Beat the heat with native drinks

CHENNAI : GoliSoda, which started off as an online beverage service is planning to take a giant leap and venture into other platforms. In the subsequent years, they are gearing up for hitting the offline market as well. GoliSoda started piloting the products, with the  introduction of the native thirst quenchers like coconut water, sugarcane juice, badam milk, rose milk, fruit milk, Arabian style pulpy grape juice, nannari sherbet, spiced buttermilk, watermelon juice and paanakam.

Their USP ­— no preservatives, absolutely fresh and ethnic seemed to have worked wonders for the techie crowd of the city, who prefer to order online without compromising on health. The beverages being affordably priced also add to the appeal. The 300 ml coconut water bottle is priced at `60, whereas the enriched milk range is priced at `65 each.Ravi Teja Jallepalli, Founder explains how an online-only product slowly gained popularity enough to become a brand of its own. He says, “Over the past one year, we have been working on our research and development. We were also piloting the natural thirst quencher beverages online with Swiggy, in few of drive-ins and in some restaurants before we brought it to the market. We did a soft launch on Swiggy and  in less than a month, we were on the top five best sellers in the F&B segment in Hyderabad. We embarked our name at par with leading brands in terms of the number of orders taken.”

They indeed appealed to the city’s taste and so the numbers speak. “Currently, we sell 2,000 bottles in Hyderabad each day. This summer, we aim to clock sales of 12,000 bottles per day, targeting all age groups that are willing to try something new and tasteful. The first step undertaken by ‘GoliSoda’ was to surprise the audience with native drinks, that they don’t have access to on an everyday basis,” says Krishna, Co-founder ‘GoliSoda’ and an MBA Grad, who is responsible for the R&D and mixology team.
The self-funded company is cash positive and has the resources to fuel its expansion in the city.

So, what is the potential for growth? Ravi says, “In percentage terms (year on year) we clocked a 1cr revenue first year during the product testing itself, we are looking at a 15 times growth this year. We foresee a big potential in the B2B segment and we are working towards consolidating our penetration in this segment.”

Goli Soda’s path seems to be paved owing to the impeccable plan that the founders of the brand have drawn out for it. “We are committed to expanding our footprint in major cities, that will help us drive forward our vision to be a leader in local beverage categories to help us give greater impetus to innovate, thereby unlocking the potential,” Ravi added. After the consolidation of the market in Hyderabad, they will be launching products in Bangalore followed by Chennai.These ethnic thirst quenchers will be available in major drive-ins and in 90 restaurants in Hyderabad including online delivery platforms like, Swiggy. 

Their Journey

● GoliSoda was started by Ravi Teja Jallepalli and Krishna as a beverage brand with only online services
● The self-funded brand sells native thirst quenchers from local produce
● After a year of research, they brought the product into the market
● In Hyderabad, the brand sells 2,000 bottles per day
● GoliSoda clocked a revenue of 1 cr in the first year itself
● They are gearing up to launch in Bengaluru and Chennai 
● They are looking to raise 2.5-3 cr to scale up their sales