Ashneer Grover’s biggest investment is in BIRA🍺

In just 7 years BIRA has become the most favourite beer in India,clocking a revenue of $170 Million last year — is it the new KING of GOOD TIMES?

Here’s how BIRA is making the world drunk & cool again:

Do you know India's alcohol market size? It's $52.5 billion.

Well that was in 2020. With the social and night life getting back up on it's feet, we are pretty sure the number has grown much more since then.

Now though hard liquor takes up most of the alcohol market, beer is making it's presence felt. How can we say this? Well, Craft beer brand Bira91, has been clocking a CAGR of 150% over the last 5 years!

And mind you, Craft beer only takes 1-2% of the total beer market space. Now what suddenly fueled this Craft beer frenzy and what formula did Bira brew to dominate the niche beer market? Let us find out…

You see, Craft beer, unlike regular beer, is produced in small batches with a special recipe.Extra attention is given to the freshness, flavours and ingredients. In India, we typically have premium segment beers and mass-produced beers.

Premium segment beers have a finer taste and quality but are generally expensive. The price is set high on purpose. It creates an aura of exclusivity and labels the brand as, well, premium.

People generally associate quality and authenticity with price.

And so typically, higher priced beers become a part of the "elite" group. But the problem with higher pricing is that the frequency of use is reduced.And to counter this, we have mass-produced beers.

To keep a check on the price, mass-produced beers take a hit on the quality and premium ingredients.They prefer to brew the beers with already tried and tested methods and recipes, putting absolutely no effort to innovate anything new.

This helps cut down costs, but loses the "elite" tag.Something was needed to balance out the cost and quality. That is where the craft of Craft beers brews it's magic.

And this was realized by Ankur Jain, founder of Bira91. How exactly the realization dawned upon him? Let us take a quick look…In 2009, Ankur started a company called Cerana Beverages (B9 now)

The company imported and distributed premium craft beer brands from Belgium, Germany, and the United States.His stint at this company helped him understand the Indian palate and the Indian beer market.

He visited Europe to understand the different exotic beers available and learnt all the intricacies  involved in beer manufacturing. Craft beer was totally alien to most of Indians at that time.He saw an opportunity to capitalize on this.

Now, Indian taste buds are accustomed to flavored products. We do not like it bland. And Bira addresses exactly this. It has come up with seasonal and regional favors, along with the conventional ones.

All made locally and with fresh ingredients. The "local" factor has made people connect more with the brand on a personal level. They also focused on draught beer (beer which can be served through taps) right at the start.

This gave them an advantage by being visible at the bar instead of being confined to a refrigerator. Another they have done spot-on, is the branding and design. Their mascot is a monkey. This is an analogy to the monkey inside all of us ;)

And they have spent almost 9 months in the branding exercise.

For example, the name, Bira91, has been given a lot of thought. Bira means brother in north India.

And the number 91? India's country code. So you see, the name has India written all over it. The product look and packaging have been designed to be very quirky, which aid sales.

Their marketing and distribution strategy has been kept really simple and cost-effective. Their main distribution channels are bars, restaurants and pubs. Which is where most of their target audience wanders.

So they didn't have to go head-over-heels to increase their reach.

And since Ankur already had a distribution company previously, the channel was almost set. Marketing wise, apart from social media, they have leveraged digital platforms well.

For example, they partnered with Zomato and created branded keyword search wherein if you type "Bira91 near me", it would throw up a list of bars and restaurants where Bira was being served.And this was way back when Zomato had just started out. Kind of a big deal then.

So you see, they made themselves visible in every way possible. They had already cracked the formula of a disruptive product. All they had to do is grab the attention. Turns out, they are pretty good attention seekers.

And with the imports decreasing due to regulations, heavy taxes and recent supply chain disruptions, Bira got a plenty of leg space to spread out. So much so that they doubled their volume and tripled their market share in the last 2 years!

The fact is, they just don't want to be another beer manufacturing company.They want to be a social asset.An asset, which makes you feel exclusive and authentic every time you hold it.They want to have a social status of being the modern, unconventional, fun brand of beer.

And the beer market is way more bigger than it looks. You see, beer typically has a lot less alcoholic content than hard liquor. And with the current health frenzy, beer looks like the go-to choice during social activities.

Also, with the increasing factors of stress in current times, booze seems to be a happy place for the most. And beer is like the magical potion which can help relive stress a bit and at the same time not affect your health too much.

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