years on, what I’ve found here goes far beyond a new career path. I’ve found life — in its purest and most grounding form. We’re raising our daughter here, surrounded by clean skies and mountain air. I’ve learned to eat chili. I’ve found flavours I never imagined. I’ve found inspiration. I’ve found my passion again, and in doing so – my purpose as well.
Yunnan is a province of deep contrasts — high alpine meadows and subtropical jungles, ancient forests and volcanic plateaus. Its people are equally diverse, a tapestry of ethnic cultures that harmonize across this land in a way that feels profoundly human. For someone creating beverages, it’s an endless cornucopia. The raw materials here aren’t a piece of the puzzle — they are the answers. When I taste a new fruit, or walk a tea field in early spring, I don’t just think about the flavour — I start imagining the finished beverage, how it weaves into a new story, a new celebration.
… and that’s where Chalu comes in.
Creating Chalu has allowed me to take all of that inspiration — all of that land, climate, culture and tea — and translate it into something new. Something elegant and modern, yes, but something deeply rooted. Our product isn’t a concept built in a boardroom. It’s something grown from the soil, fermented in mountain air, and infused with the spirit of Yunnan life. We don’t use Yunnan tea — we live it. We feel the weather change with the seasons. The mist, the sun, the soil — it all becomes part of the process.
People often ask me: why build all this so far from the markets we serve? Wouldn’t it make more sense to just buy the tea and manufacture in a big city? Maybe. But that would miss the point entirely. Yunnan isn’t just a part of our supply chain. It’s our very soul.
And perhaps most humbling of all — I’m not the first to feel this. For centuries, tea from this province made its way across the mountains on mule caravans along the ancient Tea Horse Road — a journey that connected east to west through the hands of traders, merchants, and travelers. In some small way, we’re still on that road. But we’re carrying our tea forward into a new era, reimagined for today’s table. The inspiration is ancient. The format is modern. The heart is unchanged.
I don’t know exactly what comes next. But I know that I’m in the right place. The world is shifting, and I feel grateful every day to be here, doing this, with these people, in this extraordinary land.
Here’s to your next frontier, wherever it may be!
