{"id":1021403,"date":"2026-06-12T07:03:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T07:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1021403\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T07:03:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T07:03:49","slug":"at-22-he-moved-from-us-to-india-with-a-food-idea-now-its-a-multi-million-dollar-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1021403\/","title":{"rendered":"At 22, he moved from US to India with a food idea. Now it’s a multi-million-dollar business"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Bert Mueller<\/a> arrived in India as a college student in 2010, he had no plans of becoming a restaurateur. More than a decade later, the American entrepreneur is the founder of one of India’s largest burrito chains, with 103 outlets spread across several cities.<\/p>\n

Speaking to CNBC Make It<\/a>, the 35-year-old recalled how a study-abroad programme in Jaipur unexpectedly planted the seed for a business that would eventually redefine his future.<\/p>\n

During his stay with a host family, Mueller and his classmates introduced their hosts to dishes from their home countries. While the American food he brought failed to make much of an impression, a classmate’s Mexican-inspired dishes received a very different response.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t like it very much,\u201d Mueller said of the food he brought from the United States.<\/p>\n

Also Read<\/strong> | California Burrito CEO Bert Mueller on setting up a Mexican food chain in India<\/a><\/p>\n

But he noticed that another student, who was of Mexican<\/a> origin, was having much greater success.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my friends was of Mexican origin and she would make chips and salsa and beans and tortillas,\u201d he told the publication \u201cOne day I came over to her house and I saw she\u2019d made this food for her family she was living with and they were loving the food.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Business Idea Born In Jaipur<\/p>\n

The experience sparked an unexpected idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething clicked in my head that maybe this was something I could do \u2014 I could bring Mexican-inspired cuisine to India,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At the time, Mueller was studying music and public policy at The College of William & Mary and had not seriously considered entrepreneurship. But after graduating in 2011, he decided to return to India and pursue the concept.<\/p>\n

Along with two childhood friends, who later left the company and returned to the United States, Mueller launched California Burrito<\/a> in Bengaluru.<\/p>\n

Also Read<\/strong> | Pranit More deactivates Instagram after viral \u20b9370 biryani clip sparks outrage<\/a><\/p>\n

The city was chosen strategically. As one of India’s leading technology hubs, Bengaluru had a large population of professionals who had travelled abroad and were already familiar with Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine.<\/p>\n

From One Store To More Than 100<\/p>\n

Mueller estimated he would need around $100,000 to launch his first outlet. To be safe, he raised $250,000 from friends and family.<\/p>\n

According to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It, the first restaurant generated roughly $500,000 in revenue during its first year of operations. The initial funding also allowed the founders to expand and open two additional stores.<\/p>\n

Since opening its first brick-and-mortar location in 2012, California Burrito has expanded into cities including Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi.<\/p>\n

In 2024, the company reported revenue of $23 million.<\/p>\n

Challenges Along The Way<\/p>\n

The journey, however, was not without setbacks.<\/p>\n

Mueller revealed that one of the earliest challenges came from a senior employee hired to help run operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest challenge was that the person we had hired at the beginning to run our entire operation and help us out was a very crooked individual,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The employee, whom Mueller described as experienced, allegedly overcharged suppliers, collaborated with vendors and later attempted to launch a competing burrito business.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was very well educated,\u201d Mueller said. \u201cHe spoke great English, so it was easy to communicate with him. And he was very helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Mueller, he later discovered irregularities in the way the business was being managed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would call government officials to the store and say, we weren\u2019t doing X, Y, and Z,\u201d Mueller said. \u201cHe would collude with vendors to do things. And then later he went off and started his own burrito restaurant, which failed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also Read<\/strong> | ClearTax’s Archit Gupta on how \u20b97 lakh rebate changed the way Indians invest<\/a>Why He Never Considered Giving Up<\/p>\n

Despite the challenges, Mueller said quitting never crossed his mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom is a marathon runner, and I have that trait in me,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to keep going until you\u2019ve reached the finish line. And I never felt like quitting.\u201d<\/p>\n

What was originally meant to be a five-year stay in India gradually turned into a long-term commitment. As the business expanded, the company began investing in sourcing and growing its own ingredients.<\/p>\n

California Burrito now works with multiple chicken suppliers and has planted hundreds of avocado trees. Some farming efforts faced unexpected obstacles, including elephant damage and extreme rainfall that destroyed crops.<\/p>\n

Those experiences changed the way Mueller viewed the future.<\/p>\n

Investing in agriculture and supply chains started \u201cthinking in decades,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Today, he no longer has plans to leave India.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have an exit date planned in my mind. I love India. India feels like home to me and being home, you don\u2019t think so much about leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Bert Mueller arrived in India as a college student in 2010, he had no plans of becoming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1021404,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3094],"tags":[282526,282540,282538,282530,282524,282528,51,282539,282529,282525,282535,282536,3134,282533,282537,282531,282534,282541,282532,65141,16,15,282527,282542],"class_list":["post-1021403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entrepreneurship","tag-american-entrepreneur-in-india","tag-american-in-india","tag-bengaluru-restaurant-chain","tag-bengaluru-startup-story","tag-bert-mueller","tag-burrito-chain-india","tag-business","tag-business-inspiration","tag-california-burrito-founder","tag-california-burrito-india","tag-california-burrito-outlets","tag-entrepreneur-success","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-food-entrepreneur-india","tag-india-business-story","tag-jaipur-study-abroad","tag-mexican-food-in-india","tag-restaurant-expansion-india","tag-restaurant-success-story","tag-startup-founder","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-us-man-moves-to-india","tag-who-is-bert-muller"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1021403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1021403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1021403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1021404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1021403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1021403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1021403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}