Kati Patang Lifestyle, the maker of Saffron Lager and Bareilly Bold, is sharpening its focus on premium beers and preparing to enter the spirits business.
Co-founder, Shantanu Upadhyay, speaking to Mint exclusively, said it is in advanced discussions to acquire a controlling stake in premium spirits brands and distribution networks, which could expand its addressable market from roughly $1-10 billion while improving margins.
The company is also scaling up its UK presence as the BSE-listed brewer seeks to reposition itself as a lifestyle-led alcoholic beverage platform rather than a niche craft label. Kati Patang is also planning a real estate project under its name, which will house some hospitality projects.
The decade-old New Delhi-based company, which listed last year through a share-swap with VirtualSoft Systems Ltd, has increased its stake in CHADKP Holdings Ltd, owner of Chadlington Brewery and The Tite Inn in Oxford, from 23% to 51%, gaining majority control within a year of its initial £300,000, or about ₹3.67 crore, investment.
The company is also in advanced talks to enter the spirits business, given that a large share of alcohol consumption in India is in brown spirits such as whisky. “We have witnessed strong momentum toward drinking less but drinking better, which is a clear indicator of premiumisation. This shift directly plays into how we position Kati Patang,” Upadhyay said.
He added that the long-term plan is to build Kati Patang as a platform that incubates and scales premium alco-beverage brands, rather than operate as a single-label craft beer company. The idea is to add complementary small alcohol businesses to its portfolio—both in India and overseas—and create a larger lifestyle-focused platform that can attract growth capital. “There is a premium in the capital markets for brands that promise growth over the next few years,” he said.
The company also appointed Rajeev Talwar, former chief executive officer and executive director of DLF, to its board.
Global foothold
The premium tilt is beginning to reflect in its numbers, he added. Mild and premium beers—including Saffron Lager, Snappy Wheat and Zesty Amber—accounted for 23% of volumes between April and December 2025, up from 7% in the year-ago period. All its styles are priced 40-50% above mass-market beers. “In India, the route to market for beer companies is largely through strong beer. Our focus in FY27 will now be on building premium brands,” Upadhyay said.
The company expects to be selling about 35,000-40,000 cases of beer this quarter. It aims to triple its volumes by FY27, he added, noting that inorganic growth in spirits will be over and above the beer business. For FY25, consolidated net total income from beer sales was ₹11.82 crore, while net loss was ₹4.93 crore, according to BSE filings. Management attributed the performance to supply disruptions, including a nationwide aluminium can shortage and flooding in North India.
Kati Patang had earlier scaled back operations following disruptions to the excise policy in key states. Following the share-swap transaction, it also raised ₹10 crore from existing investors, another ₹20 crore through a partly paid rights issue in August 2025, and swapped debt for equity to clean up its balance sheet.
Internationally, its Saffron Lager and Boat Race variants have been approved with JD Wetherspoon, which operates nearly 800 pubs across the UK. It has signed a three-year licensing agreement to brew its gluten-free Saffron Lager locally and expects its UK annualised revenue run rate to reach £1 million by June 2026, with potential to double by the following year.
Regional expansion
Domestically, Kati Patang is present in Delhi, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Goa. It re-entered Haryana this quarter and expanded into Uttarakhand, where it is stocked in over 150 retail outlets and more than 15 hotel and restaurant locations. In Goa, it returned through a collaboration-led launch with Royal Enfield.
Founded in 2018, the company initially brewed largely out of Bhutan before shifting part of its production to a contract manufacturing facility in Solan, Himachal Pradesh. It uses ingredients such as saffron, turmeric and peppercorn in its beers, positioning itself at the premium end of the market. The company has also added a leased brewing facility in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, to supply to that state and nearby areas.
Altogether, the company can scale to 100,000 cases a month across its four locations—two in India and two in Bhutan.
India’s beer sales reached about 430 million cases in FY25, up from 410 million cases in FY24, driven by rising temperatures and premiumisation despite supply-side constraints, as per data from the Brewers Association of India.