Master's alum Abhishek Chopra is mixing up the drinks business

Back in 2021, Indian entrepreneur Abhishek Chopra was looking for a new venture, having put in place a professionally managed team to run his shoe manufacturing business.  

He was struck by the potential of two markets in the Indian drinks business. The first was the alcohol sector, which is worth around $35 billion, and especially by the fact that approximately 80 per cent of alcohol in India is consumed at home rather than in bars or restaurants.

The second was the carbonated drinks market, where around $2.35 billion of the $19 billion market is also consumed at home. Combined with the development of ‘quick commerce’ – where ecommerce orders can be delivered in a matter of minutes – Chopra identified the potential for ready-made cocktail mixers and carbonated drinks, which could be combined with alcohol in people’s homes.  

The result was Tipsy Tiger, an ecommerce business which sells online and through the three main quick commerce sites in India. 

“We knew that the size of the category was big and that, as the GDP per capita of a country increases, people start investing more in non-essential food categories,” says the 37-year-old, who lives in Delhi after being born in Punjab. “We also knew that there were a lot of people who were sitting at home and consuming alcohol with water, soda or regular juices.”  

The business prides itself on not using artificial sweeteners. 

“Our entire portfolio has less than five grammes of added sugar,” says Abhishek. “The first three years were hard but in the last eight to nine months we’ve seen a sudden shift towards low sugar and good-for-me beverages.”  

Today, Abhishek's business employs seven people and turns over $500,000 a year, having seen an 82 per cent growth in revenue in the last financial year.  

Products are currently on sale in India only and are available in 26 cities using the quick commerce model.  

“We haven’t tapped international markets yet because of shelf-life issues but we are looking at the aviation sector very seriously,” adds Abhishek.  

Tipsy Tiger isn’t the first business Abhishek has been involved with. Having graduated with an MSc Marketing and Strategy from Warwick Business School in 2008, he returned to his native India and took on a placement at the Times of India newspaper. 

After three months, he joined pen and watches retailer Montblanc, working in a retail outlet in a hotel, before landing a role in marketing for tobacco firm Philip Morris.  

“That's where I got my exposure to fast moving consumer goods,” he recalls.  

After six years, Abhishek felt it was the right time to run his own business, and took over a small shoe manufacturing facility in his native Punjab.  

“We built up that factory and we also built a domestic brand called Churchill & Company,” says Abhishek.  

“We primarily sell online with that brand but with the factory we started contract manufacturing for a lot of brands in Europe. Germany and Netherlands are some of the biggest importers of our shoes, and now with the trade deal we are hoping that we’ll start making high-quality leather shoes for the UK as well.” 

Abhishek’s main focus now, though, is Tipsy Tiger, and the business will be seeking to raise money in the coming year to help fuel expansion; something which he has so far resisted.  

“The mixer category is expected to reach about $800 million by 2030 and this is in addition to the carbonated drinks portfolio,” he says. 

The main focus will remain the Indian market, he adds, but the business is exploring the potential of targeting international markets such as the UK and the US, as well as moving into selling alcoholic drinks should the laws around online trading change.  

Abhishek says he still draws on the experiences he gained at WBS.

“I really enjoyed the practical applications and case studies that we learned,” he says. “It was extremely engaging, and I still remember some of the concepts we used. It was a great experience and has really helped me setting up my businesses."

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