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Context is everything.
Detailed stories on technology startups, business and economic current affairs.
Detailed stories on technology startups, business and economic current affairs.
Caught between an unforgiving market and an impatient investor, The Beer Cafe is adrift.
Editor's note: It’s a reality that hits you hard. That alcohol is not the answer to all your troubles. It hits you harder when alcohol rather becomes trouble. For about 10-12 months now, India’s largest and possibly only beer chain, The Beer Cafe, has been coming to terms with that reality. The company has been dealing with one too many problems—declining sales, outlet closures and an arduous hunt for an investor. Launched in 2012, The Beer Cafe started as a promising alco-beverage chain and soon after became the most obvious choice for beer makers to partner with. Over the past four to five years, The Beer Cafe has been right at the centre of the beer wars that have seen the birth of at least 20 new flavoured and craft beer brands like Bira, Simba and Witlinger. Many, if not all, owe a big chunk of their popularity to The Beer Cafe. But the company that set out to change the way beer is consumed in India is now struggling to spark interest among investors. Running a restaurant chain in India is …
Once India’s craft beer breakout star, Bira collapsed under unchecked ambition, runaway costs and a founder who just could not slow down.
A management shakeup may be in the works at the beleaguered beer brand, as investors and lenders want to remove founder Ankur Jain and his family from the board.
In another blow, founder Ankur Jain stands to lose further control over his troubled beer brand.
