Ramping Up the Scotch Game

At first, Neeraj Singh, Chief Business Officer, Cartel Bros LLP, and the Co-founders of the company thought it would be best to launch their start-up with tequila. However, things took a turn and they shifted to Scotch. Now, after making The Glenwalk a popular brand across India, the team is all set to put their 50 years’ collective experience in the alcohol beverages industry to good use and introduce more whisky brands for the discerning consumers. What also makes their story of entrepreneurship different is that they found no stumbling blocks when it came to dealing with state governments since they were so well-prepared right from the start.

Given the fact that all the Co-founders of Cartel Bros LLP are from the liquor industry with an amazing collective experience, it was but natural that they would be keen observers of the trends unfolding in the industry. And when the country came under the blanket of a lockdown during the Coronavirus pandemic, one thing that they noticed was that there had been a rise in tequila consumption in India. Hence, when they launched their start-up in the alcoholic beverage space in July 2022, they wanted their first product to be tequila. However, they ended up launching Scotch first.

“We wanted to stay away from products such as beer and there was a focus on hard liquor. The aim was to dominate with our brand strategies given that we had a collective experience of over 50 years in retail, distribution and brand management,” says Neeraj Singh Unlike many other start-ups in the industry, they knew that there would be several compliances to take note of, starting with trademark registration, import guidelines, label registration, promoter appointment, etc. Hence, they appointed an experienced legal team to take care of all the procedures and also for getting approvals from global liquor associations, etc.

For example, they registered The Glenwalk in the UK first and then in India. For their upcoming tequila, it has been registered in Mexico already and they are in the process of getting it registered in India this year.

“We knew we were entering in a competitive ‘habit’ business but we always felt confident about our data-backed plan of action which would lead to an opening for our first brand in co-ownership with actor Sanjay Dutt. The challenges such as trade schemes, hotel contracts, market planning, etc. were all planned well in advance keeping all market standards in perspective,” Neeraj informs.

All these led to a sturdy start which got them to sell out their first import consignment of 10,000 cases in less than 90 days with an advance order for another 15,000 cases within one state.

The Motivation

With all the partners from the same industry, it made sense to launch their own brand instead of just importing and promoting other products. Co-founders Manish Sani and Moksh Sani came on board with distribution and retail experience of over 30 years, from Living Liquidz Group. Jittin Merani is the Founder of Drinq, a full service bartending boutique alcholic beverages company, we are doing things differently. We are not afraid to take risks and to push the boundaries of what is possible,” Neeraj explains further. The company aims to add all categories of spirits in its portfolio.

No Hassles with States

The team has chosen to take a measured approach with respect to external funds. As of date, they are bootstrapped. “Irrespective of this, wehave been contacted by multiple angel investors who are keen to bring both monetary and strategic edge to our business operations. The pandemic brought about an enormous growth in the alcobev industry which may have taken 5-6 years with the conventional CAGR. Hence, investors are now interested in the alcobev space. However, the investments are now more diligent and sharper than before,” Neeraj reveals.

While the common refrain among start-ups in India’s alcobev industry is that it is a pain to tackle individual states’ bureaucratic tangles, Cartel

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