Pankaj Aswani’s Coolberg beer: One of India’s first zero-alcohol brands

India, the world’s startup hub, has produced a range of wonders in the past few years. Adding flavor to the list, is the Mumbai-based non-alcoholic beverage brand, Coolberg that has defined the beer market in India in a new way. Founded by Pankaj Aswani and Yashika Keswani in the year 2016, the beverage brand has risen to prominence among the country’s youth cohort.

The major inspiration behind starting Coolberg was to offer innovative products that people can use to enjoy celebration. Not all people love alcohol during casual meetings and hangouts. This is aimed at attracting that non-alcohol loving crowd. Currently Coolberg is available in seven flavors – malt, coffee, ginger, cranberry, mint, peach, and strawberry. Various other variants will soon be available in the coming months. The malt beer carries low calorie level than other regular soft drinks.

In November 2019, the company raised $3.5million in the Series-A funding round led by RB Investments, a boutique venture fund based in Singapore. After the funding round, the company which operates in the premium soft beverages said in a statement that there has been a significant overlap between beer drinkers and soft drink consumers and those who do not consume alcohol due to religious and cultural beliefs.

Mr Aswani is a Chartered Accountant and has previously worked with Citibank before turning an entrepreneur. His brand has become extremely broaden in a very short span of time. It currently operates in about 2100 outlets across 30 major cities in India.

Since the company adds zero alcohol to its beverages, even states like Bihar and Gujarat, where alcohol has been prohibited, would not find it difficult to embrace the idea of Coolbear. Talking to BusinessLine, Pankal Aswani once had said, “Our beer brand is already available in about 300 outlets in Gujarat, including 100 in Ahmedabad,”