This Entrepreneur has built India's first non-alcoholic beer brand

India has not seen much innovation in the soft beverages space and has kind of become outdated. Coolberg was conceptualized to offer a premium and innovative alternative to soft drinks. Modern India needs new flavours and trendy products. As per a recent survey conducted, more than 80% consumers want to explore alternative to Colas. Hence, Coolberg, a drink for all was born. Excerpts from the interview:

What are different kinds of beer available?

Coolberg offers beer like taste with its Malt Zero Alcohol Beer and also provides sweet and refreshing punch with its other malt-based drinks such as Cranberry, Peach, Strawberry, Mint and Ginger. Our products cater to all types of customers whether they love Colas or the ones who are craving for beer taste. 

Also Read: Coolberg looks to enhance market penetration

What is the market size of your kind of beverage?

Globally this category is booming, and market size has already reached close to USD 10 Billion. China alone has a market size of more than USD 1 Billion. In India, we are on the way to make it a big market in next few years.

How are non-alcoholic beers made? What’s the procedure?

There are multiple techniques to make a non-alcoholic beer. Some include evaporating alcohol from a regular beer, and some involve limiting the fermentation process. We follow the later process and limit the fermentation of our drinks. 

Who do you see as your target audience?

Our core customers are anywhere from the range of 14yrs to 35 yrs. We are building a beverage which is not just a thirst quencher but also becomes the part of one's lifestyle. A drink which has amazing taste, refreshing and can be consumed anytime and anywhere that’s our motto.

What’s your market presence? 

We are available in around 25,000+ stores across India. These include supermarkets, grocery stores, cafe' and restaurants. We are available in more than 150+ cities. 

You recently raised funding, where can we those money being infused?

We raised funding from India Quotient, RB Investments and India Angel Network. We have been focusing on building a strong distribution network which is one of the biggest MOAT in FMCG business. 

Learning from Pandemic

Pandemic has taught us many things. Most importantly is the zeal to stay strong even in the worst times and secondly, always try to be prepared for any such black swan events. Having sufficient funds and team support are very critical parts to survive such times.

Who do you see as your competitor in the market?

We are now seeing healthy competition from brands such as Heineken and Budweiser with their Zero Alcohol offerings. Overall, we are all working together to build this category faster in the country. 

High on Expansion

We are focusing to increase our brand availability to 50,000 outlets very soon this year. We are now clocking Annual Run Rate of around INR 50 Cr. We are expecting to get into 100 Cr. club soon. 

May Interest: Non-alcoholic beer brand Coolberg secures Series A funding of $3.5 mn

Top 5 beverages trend according to you

I guess India will be a big market for a lot of new beverage categories. This will not happen overnight but gradually over years. There are beverage categories outside India which have done good such as Smoothies, Kombuchas, Iced Teas, Flavoured Vitamin Water, etc.