Exploring the Allure of Agave
At a time when most entrepreneurs in the Indian alcobev industry would rather go with the flow than take the road less travelled, Rakshay Dhariwal, Founder and Managing Director, Inspired Hospitality, decided the tide. This resulted in the making of the Maya Pistola Agavepura, India’s first aged 100 Percent agave completely clean. Rakshay is now working on promoting his product across India; targeting consumers who are bold, expressive and sophisticated.
Rakshay Dhariwal realised that he would have to think about setting up a new line of business when the lockdowns pulled down the shutters of his restaurants. “I first started to think about entering the spirits business during the pandemic, when the restaurants that I own and manage were temporarily closed,” he recalls. It took some time though for the idea to get off the ground and it was only in January 2021 that his company was selling Maya Pistola Agavepura, India’s first aged 100 percent agave spirit.
A Healthy Beverage
No doubt there were all sorts of teething troubles but optimism ran high. “Even though it is a difficult business in the Indian context, with the different laws and policies of different states, it is an exciting and dynamic business which forces you to really know what makes your product unique, and market those aspects in ways that actually reach the end consumer. All in all, it is a challenging yet exciting business,” he observes. The venture was motivated by the desire to bring to the market a premium 100 percent agave spirit that was additive-free and pure. “The reason for this is that additive-free means no hangover, entails cleaner drinking and is all together healthier in totality,” the entrepreneur elaborates further.
“As we grow older, we need to think about what we consume, and I wanted to create a spirit that was not only smooth and robust on the palate but also that you could drink plenty of and not feel horrid the next day. Getting the word out on this ‘clean drinking’ is what I want to focus on this year, while working actively on the export markets. India is producing great craft spirits and Maya Pistola Agavepura is one of them. I am excited about bringing it to the world,” he adds.
Market Insights and Funding
Since Rakshay owns bars and restaurants, he had been witness to the upswing of the tequila and mezcal categories in India, since 2017. Lots of people had switched from whisky and gin to tequila for its health benefits and interesting and flavourful character. “When I saw this, and discovered that the same type of agave that is used for mezcal grows in India, I knew that this was the spirit category that I wanted to get into,” he explains. And when it came to funding, Rakshay decided to bootstrap the expenses since he could draw the required funds from his other businesses
Now the company is in the process of seeking institutional investor funding to expand the horizons.
