Two Entrepreneurs Sell Guilt-free Cocktail Mixers, Clock ₹1.2 Cr/year

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country, a lot happened in terms of changing trends.

People were restricted to their homes and so were their parties. Or should we rather call them ‘small get-togethers.’ 

This is exactly when the rise of cocktail mixers in India happened. Indians began to be drawn towards the art and science of mixology and more and more people wanted to make their cocktails at home.

According to a Moneycontrol report, India's cocktail mixer market is projected to reach Rs 7000 crore by 2030. 

The key drivers, if we had to list them briefly, would be the increasing young population, preference for home consumption of alcohol, and a shift towards healthier drinks in general. 

Lazy Cocktails, a Delhi-based cocktail mixer company founded by Himanshu Gupta and Nayonika Yadav, is one of the fastest-emerging brands in this category. It is present in six major cities - Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Chennai.

HOW IT ALL STARTED

Himanshu Gupta’s career graph has always been interesting. 

Throw in a dash of finance, retail, and restaurants - and you'll have it ready. 

Himanshu went to the University of Warwick in England to study Business Finance. Right after his degree, he worked with a retail chain as a Business Analyst responsible for everything numbers.

Talking about his professional life after the stint at the retail chain, Himanshu tells Startup Pedia, “After the Business Analyst role, I had a calling to switch my field completely. This was when I decided to enter the Food and Beverage industry.”

In 2015, Himanshu went on to use his savings and open a restaurant with a bar and chef concept.

It was Cafe Dalal Street which was located in Connaught Place, New Delhi.

This was a huge success. “We were doing sales close to Rupees 50 lakhs a month. I ran the restaurant for almost three years, and then decided to scale up,” Himanshu states.

In 2018, he started a high-energy cocktail bar called Clique, which was located in South Delhi.

This venture was a greater success.

At Clique, Himanshu was managing a team of 100 people and making a revenue of Rs 1.5 crore on a monthly basis. Investors were happy and so were customers.

The only catch?

The pandemic hit in 2020.

Restaurants got shut and there was a nationwide lockdown.

Talking about the same, Himanshu says, “When everything got shut down, we were obviously worried about the large team that was on our payroll. I couldn’t just abandon everything and leave. That is when we decided to experiment with cocktail mixers in the non-alcoholic category.”

Himanshu was joined by Nayonika Yadav and both of them on-boarded food consultants and manufacturers.

This was the start of Lazy Cocktails in 2020.

The team came up with certain cocktail mixes that were extremely high on taste and convenience. You just had to add alcohol to them and you’d have a special drink ready in no time. 

Lazy Cocktails started home delivering these mixers — and the response was amazingly great.

“I knew we had entered a market that was at a nascent stage. But I was very hopeful since the beginning. This space looked promising to me,” Himanshu told Startup Pedia.

EARLY DAYS AND CHALLENGES

Lazy Cocktails began completely bootstrapped. Himanshu and Nayonika put their personal savings into the brand.

This was also Himanshu’s first exposure to the FMCG space. It was way different from what he had encountered in the restaurant and bar space.

Naturally, a lot of learning and unlearning had to happen.

The first challenge was to find a distribution channel. There were multiple restrictions on movement and transport during the Covid-19 pandemic. Even finding long-term manufacturers was difficult.

When asked about the other challenges that the brand had to face, Himanshu says, “We were boostrapped and didn’t really have money to burn. So one of the problems was that offline retail was very expensive. We never wanted to make Lazy Cocktails a pure D2C brand, and the focus was always building something offline. Especially since Covid-19 had eased by then.”

Nevertheless, the entrepreneurs persevered and maneuvered their way into supplying their cocktail mixers to retail stores.

The winning USP for them was the price factor.

What costs Rs 700 in a bar, was now available at home to make at just Rs 99! Positive feedback poured in and Lazy Cocktails found its wings.

GROWTH & SUCCESS

Lazy Cocktails’ product range expanded from Jalapeno Margarita and Bloody Mary to Cosmopolitan to Passionfruit Martini.

The brand eventually became India’s first cocktail mixer brand to launch zero-sugar mixers. The bestselling of the lot is Zero Sugar Mojito.

“Currently, we operate and supply our products in six Indian cities - Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Chennai. We are also present on the quick commerce platform Blinkit,” Himanshu tells Startup Pedia.

Lazy Cocktails clocked a revenue of Rupees 1.2 crore in FY24 and is projecting a revenue of Rupees 4 crore in the current financial year.

For FY26, it is expected to grow to Rupees 10 crore.

Recently, Lazy Cocktails also raised an undisclosed seed funding round that was led by Agility Ventures. Other investors included Saurabh Kocchar, founder of Meddo and ex-CEO of Food Panda, Shruti Kharbanda, founder of Robo League, and Ajanta Bottle.

LOOKING AHEAD 

The future for Lazy Cocktails is bright.

Himanshu Gupta says, “The plan is to use the new infusion of capital in expanding our presence. We are targeting offline retail presence in 1500 outlets in 20 Indian cities.”

Taking into account the growing health preference in the country, the brand will be launching only zero-sugar products from here onwards.

Next up on the charts for Lazy Cocktails will be India's first sugar-free ginger ale and tonic water. 

Himanshu signs off by saying “We chose the name Lazy Cocktails because it literally embodies convenience and the ‘chill’ that youngsters crave today. Also, we want to be a conscious brand that caters to people who are particular about their calorie intake. My aim is the make this a premium lifestyle brand.”

FAQ

Q.

When was Lazy Cocktails founded?

A.

Lazy Cocktails is a leading Delhi-based cocktail mixer brand that was founded in 2020.

Q.

Who is the founder of Lazy Cocktails?

A.

Himanshu Gupta and Nayonika Yadav are the founders of Lazy Cocktail.

Q.

What does Lazy Cocktails sell?

A.

Lazy Cocktails’ product range includes cocktail mixers like Passionfruit Martini and Cosmopolitan. It also has zero-sugar mixers like zero-sugar mixers like the Zero Sugar Mojito.

Q.

What is the revenue of Lazy Cocktails?

A.

Lazy Cocktails clocked a revenue of Rs 1.2 crore in FY24. The brand is projecting a revenue of Rupees 4 crore in the current financial year. For FY26, it is expected to grow to Rupees 10 crore.