Abstract

The case “Lahori Zeera – Can the Disruptive Indian Beverage Brand Challenge Global Giants?” discusses the meteoric rise of India-based beverage company Archian Foods Private Limited (Archian) –popularly known by its flagship beverage brand name Lahori Zeera (Zeera) to emerge as one of the fastest-growing beverage companies in India. The entrepreneurship journey of Zeera’s three founders, including its CEO Saurabh Munjal (Munjal) is described in detail. The three founders recognized and leveraged a market gap – the lack of mass market ethnic/traditional beverages in India’s large non-alcoholic beverage market — and built Lahori Zeera to fill that void. The case highlights the key strategies that the founders undertook with regard to product innovation, competitive pricing, and grassroots distribution that eventually played a key role in Zeera’s success. The founders managed to “desify” the fizzy drink experience and make it more culturally relevant to Indian consumers. Starting out as a bootstrapped venture, Zeera eventually attracted investors who funded the company’s scaling initiatives. The case takes an in-depth look into Zeera’s challenges, particularly the intense competition from major industry players, including the cola giants, Pepsi and Coke. As of 2025, Zeera was on the cusp of a major market breakthrough. It was in the process of using its investor funds to go in for product diversification, distribution expansion, and international market entry. Can Munjal successfully lead Zeera on the path to becoming an Indian beverage giant?

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Analyze the entrepreneurial journey that led to the emergence of a strong market challenger
• Explore bootstrapped growth strategies for entrepreneurial ventures in the Indian consumer market
• Examine the challenges related to market growth and scalability faced by a niche market player
• Design competitive strategies for disruptor/challenger brands against market power players
• Develop effective tactics to scale a business

Keywords

Entrepreneurial Process; Brand Equity; Ansoff Matrix; Brand Positioning; New Product Development; Pricing Objective; Physical Distribution; Strategic Planning; Bootstrapped; Marketing Process/Marketing Mix; Lean Startup Model; Competitive Strategies; Scaling & Growth; Targeting; Positioning