Lisa Srao of I Brands Beverages talks shop while she pets her yet another accolade in the liquor industry. It all started with her dad coming up with a brand of beer back in England almost 20 years back. While growing up she used to watch him intently putting little bottles of Double Dutch together. It was his passionate involvement in the production of the cult beer at every level that piqued Lisa’s curiosity in the liquor business. Today she stands grateful to him as she heads her own brand of liquor, I Brands Beverages. “Of course all the experience came handy to me. I am what I am because of my dad. He sowed the seeds of passion in me.” But it wasn’t the case always. Lisa was working with the top media companies in the UK, including Viacom, Vivendi and Universal to name a few. It was her moving to India after her marriage which turned out to be the game changer. It was then when she realised there’s a lack of accessibility to good quality products of international standard.

“It’s not about the elite of India, they can get whatever they want. What about the regular people? It was unimaginable to me as to why there was nobody catering to the needs of the masses here. Why can’t we give them a good quality product at an affordable price point? It’s either too expensive or not available,” she stresses. This realisation led to an exhaustive research and in-depth market analysis with an ardent streak to bring about a change leading to the birth of I Brands Beverages which today manufactures and distributes alcoholic beverages in India. A startup so to speak, the company has come a long way under the aegis of Lisa. She has fought tooth and nail and made her pet project a company to reckon with today. “When I started I realised that each state is different from another. If you take Delhi and compare it with Karnataka you will notice the change in tastes. It’s like as if you are working with two separate countries. So one couldn’t bring a brand from abroad and expect it to run pan India.

And I understood that it was all about making a really cost effective product in India with international quality which everybody could afford.”kitchenaid mixer model kv25goxer And the only way to crack into the Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) market was to begin with the northern belt in the country with a blended whisky at a price segment that’s really low. oster blender 6700 manualPlaying it safe all the way. margaritaville blender milkshakesShe took a cue from the likes of Royal Stag and Blenders Pride and launched her whisky label Granton. breville classique blender spares

“We first launched in Uttarakhand as a test market and it did work out well I must say.” kitchenaid 3-speed liquid graphite hand blender reviewAnd why not when they are providing a fine tasting blend in an attractive packaging? kitchenaid blender eisblau“Indians love to flaunt what they have and I’m giving them just that. waring beehive bar blenderI’m giving a good looking product which you can show off at a very reasonable price,” she adds. They do have several awards to boast off in their kitty. Having won the best packaging for Granton whisky and retailing it at `250 to `500 depending on the market, it’s a real steal when it comes to the value segment. It’s not just Lisa’s products in the portfolio of I Brands which have been recognised, she herself has been awarded multiple times back to back.

She is prepping for her next and the biggest till now, the most dynamic leader in the spirits industry as I speak to her. “Of course it is overwhelming. After having won all the woman entrepreneur awards, this one comes as too far-fetched considering we are just a startup and achieving this much is too big a thing. But the feeling is definitely good.” So how does she feel about breaking ground in a male bastion? “It wasn’t easy,” she says. “I had journalists laughing in my face, most of them being men. They couldn’t believe that I was blatant about it. And I asked them if u want to drink something.. anything then why it can’t be made by a woman? And why it can’t be made in India with the same international quality..so we have roadblocks at every step which we need to overcome.” It wasn’t just a bunch of journos she had to tackle, she wasn’t even taken seriously by the distributors. “They were not ready to take my stock; I wasn’t established enough for them.”

The hard liquor market for women in India is expected to grow at 25 per cent over the next five years. But whisky was never seen as a woman’s drink or so they believe. With a few labels selling their sweeter takes targeting the fairer segment can the notion be changed? “I’m unable to fathom the concept of changing the product for women. My whisky is great in a hand of a man as it is in a woman’s. Both can appreciate the quality. Men and women don’t have different palates so why give them different versions.” In hindsight Lisa feels as if she has won a huge battle of sorts, in making a name for herself as one of the few women in the Indian liquor scene as well as raising her company to the level where she is being looked upon as a strategic alliance. “We started off with five cases and look at us, the demand kept on increasing. People loved our taste, packaging, everything. It’s like living a dream.” She goes on, “I feel at the right place at the right time.