Latambarcem, a Bicholim village, houses Latambarcem Brewers, a startup with $1.5M funding, making probiotic kombucha and craft beer
For the uninitiated, kombucha is a fermented tea with numerous health benefits, and is created from bacteria and yeast. Today, this USD 2.97 billion market has a Goa-based player creating ripples of innovation – brothers Aditya Ishan Varshnei, a graduate in Nano-engineering and Materials Science from the University of California and Anish Varshnei, a Culinary Science graduate from The Culinary Institute of America are the co-founders at Latambarcem Brewers (LB).
Synergising their experiences, the Varshnei brothers have launched two niche products – a naturally crafted kombucha called ‘Borecha’ and freshly brewed Indian crafted beer ‘Maka Di’!
Goa was first introduced to kombucha by ‘Borecha’ about five years ago. India’s first bespoke functional beverage brand, its first public exposure was at the Oktoberfest held at the Inox Courtyard (Panjim) in 2019. “I converted my Nano into a display, the team collectively brainstormed; we came up with designs and made a mini setup. None of us had any prior experience but we kept our fingers crossed and took a leap of faith! There we were distributing free samplers with the motive of creating brand awareness and soon, people were coming back to purchase!” recollects, Sarika Varshnei, the Chief Growth Officer, LB.
While the LB team geared up to go full-swing, the world was hit with the Covid pandemic. This is also when the equipment for making craft beer arrived at their facility in Bicholim. Due to the restrictions and the safety protocols, they could not arrange for personnel to assemble it. That is when Anish himself connected with the manufactures and over multiple Zoom calls, the equipment got set up.
The question always remains ‘How can we do better?’
The biggest USP of Borecha is that it is ‘natural’; zero or at the least 40% less sugar compared to the other products in the market. This helped Borecha gain an edge in getting listed as an essential probiotic immunity-boosting commodity. “Although the pandemic came as a huge setback, we became even more determined to grow. We retained all our workforce, right from those working at the plant to driving the delivery vans. Adhering to all safety protocols, we began with five deliveries in a day, developed a software in-house to take orders via Instagram, marketed across locations and supermarkets, and eventually, scaled up to 100 deliveries a day” adds Sarika.
As the situation improved, they began collaborating with grocery stores outside Goa. Orders started pouring in from Modern Bazaar that has multiple outlets in Delhi and they even received an order of 50 cases from a small town called Haldwani in Uttrakhand.
Initially, the product was manufactured in bottles. But with the vision expanding, the team at the back-end toiled to get it into cans. Not just in terms of retaining the freshness, but also with the conscious motive of prioritising quality, they added an additional layer of lining into the packaging, to ensure that the fermentation process did not get hampered. This was a game changer for Borecha!
The Patented Kombucha SCOBY
“In order to give consumers an insight to the Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast (SCOBY) of the kombucha, our team broke down, sequenced, and studied each and every bacterial strand in the concoction. We manually hand-picked the correct bacteria to improve the taste profile, eliminate any foul aroma, improve the consistency as well as shelf life, and re-engineered and created our own SCOBY. During the process, we also discovered some new bacteria which today, gets mentioned at the back of our cans. This has now become a patented IP for Borecha” says Aditya Ishan with pride.
Functional Adaptogen Blends Gut Culture is a proprietary blend of probiotic strains, natural herbs, and botanicals sourced from the nature, developed by Borecha.
Borecha leans more towards incorporating fruity flavours with 100% natural tea. While the first beverage to be developed was Mango kombucha, over a period of time, the team introduced zero sugar Kombucha Seltzer ‘Oh!’, that today, on Swiggy Instamart, it is one of the fastest selling products. Constantly innovating, the next product in line was the cold brew Sparkling Ice Tea ‘Icey’! Eventually, venturing full-fledged into the carbonated section and bringing back the nostalgia of the yester years, the team successfully launched the ‘Vintage Series’ − Masala Cola followed by Basil Shikanji, giving their beverages a ghar waali feeling.
Embarking on consistent endeavours to uplift, to energise, keep the gut healthy, and boost fitness, while ensuring that none of the ingredients compromise the taste, and, no added preservatives, the LB team further introduced a range of functional juices ‘Tiki-T’.
Why the nomenclature?
A carbon negative and zero-waste company that is community-driven. Every single advertisement and campaign across platforms undergoes a collective brainstorming and conceptualisation process. While Borecha likes to keep its communications vibrant and colourful, mass appealing to the Gen Z’s, Maka Di’s mascot astronaut represents today’s consumer – adventurous, zealous, and constantly in the quest to explore something new and different.
Besides, in Konkani, Maka Di means ‘give me’ and Borecha means ‘good tea’. The names are catchy, invoke a sense of curiosity, and resonate with their efforts of giving back to the community. The ‘Rocket Rice Lager’ is grown from a variety of rice, locally procured from Goan farmers. In fact, every single individual working at the Borecha plant unit is a local Goan. Every day, the team gets trained by Anish, while Aditya Ishan channelises his energy in accelerating the expansion plans. 
“We are very particular and selective in terms of who we hire, because we are not more about the educational qualifications, but more about the attitude. We have young and passionate people working in our company who are eager to learn and are ready to work hard towards realising the company’s vision. We have two dedicated R&D teams for each of our brands and our own labs to conduct research. In addition, we also have partnerships and MOUs with universities across the country to conduct specific research for different projects” adds Aditya Ishan.
Flying high and across the Globe
LB has always been a close-knit family affair. The startup began bootstrapped, but recently secured a `12 crore funding. “It was an opportunity that came along. We didn’t need the money, but we accepted it for exposure and expansion. None of us come from retail backgrounds. We have learned through experience, through making and selling. One of our biggest advantages is that we are the manufactures as well as the brand owners and that is what gives us the confidence to ensure and claim that every single product in every batch will complement our vision. Yes, it is tough, but definitely sustainable in the long-run!” says Sarika.
Borecha is the only Made-in-India kombucha brand to step into the aviation industry. Their first collaboration began with Akasa Airlines and they have also tied up with the Air India Express.
It is currently present across the markets of UAE, seven countries in Europe, and the LuLu Group International is a major importer, giving the brand a global presence across 26 countries. Africa is soon in the pipeline. 
Whereas Maka Di, that was initially sold in the local Goan supermarkets such as Delfinos, Magson, Kamat Megamart, etc is now available across eight states in the USA and four states in Canada. In 2022, their collaboration with a Belgium-based brewery led to the birth of ‘Belgian Triple’ which has also won Bronze at the Asia Beer Championship. They are soon about to collaborate with a Taiwan based brewery for yet another exciting flavour.
Rather than staying confined within the borders of Goa and setting up another microbrewery, LB chose to make the brewery mobile. On one hand, Maka Di is currently the largest keg suppliers in Goa, with an in-house capacity of producing upto 10,000 beer cases a month, making it the largest craft beer producer, commercially, in the country. While on the other hand, going forward, Borecha is all set to enter the mass market segment with their tie-ups with ITC, as well as the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).
