Success story of Nayan Shah whose packaged water brand Clear Pani is on track to cross

Nayan Shah founded the packaged drinking water brand Clear Pani in 2010. Over the years, the company has been able to trace an outstanding growth trajectory and is set to cross a Rs.100 crore turnover.

According to a MarketsandResearch analysis, rising health concerns and a lack of safe drinking water have fueled the rise of the bottled water market in India.

The market is predicted to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.75 percent from 2018 to reach Rs 403.06 billion by the end of 2023, up from its present value of Rs 160 billion.

Despite its size, the bottled water market has seen no new local entrants in years.

Nayan Shah founded Clear Pani, an Ahmedabad-based packaged drinking water firm, which began in 2010 with only 5000 bottles per day. The company now produces 25 lakh bottles per day and aspires to be a Rs 1000 crore firm by 2025.

During a media interview, Nayan has discussed the company's origins, early years, and astonishing development trajectory.

In Ahmedabad, he ran a family business that made wires and cables. In 2005, Nayan decided to quit his job and start his own energy drink company.

He co-founded Energy Beverages Private Limited with his old boss, with an initial investment of Rs 2 crore. They launched their first product, Current Energy Drink, which was developed in Germany and manufactured in Malaysia.

Until around 2007, the company was able to keep the cash registers ringing.

Nayan also mentions that they were competing with tea or coffee, which were significantly cheaper, a fact that had previously gone unnoticed.

When Nayan's annual sales reached Rs 60 lakh by 2009, he felt it was time to hunt for the next big thing. Nayan's business partner left the company.

His next venture was to sell water. Nayan Shah saw that water is already present in our ecosystem and that it is the easiest to sell because it is in high demand, which led to the establishment of Clear Pani,, in February 2010 to produce and market packaged drinking water.Clear Pani is an arm of Energy Beverages Private Limited.

Initially, the manufacturing was outsourced to companies in Mumbai, Pune, and Jaipur.  As he wanted o succeed, Nayan'orked from "top to bottom."

He decided to enlist the help of The Grand Bhagwat, one of Gujarat's most well-known hotel groups, to offer 200ml bottles of Clear Pani. The crew also collaborated closely on the packaging and design of the products. The company produced square bottles rather than the more common cylindrical ones.

Bisleri, Kinley, Kingfisher, Aquafina, Bailley, and other well-known brands dominated the market at the time. Nayan, on the other hand, wanted Clear Pani to stand out in this space.

Nayan's technique was successful in obtaining notable clients such as Jet Airways, Air India, Holiday Inn, Marriott, and others. Clear Pani started by winning a deal from Jet Airways.

Quality and service are extremely important to airlines.  Clear Pani now has a combined capacity of 25 lakh bottles per day in 22 (owned and outsourced) plants across India for its production.

The prices for the 200ml, 500ml, and 1000ml bottles are Rs 6, Rs 10, and Rs 25, respectively.

Prior to the COVID-19 epidemic, Clear Pani's HoReCa division accounted for 90% of its revenue, implying that the company had to take a significant damage.

"Business had practically come down to nil," says Nayan, but COVID-19 "was an eye-opener for us." Clear Pani's turnover was Rs 50 crore in FY19, Rs 61 crore in FY20, but dropped significantly to Rs 43 crore in FY21 at a loss of Rs 3.5 crore.

"After realising his error, Nayan sought to expand his retail ventures throughout the pandemic."

In the last year and a half, it has added 11,160 retail shops, which has aided in recovery. Clear Pani is also available on internet channels such as Amazon, where it sells over 400 cases each month.

Clear Pani is now on the mend, and Nayan claims that they are on track to surpass Rs 100 crore in revenue by the end of this fiscal year. They also intend to expand to 50 units across the country over the following 12 to 18 months.

Furthermore, he says, the greater goal is to become a Rs 1000 crore company by FY25-FY26.

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