How Lahori Zeera Built a ₹500 Cr Beverage Brand Taking On Coca-Cola | Saurabh Munjal скачать в хорошем качестве

How Lahori Zeera Built a ₹500 Cr Beverage Brand Taking On Coca-Cola | Saurabh Munjal

Why do most Indian beverage startups die in Tier 1 cities? And how did a bootstrapped brand from Chandigarh crack ₹500 crore selling ₹10 drinks across India? In this episode, we sit down with Saurabh Munjal, co-founder and CEO of Lahori Zeera—one of India’s most remarkable mass-market brand stories. What started as a kitchen recipe is now a household name, with 50 lakh bottles sold every day, 3 lakh+ retail touchpoints, and a product lineup built entirely for Indian taste buds. And all of it—manufacturing, distribution, brand recall—was built from the ground up, without celebrity endorsements or early VC money. We explore the exact systems Saurabh used to win in kirana stores, beat incumbents on taste and trust, and build a truly scalable consumer brand—not for South Bombay, but for Bharat. This episode isn’t startup theory. It’s the real story of building a ₹500 Cr business from scratch. We explore: •⁠ ⁠Why mass India is the most under-served (and profitable) audience •⁠ ⁠How Lahori Zeera won on taste, price, and distribution •⁠ ⁠Why Saurav refused to raise funding for years •⁠ ⁠How he convinced retailers, distributors, and his first 50 employees •⁠ ⁠The pricing framework that makes ₹10 profitable •⁠ ⁠How Lahori creates viral recall without ads or influencers •⁠ ⁠What health-focused brands get wrong about Indian consumers •⁠ ⁠Why most D2C founders don’t understand general trade •⁠ ⁠The moment he knew Lahori had product-market fit •⁠ ⁠What he would do differently—now that he’s scaled past ₹500 Cr Whether you're a D2C founder trying to break into kiranas, a brand operator wondering how to scale in India, or just someone curious about what it takes to build a mass cult product—this episode will shift how you think about brand-building. ⏱️ Timestamps 0:00 – Introduction 2:00 – How Saurabh views his customer base 4:55 – How he serves diverse consumers across India 11:40 – His long-term vision for the brand 14:50 – What sets his business apart from local competitors 17:35 – What Day 0 looked like for him 21:25 – What makes Lahori Zeera truly unique 24:35 – His approach to new product development 31:17 – How he navigated the early days of building the business 37:40 – How he figured out the right pricing strategy 43:15 – How he built strong brand recall 49:30 – Key learnings on scaling in the wholesale market 53:40 – Why distributors choose to stay loyal to him 55:50 – His journey as a bootstrapped founder 1:01:01 – How he convinced his first 50 hires 1:05:00 – Did he ever imagine this scale of success? 1:09:10 – How he reflects on his life today 1:12:05 – His perspective on setbacks and failures 1:17:26 – Why he believes in building for mass India 1:22:02 – The moment he knew he was on the right path 1:25:49 – His views on health-focused beverages 1:29:16 – Skills he developed along the way 1:33:00 – Who would Saurabh be without Lahori Zeera? 1:35:26 – What he would tell his Day 1 self 1:40:59 – Outro 🔗 Support the Podcast If this episode helped you, share it with a founder, leave a comment, and subscribe—your support helps us reach more builders shaping India’s future. 📲 Follow Jivraj on Instagram:   / jivrajsinghsachar   #IndianSiliconValley #LahoriZeera #MassIndia #FMCGIndia #D2CIndia #ConsumerStartups #SauravMunjal #FounderPlaybook #BootstrappedStartups #BharatBrands #ISV #BrandBuildingIndia #StartupIndia