Keventers, The Vintage Milkshake Brand Aiming for International Market

The History of The Brand

In 1925, Edward Keventer, a Swedish dairy technologist, established his private limited Dairy company in India. Following this, Keventers slowly started emerging as a prominent Dairy Industry in India. The rapid expansion of the business followed by the establishment of branches in Aligarh, Darjeeling, Calcutta, Simla and later in Delhi.

In addition, numerous outlets were set up in Bombay, Karachi, Lahore, Nainital, Mussoorie, Dehradun, Ranchi and Rangoon. Model piggeries in Aligarh, Ghum, and Taradevi were developed in conjunction with the dairy business. Apart from this, dairy appliances were imported and sold, including the well-known Alfa-Laval cream separator, a boon to the thousands of dairymen who had previously no mechanical means of separating cream from their milk.

By the 1940s, Ram Krishna Dalmia acquired the Keventers dairy project and a company was created by the name 'Edward Keventers Successors.' After this point, things began to escalate quickly.

As the city of New Delhi grew and changed, so did the area of Chanakyapuri, in which the factory was located. It became a prime diplomatic area. Keventers, therefore, was no longer allowed to run its dairy factory there.

Some of the most remembered products were various milkshakes sold as flavored milk. Keventers’ nourishing milk in attractive wide bottles arrived fresh and cool every morning, all over the city, with water droplets forming over the bottles and red and blue aluminum foil caps. By 1960s, the name of Keventers soon became synonymous with dairy products in Delhi.

The proud dairy of Delhi which had been carefully planned & located next to its market was forced to close its door. Moreover, some of their distributors continued to serve milk in an unregulated, unrefined

The Year 2015, Bringing Back The Iconic Brand

Albeit, Agastya Mihir R. Dalmia, the third-generation scion of the Dalmia family, Aman Arora and Sohrab Sitaram got together to bring this iconic brand back again in 2015.

Keventers brings alive the signature flavors that made it a favorite for its rich milkshakes, among the young and old alike. Keeping alive the vintage flavor, Keventers brings its Classic Milkshakes in glass bottles.

Keventers opened its first company-owned outlet earlier in March 2015 at Select Citywalk, New Delhi. Currently, it has five company-owned outlets operating across Delhi & NCR.

Keventers low initial investment and the ability to fit into small and unusual spaces and reasons for their success. Without the need for heavy equipment for the restaurant is the perfect business for the small spaces and tight real estate of metropolitan cities New Delhi. India is currently wide open for development. As brand awareness grows in India, more and more people are becoming aware of Keventers as the top option for milkshakes and also as a great way to start their own business.

Carrying The Legacy Forward

Keventers has a brand legacy and has a cult following. It only made sense to carry the legacy and cult following forward rather than reinventing the entire wheel again.

Agastya and Aman came with the idea of restarting Keventers sometime in early 2014. Agastya and Aman have known each other since college days and shared a great working relationship in the past. During college, they had worked on a startup called Delhi Street Football.

Aspirational Approach By New-Age Leaders

The brand’s USP is serving the ORIGINAL MILKSHAKES in THE ORIGINAL WAY - Traditional recipes and know how served in the traditional manner in Classic Keventers bottles but at the same time making it aspirational. 

The team created it into a highly aspirational brand taken into account the decor, ambiance and the overall presentation.

Gen Y Friendly - they also made the brand more Gen Y friendly by creating menu items which are more in tune with the current scenario. In addition, the decor also utilized the modern element of design which is "NOW" elements. Overall they have made it very very likable brand amongst the GENY. Today a person would love to "CHECK IN" and feel proud, unlike the earlier days where it was seldom.

Retro Feel - is absolutely in line with the 100-year-old brand legacy, branding graphics, identity, etc. all carry forward one identity - OLD WORLD CHARM - it's visible everywhere right from the posters, to the logo to the way the menu is presented and also in the artifacts. The core team may be new age but have not forgotten the brand legacy - all their efforts ensure that the BRAND LEGACY and the RETRO FEEL is always VISIBLE 

Bottle Approach - The milkshake is only served in bottles (retro bottles) - Customers are encouraged to take the bottle home and use it whatever way they want to. The bottle design is radiant and changes with upcoming event whether its Holi, valentines day, Diwali -etc. In addition, this is their contribution to the environment as glass is environment-friendly, unlike all the other plastic glasses that companies use which poses a serious threat to the environment. 

Indian Culture, Tradition, and Warmth - is what Keventers stands for, the same values are drilled into their staff members by the corporate HR and training team. All employees are made to feel proud of Indian culture and traditions. This is the way the work culture has been built, and it reflects in the team’s attitude while dealing with the guests and in the products.

“I lost my mum in July of last year. That moment shook my world upside down. She is my biggest inspiration and I will remember her words of encouragement -DREAMS DON'T WORK UNLESS YOU DO. This has inspired me to work sincerely with full focus.” says Arun Arora

Marketing Strategies & Price Mix

Although the brand had a high recall value, the biggest challenge was the brand lacked aspiration. They have added an aspirational value to the brand by a complete redesign of product packaging, outlet design, creating marketing campaigns thereby enhancing the overall experience of the customer. A lot of time was spent on creating this. 

Secondly, changing the mindset of the customer who was earlier paying INR 50/- for the shakes. Due to high real estate costs (setting up pop in malls), significant improvement in quality, etc. the prices went up to INR 150/- They have also introduced 300 ml shakes at INR 99/- and INR 119/- for their high street model and tier-2 cities

Current Endeavors & Future Plans

The company is self-funded. Internal accruals and Profits are re-invested into the business to provide financial strength to their business. They currently have eight operational outlets. The team started franchising sometime in January 2016 and have signed up 15 franchisees. The team further plans to have 50 points of presence by the end of this year, including outlets in Nepal, Africa, and the United States. Remarkable sales have been witnessed by the brand because their outlets are ~ 100 SQ feet in size. They’ve had a turnover of INR 2.5 crores since June 2015 - starting from two outlets and two newly opened outlets in January 2016.

Further goals, a turnover of INR 15 crores for Super Milk Products Pvt. Ltd. & turnover of INR 40 crores for Keventers in FY 2016-17.