Every gin has a story and a unique persona, says Anthem founder Anjali Batra
YS Life caught up with Anjali Batra of Anthem—a creative agency that has under its fold popular communities such as the Gin Explorers Club—to understand more about her beginnings in the food and beverage space, the moment of reckoning for gin, and why the white spirit is here to stay.
Until a decade ago, the eating-out culture in India was largely dominated by family outings on special occasions. Today, millennial and GenZ consumers are well-travelled folks, always ready to step out for an interesting meal or experiment with a drink. No wonder most urban cities are witnessing a beeline of customers outside swanky restaurants and bars—even on a weekday.
Winds of change are strong in the alco-bev space, particularly with a growing soft spot for white spirits like gin and eclectic cocktails. Gin, in particular, is having its big moment in India, and several homegrown brands such as Stranger & Sons, Pumori, Terai, and Greater Than have popped up, paving the way for many more to follow.
No mention of India’s food and alco-bev space can be complete without Anjali Batra, Founder of Anthem—a creative agency providing 360-degree marketing solutions—which has under its fold popular communities such as Food Talk India (An exclusive dining and experiences club) and Gin Explorers Club (touted to be India’s biggest gin festival).
Anjali Batra, Founder of Anthem
YS Life caught up with Batra to understand more about her beginnings in this space, the moment of reckoning for gin, and why the white spirit is here to stay.
Building an influential food community
When Food Talk India was created nine years ago, it was an invite-only community of like-minded food lovers on Facebook, who offered relevant, real-time recommendations on everything around food and drink. Batra joined forces with Shuchir Suri, the founder of Food Talk India in 2014, when she was looking to take her career to the next level, after having worked as a publicist in the food and fashion space.
“It’s quite funny because Shuchir wanted to impress a date and wanted to know the best places to take her out. He created a Facebook group called Food Talk with 50 friends to ask for recommendations,” recounts Batra.
“These people began adding their friends and suddenly, I was also a part of the group. We met in person and decided to do more with this community. I had experience in events and the PR space, while he was great at the tech side of things.”
After creating a sizeable community of 50,000 people, Batra and Suri decided to venture into offline events, offering members an opportunity to meet in person with food as the centrepiece.
Batra opens up about how Food Talk India has witnessed the start of some beautiful relationships, jobs, and even marriages through these events. Interestingly, Suri, too, met his wife at one such dinner.
“While we were working in the food space, we also began doing many things with alcohol. We began building several such brands in the country and that’s when we realised we understand this space really well,” points out Batra.
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Spearheading India’s gin revolution
About five or six summers ago, Batra was travelling with her friends to South America. A self-confessed gin lover, she was reading a book titled Gin The Manual in a bus that was headed to her hotel, from the airport, after the cancellation of a flight. She bumped into a stranger, who was impressed with her knowledge of gin.
“I have always been fascinated by gin and have been sipping on it for over 12 years now. On that trip, I randomly scribbled ‘Gin Explorers Club’ in my diary and thought I’d do something with it. It was a random thought I had after a conversation with that stranger,” she remarks.
It was the year that she travelled a lot—from Dublin to London and Hong Kong—and realised how everyone was falling head over heels in love with gin. There was an abundance of products and dedicated gin bars across the world.
Conversations around gin were also happening in India, even though there were only a few prominent brands such as Beefeater, Tanqueray and Bombay Sapphire.
Anjali Batra at the Gin Explorers Club event
That’s when Batra and Suri decided to toy with the idea of the Gin Explorers Club.
“We got someone to design our logo and asked Olive Bar and Kitchen in Delhi to give us their space for two days to create a festival around one spirit—gin. When we started selling tickets online, we expected about 1,000 people, but more than 4,000 people turned up, despite the fact that it was pouring heavily on one of those days,” says Batra.
In the last five years, Gin Explorers Club has completed eight editions and catered to 80,000 people. It takes a minimum of six months to prepare for every edition of the festival, which happens in three cities—New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. It not only brings domestic and international gin brands under one roof, but it also offers great food, music, shopping and an opportunity to be a part of interesting mixology workshops.
Teaching India all about gin
Batra believes Gin Explorers Club has been fairly instrumental in teaching India what gin is. For her, every gin has a story and every sip tells you about its persona.
“Every gin is an amalgamation of the botanicals that go into it. That’s why no two gins in the world will ever taste the same,” explains Batra.
Speaking about Gin Explorers Club, she says it is a canvas for people to come and interact and learn stories about the white spirit.
“We are not just catering to millennials; it’s age agnostic, so people from 25 years of age to my grandfather who’s 85 come there,” she reiterates.
Along with the rise in the number of gin brands, there’s also been a surge in artisanal mixers. Today, homegrown gin brands are largely affordable, making gin a trending spirit particularly for those who are starting their drinking journey.
Batra says the journey is exciting and not overwhelming for most people who give gin a shot.
Comparing gin in India with international brands, Batra says, “It’s a great time for gin in India. The homegrown brands are neck to neck with international brands. I have also been to several distilleries and I think we are at par.”
“I feel one of the biggest reasons people love to sip on gin is because you don’t have to quit drinking anything else to have gin. You can easily add to the mix,” she adds.
Gin cocktails are also creating waves with incredible infusions, not just in flavour but also with respect to how they look.
What’s her favourite gin infusion?
“It has to be something I sipped at Juniper Bar, Andaz Delhi, that had Timur pepper. It gave me a mental shock with its sharp taste; I still remember it so distinctly,” concludes Batra.
Edited by Swetha Kannan