Evoking nostalgia

Powered by their USP of sparking a sense of nostalgia for the homesick Paper Boat has created a distinctive position for itself in the beverage market. Neeraj Kakkar, co-founder of Hector Beverages speaks on the story behind the brand and upcoming flavours

Traditional Indian beverages from the fast-growing brand, Paper Boat have become popular pan India in a short span from the inception of the company, three years ago. Powered by their USP of sparking a sense of nostalgia for the homesick the brand has created a distinctive position for itself in the beverage market with a flavour-palette that boasts of options, such as ethnic, seasonal and specialty drinks.

This year, Paper Boat has launched the limited edition ‘Panakam’ in South India on the occasion of Rama Navami. Speaking to The Hans India, Neeraj Kakkar, co-founder of Hector Beverages and brains behind the fast-growing brand, says, “In India, every festival has a special drink. We launched Panakam in Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru.”

“Our limited drinks are only available 15 days before the festival. The idea is to evoke unlimited memories, taste, fragrance and flavour through the specialty beverages,” he informs.Recounting the fascinating tale of Paper Boat’s beginning, Neeraj says it was four friends a simple idea that made the base of their successful startup coupled with a lot of hard work, of course.

“I worked in Coca-Cola for eight years and then I went to the US to study; there I observed that functional beverages are gaining popularity worldwide. When I returned to India; my friends and I thought of starting a company on the subject. We contemplated to launch vitamin water and other similar examples in the functional beverages category. However, nothing stood out.”

“In our quest to start a unique functional drink, we used to ideate daily for an exceptional concept. During that time, my team used to have lunch together and in those days one of our partners used to get the “Aam Panna” drink from his home. Now, we shared food with each other of course, but there would be friendly fights to get an additional sip of that tasty aam panna,” he recounts.

And, that was it. “The idea sparked to bring traditional drinks closer to people,” says the graduate of Wharton Business School, who was awarded the highest academic honour ‘The Palmer Scholar’ during his business programme.Many drinks entered the market on more or less the same USP - home-made stuff that suits even the health conscious. Neeraj states that in many ways their products are one-of-its-kind and that makes them different.

“Yes, there is competition in beverages market; however, we have a niche clientele. We always wondered why nobody thought about this idea before. Paper Boat drinks started three years ago and as of now we have one lakh outlets across India, which will only increase in coming years. The company is growing by 100 per cent every year. Now, other companies are also launching similar products, but we have a good hold in the market,” he shares.

Neeraj says that their brand garnered immense promotion through word-of-mouth. “In the age of internet, we gained a lot of popularity through social media. People who liked a drink posted about it on Facebook and Twitter and that gave Paper Boat leverage,” he says.

What’s next for us to drink? “In future, we are planning to launch ‘Rose Sharbat’ for the upcoming Ramzan season. We may have missed out on Thandani this year because the nozzle wasn’t the right fit for that drink, but it will definitely be coming next year,” he signs off.