Скачать или смотреть Ep #22 | WTF are Craft Beverages? Nikhil ft. the Founders of Blue Tokai, Subko, Svami, and Mossant

India has long been a tea-drinking nation, but in recent years, a new wave of craft beverage brands has started reshaping the way the country drinks. Specialty coffee, kombucha, and premium mixers are carving out space in an industry dominated by mass-produced options. While the demand for high-quality, homegrown beverages is growing, breaking into this space isn’t as easy as it looks. Import duties drive up costs, fragmented supply chains make scaling difficult, and price-sensitive consumers often hesitate to pay a premium. Unlike mass-market beverages, where marketing muscle can drive sales, craft brands have to build awareness, educate consumers, and create demand from scratch.

In episode #22 of “WTF Is” Podcast, Nikhil Kamath sits down with some of the biggest names in India’s craft beverage industry—Rahul Reddy (Subko), Matt Chitharanjan (Blue Tokai), Aneesh Bhasin (Svami), and Adithya Kidambi (Mossant). They share their journey of navigating regulations, shifting consumer habits, and competing with legacy brands to bring high-quality, locally made beverages to the mainstream.

Is premiumization the future of India’s beverage industry? Can homegrown craft brands scale while maintaining quality? And what does it take to challenge decades-old consumer habits? With this conversation, we break down the craft of building a beverage business in India.

Resource doc: https://www.notion.so/Resource-Craft-...

#NikhilKamath : Investor & Entrepreneur
Twitter: https://x.com/nikhilkamathcio
LinkedIn:   / nikhilkamathcio  
Instagram:  / nikhilkamathcio  
Facebook:   / nikhilkamathcio  

#MattChitharanjan Co-founder of Blue Tokai
LinkedIn:   / mchitharanjan  
Instagram:   / matt_chit  

#AdithyaKidambi Co-founder of Mossant Fermentary
LinkedIN -   / adithya-kidambi-8866b1269  
Instagram -   / kidambiadithya  

#AneeshBhasin Co-founder of Svami
Twitter: https://x.com/aneeshb
LinkedIN -   / aneesh-bhasin-252b661  
Instagram -   / aneeshb  
Facebook -   / gentlemenlisten  

#RahulReddy Co-founder of Subko Coffee
Twitter - https://x.com/rahulreddysc
LinkedIN -   / rahulgreddy  
Instagram -   / raah_hool  
Facebook:   / rahul.gurram.reddy  

Time stamps:
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:48 - Matt’s Intro | Childhood & Family
00:05:13 - Starting Blue Tokai & Career Journey
00:07:29 - Adithya’s Intro | Growing up in Bangalore
00:09:06 - Educational Background | Family & Getting into Culinary
00:14:13 - Starting the Kombucha Journey | Building Mossant
00:17:54 - Challenges in the Industry
00:20:05 - How big is Blue Tokai? | India & Japan
00:21:39 - Aneesh’s Intro | Growing up across India
00:25:36 - Starting Career Path leading to Beverage Industry
00:27:38 - Rahul’s Intro | Family & Childhood
00:30:35 - Experience of Growing Up Abroad as an Indian
00:39:26 - Relation between Passion & Talent | Building Subko
00:42:40 - How are Subko & Blue Tokai different?
00:47:54 - Hacks for a 25 year old to Compete with Subko & Blue Tokai
00:50:30 - Cafe Offerings of both Coffee & Food | Consistency, Subculture, Distribution
00:58:09 - Waves of Coffee - Shift to Coffee
01:04:27 - How Big is the Craft Industry in India
01:10:21 - How to Influence the Crowd at a Coffee Shop
01:12:31 - Difference between Good & Bad Coffees
01:18:13 - Starbucks | Difference in Coffee Culture of India and USA
01:24:11 - Opportunities in Tier-2 Cities | Price Sensitivity
01:28:59 - Recent Consumption Trends | Health-Conscious Trends
01:33:21 - What’s Kombucha? | Fermentation | Health Benefits
01:41:28 - First Kombucha Billionaire | Difference of Flavour Palette in India and Abroad
01:44:01 - How Big is the Kombucha Market? | Consumption Patterns in India
01:49:24 - Awareness of Kombucha as a Product | Hard Kombucha | Substituting Alcohol
01:58:21 - Craft Beverage Taxation Policies
02:05:47 - Steps into Starting a Beverage Brand | Mossant’s Journey
02:09:27 - East Asian Beverage Markets
02:10:12 - Building a Global Indian Beverage Brand | Bottling & Distribution
02:19:12 - How to Compete as a New F&B Brand
02:21:57 - Non-Alcoholic Industry | Svami’s Journey
02:30:20 - Differentiating as a Tonic & Non-Alcoholic Brand
02:31:59 - Is Quick Commerce Sustainable in India?
02:41:12 - Approaching Restaurants | Svami, Mossant vs Schweppes
02:47:32 - Effects of Coffee as a Commodity
02:49:13 - Steps to Starting a Cafe | Space, Equipment, Beans, Hiring
02:58:07 - Learning from Abroad Beverage Markets
03:01:12 - Favourite Coffee Shops, Kombucha Brands, Non-Alcoholic Beverages
03:14:59 - Beverage Industry as an Investor | Effects of Tech Advancements

#WTFiswithnikhilkamath