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Business News/ Companies / News/  ‘We started off wanting to make it big in just HKV’
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‘We started off wanting to make it big in just HKV’

People had found something delicious and in that moment at least we had displaced established brands with global credentials and generations of heritage, says Ankur Jain, founder and CEO, Bira 91

Ankur Jain, founder and CEO, Bira 91.Premium
Ankur Jain, founder and CEO, Bira 91.

—Ankur Jain, founder and chief executive, Bira 91

We launched Bira 91 on 27 February 2015 with the ambition of making it big in just one neighbourhood in Delhi—Hauz Khas Village (HKV). During those days, this hipster ground zero for the city was home to about 60 bars, many of which were owned by artists and musicians. Our goal was to be pouring on tap in about 30 of them. Our sales representative handling the area, Abhinav Sareen, took on that challenge and got us there in less than 90 days. To celebrate, we decided to host our first party—a Bira 91 Hip-hop Takeover—at a small, new bar called Barsoom on 9 May 2015, inspired by a fictional planet created by American pulp fiction writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, with an up-and-coming turntablist from Delhi’s underground scene, DJ Karma.

The evening started slow with me standing on the stairs, with my eyes looking for revellers who’d want to pop-in to our first activation. However, by 10:30 pm, the bar was packed with about 100 people and Karma kicked it up with some mad drops and rhythm. I went behind the bar and saw people ordering our beer, “one Bira please", “Can I have two more?". Soon enough, the entire bar was full of vibes and Bira 91! People had found something delicious and in that moment at least we had displaced established brands with global credentials and generations of heritage. Just like that we had become the new cool! That was my click-moment.

On 27 February 2020, we complete five years for the brand. We now have eight beers in our portfolio. We sell across 10 countries and in over 400 Indian cities. In 2019, over 100 million pints of Bira 91 were enjoyed by consumers. The brand crossed 1,000 crore in retail value in 2019. We have four breweries with the capacity to produce over half a billion pints per year, and a thirsty team of over 500 people, raring to scale the business and bring the joy of fresh and flavourful beer to the entire country. As the common saying goes: “In wine there is truth, in beer there is joy." And ours has been a journey full of joy indeed!

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Published: 30 Jan 2020, 12:02 AM IST
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