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-Beverages-19d26a5adf3180b68f1adbbbd2eea2f5 #NikhilKamath : Investor & Entrepreneur Twitter: https://x.com/nikhilkamathcio LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhilkamathcio Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/nikhilkamathcio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikhilkamathcio #MattChitharanjan Co-founder of Blue Tokai LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/in/mchitharanjan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matt_chit #AdithyaKidambi Co-founder of Mossant Fermentary LinkedIN - https://in.linkedin.com/in/adithya-kidambi-8866b1269 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/kidambiadithya/ #AneeshBhasin Co-founder of Svami Twitter: https://x.com/aneeshb LinkedIN - https://www.linkedin.com/in/aneesh-bhasin-252b661/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/aneeshb/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/gentlemenlisten/ #RahulReddy Co-founder of Subko Coffee Twitter - https://x.com/rahulreddysc LinkedIN - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulgreddy/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/raah_hool Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/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