Business India ×
  Magazine:
Selections

Published on: Feb. 22, 2021, 10:57 a.m.
Salud Beverages cheers to a new lifestyle
  • Shetty: creating a refreshing cocktail

By Sekhar Seshan. Consulting Editor, Business India

It’s an ‘urban lifestyle brand,’ says Ajay Shetty about his latest venture, Salud Beverages. While the Bengaluru-based company’s flagship offering G&T 2.0 is India's first ready-to-drink gin and tonic, it has also launched merchandise and its own music labels.  “Digital media obviously has a better reach – and we aim to get a part of India’s Rs3,000-crore market for gin, which is going through a global revival. Tonic, too, is big with a volume of Rs500 crore.”

Pointing out that his is a gender-agnostic drink, Shetty is taking away the negative connotation of his product being a ‘hard drink’, he says it contains only 6 per cent alcohol, while beer has 4-5 per cent. “So, when you mix 30 ml of it with 150 ml of water, it becomes milder,” he explains. “This makes it a refreshing drink rather than one to get high on.” He wants this product line to connect people of all age groups, culture and lifestyle in what he calls Salud Life.

Says Shetty: "The idea started as just a beverage brand, but soon evolved into a lifestyle brand purely through the impact of our marketing strategy and the need for it in a market like India. Our vision is that where people come together to celebrate life, with a touch of exclusivity, Salud aims to change the way they unwind with our spirit in a bottle.” The pandemic, he points out, has also changed the way people drink: they now want things on the go.

Aiming at a target consumer group which begins with those who have just started drinking to people of about 40, he has also turned to social media as the best way to market his products. He also uses YouTube to popularise Salud Live and Salud sessions for his music.

Great potential

Salud uses only the best ingredients from wherever it needs to source them around the world, he insists. The junipers and cucumbers are from the UK, the lavender flavouring from France; and the blending is done in Cento, Italy. The final blending is with Indian quinine and demineralised water before the whole thing is carbonated and bottled. “We have our own bottling plant, with a capacity to meet the next two to three years’’ demand,” he says, adding that he has enough funding from venture capitalists and other investors till he reaches the series A stage, unlike his earlier venture, Myra Vineyards, which was self-funded. Shetty, a former banker with Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch, had sold Myra to a Singapore-French fund, VisVires Capital in end-2018.

“From the beginning, we saw great potential in the brand and the people behind it,” says his advisor and investor Prasad Vanga, founder & CEO, Anthill Ventures. “With so much passion and belief in their products, we are excited to introduce Salud to the world.” Rana Daggubati, actor and a serial entrepreneur, while being another advisor and investor, is excited, too. “When Salud approached me with their vision, long-term plan, brand ethos and product portfolio, it was an easy decision to make,” he adds.

  • I see myself as a kind of pied piper leading a new generation to a range of cost-effective, refreshing drinks. The market was pressing for something like this

While Shetty himself says the lavender-flavoured product is “one of the highest-selling gin in the world”, his fellow Bengalurian, brand guru Harish Bijoor, feels that basics always work best, and the basic in this market is the gin-and-tonic mix. “I do believe these flavours – lavender and cucumber  – are a bit off the track, but they are the bells and whistles to attract attention.” For example, he points out, plain vanilla sells best in the ice-cream market, but India has 106 varieties. He however likes the brand name – which means ‘celebration of life’ in Spanish. “Premixes are also a good idea, as the work for the lazy and a generation on the go,” he adds.

With the low-sugar tonic and quinine adding the ‘health’ quotient, the cost of Rs130 for a 275-ml bottle of Salud marks the launch of ‘a completely new kind of drinking’, he says. “I see myself as a kind of pied piper leading a new generation to a range of cost-effective, refreshing drinks. The market was pressing for something like this!” As Tevye sang in Fiddler on the Roof: L’chaim, l’chaim, to life!”

Corporate Report

How IRM Energy fuels growth, naturally

IRM Energy moves ahead with a clear vision towards transitioning to an energy-oriented company

Cover Feature

Air India 3.0: New wings

Irrespective of whether the final number is 470 or 840, Air India’s massive plane order is the best indication of its confident moves to reclaim its preeminent position in Indian skies

Special Report

How prepared are we to face El Nino

India gears up to tackle the heat wave and El Nino concerns which could spoil the rural party

Corporate Report

CapitaLand expands horizons

Singapore’s CapitaLand is looking to significantly enlarge its portfolio in India

E-MAGAZINE
Air India 3.0-new wings
One step forward two steps backward
Budget 2023
FROM THIS ISSUE

Corporate Report

Technology

Government

Government

Business Notes

Business Notes

Agriculture

The introduction of black pepper as an inter-crop in the sopari and coconut orchards, has enabled farmers to cultivate crops simultaneously

Skill Development

In 2020-21, the programme reached over 112,482 girls in urban and rural locations across six states in India, including 10,000 across Delhi

Collaboration

The event brought together stakeholders and changemakers to participate in a series of conversations on global trends and recent developments

Healthcare

The programme will focus on educating children on oral health and building awareness around the dangers of tobacco use

Airports

Airports set green deadline

Published on March 24, 2023, 12:01 p.m.

Currently Mumbai, Cochin and 25 other airports are using 100 per cent Green Energy

Government and Policy

TN plans to make RE share 50 per cent by 2030

Published on March 24, 2023, 11:44 a.m.

Tamil Nadu is banking high on renewable and green energy

Renewable Energy

Global green investment to triple by 2030: EC

Published on March 24, 2023, 11:22 a.m.

The bloc has also set a goal for carbon capture of 50 million tonnes by 2030

E-vehicles

Ola to raise $300m for expansion

Published on March 24, 2023, 11:03 a.m.

The fundraising would be managed by investment bank Goldman Sachs