The Amazing Story of Keventers - Profitable Milkshake Giant

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00:00 Intro
3:17 No Escape - Sohrab’s First Nightclub
10:02 Young Blood - Serial Restaurateur in Delhi
14:12 The Consultant - Sohrab Joins Keventers
17:35 20th Century - Old-World Milkshakes
19:25 Origins - The Edward Keventer Story
21:29 Expansion - Franchising Keventers
30:43 COVID-19 - Unfranchising Keventers
34:30 - Lawsuit - Quality Control Struggles
38:28 Iconic - Keventers’ Glass Bottles
46:37 Expansion - Keventers Goes Global
49:04 Exit - Will Keventers Go Public?
50:17 Sohrab’s Opinion on Loss-Making Companies
54:45 Staying Put - Sohrab Sitaram’s Future
58:31 Outro

Sohrab Sitaram began his career as a manager at Taj Hotels. In 2000, he started his first business, No Escape, a nightclub in Connaught Place, New Delhi. Over the next 14 years, he would go on to start numerous restaurants in multiple cities across India, including Tabularasa, Chi Kitchen & Bar, Shalom, and Italic.

Then, in 2013, Sohrab Sitaram was approached by Agastya Dalmia and Aman Arora. This co-founder duo had been trying to revitalise the Keventers brand, which had been in the Dalmia family since 1940 when it was purchased by Ramkrishna Dalmia from the nephew of Edward Keventer, the original founder of Keventers. Edward Keventer had come from Sweden to India as a dairy technologist, and had started a successful dairy business soon after arriving in India. The brand soared to new heights after being acquired by Ramkrishna Dalmia, but when their main Chanakyapuri factory was shut down, the business languished. Ramkrishna Dalmia walked away from Keventers, and over the years, the brand dissolved into a handful of unofficial, unrecognised locations run by Keventers original distributors.

In 2013, Agastya Dalmia and Aman Arora attempted to revitalise the brand, but without a solid strategy, their attempt failed. It wasn’t until Sohrab Sitaram stepped in as a consultant, then partner and co-founder, that Keventers began to reclaim its forgotten success. Agastya Dalmia and Aman Arora had attempted to set up their first location in Pitampura, in Delhi, but Sohrab Sitaram recommended Select CITYWALK instead. At this premium location, Keventers saw a lot of footfall, and soon enough the brand was opening franchises in cities across India.

Keventers expanded via a franchised business model. However, when the pandemic hit, many of Keventers’ franchise owners couldn’t sustain themselves. Many, about 70-75%, sold their franchises back to Keventers. Others turned to less honest methods, diluting ingredients in order to cut costs. This resulted in a lawsuit wherein one of their franchisees allegedly sold sub-standard milk products at a Keventers outlet. The judge didn’t have good things to say about Keventers though, saying, “Keventers was no longer as good as it used to be,” and that their “products are not at all fit for consumption.”

In subsequent years, Keventers has taken a company-owned business strategy to keep quality under control, and has also been expanding their menu to keep up with changing tastes. Apart from normal dairy milkshakes, Keventers now offers sundaes, hot chocolate, vegan dairy-free milkshakes, and they’re also working on a line of offerings which have less sugar than their traditional milkshakes.

Under the leadership of Sohrab Sitaram as CEO, Keventers has also expanded to Kenya, Dubai, Oman, and Abu Dhabi.

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