It is no secret that Virat Kohli is picky about the brands he endorses. For a company to bring in Kohli as brand ambassador, it has to either have a stellar legacy or a unique promise, all the while fitting in with Kohli’s image as a fitness-obsessed youth icon. So, when in March 2022, Kohli started to feature in advertisements for a coffee brand, it caused quite the stir. After all, athletes, let alone India’s most marketable sportsperson, do not usually endorse coffee. Then again, Rage Coffee, which got Kohli on board, is no usual coffee brand.
Founded in 2018 by Bharat Sethi, who is also its CEO, Rage Coffee is “the world’s first plant-based vitamins coffee brand”. Its coffee is handpicked from plantations across India and Ethiopia and is designed to “bring the craft coffee experience to the instant and health-conscious generation”. Consumers of its products, dubbed Ragers, can find a goat adorning a lot of Rage’s packaging and communication, which stands for “achievement, a derivative of being in peak mental and physical form”. It is also a subtle nod to Kohli himself, arguably the defining cricketing GOAT candidate from his era.
Irish Hazelnut to Dark Chocolate to Sparky Orange
“From day one, we wanted to take a bold and authoritative position in the market so that customers would immediately notice our colour, branding and, most importantly, the complexity of our flavours,” says Sethi, 33, who is confident about Rage challenging the likes of Nestle and Bru in the instant coffee segment. “The coffee palate is evolving in India. Thanks to the cafe culture, people now want a higher caffeine content, more froth, wider flavour options and a mouthfeel and aftertaste that feels special. Our goal has been to provide all that at home, by simplifying coffee and making it more authentic,” adds Sethi.
Rage prides itself on being the smart choice for those attentive to health and wellness factors, for “the six plant-based ingredients (more details here) that go into our products balance anxiety, improve stamina and efficiency, prevent bloating and acidity reflux, and boost memory and blood flow”. Rage’s original flavour, called the “World’s Favourite Flavoured Instant Coffee” is still among its bestsellers, even as the likes of Irish Hazelnut, Dark Chocolate and Butterscotch Delight have become quite the rage over time. “We’re constantly innovating and experimenting with different combinations to see what works. When we combined citrus with coffee, nobody thought it’d work. But the resultant flavour, Sparky Orange, has been a big hit,” explains Sethi, who spends at least 15 to 20 minutes every day sampling all sorts of coffees from all kinds of brands to educate himself about his competition.
‘Around 70 per cent of our business comes from outside India’s metros’
Bharat Sethi wants Rage to expand as a brand and create an international presence
With its main office in Delhi and its production facility in Haryana, Rage has grown its team by five times over the past three years. Currently employing 250 members across departments, Sethi believes that Covid-19 turned out to be a gamechanger for his company. “Supply chains were hit and our competitors, who relied a lot on importing coffee, were facing problems. Moreover, cafes were shut, which meant that people were craving a curated coffee experience at home. That’s where we doubled down and managed to grow by nearly 500 per cent,” says Sethi.
At present, Rage products are available on several leading online platforms (including its own website) and are handled through 7,500 plus touch points across India, using a network of five Carrying and Forwarding Agents (CFAs), 15 stockists and more than 190 distributors. Apart from its increasing array of instant coffee options, Rage also provides cold brew bags, liquid coffee, ground coffee and sachet shots alongside cookies and bars that replicate the taste of coffee for non-drinkers. “Around 70 per cent of our business comes from outside India’s metros. We have a considerable presence in the Northeast, where practically everyone in the 18 to 25 age bracket is familiar with Rage. As we focus on growing more in India, we also want to expand internationally, and have already started exporting to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, besides working on tie-ups in North America and other parts of Southeast Asia,” describes Sethi.
‘We want to become an iconic brand that’s instantly recognisable’
According to Sethi, distribution of coffee is getting more democratised in India
A coffee thinker much more than he is a coffee drinker, Sethi is meticulous, even pedantic, about the look and feel of Rage. Something that is not limited to the coffee, but extends to the jars and containers that are associated with it: “When you see the biggest brands in the FMCG sector, one look is enough to identify them. A CocaCola or a Heinz bottle or a Nutella jar instantly evoke an identity, an experience and a story. That’s exactly what we want to do with Rage, too. We want to become an iconic brand that’s instantly recognisable.”
Sethi acknowledges that India still remains a tea-loving nation, but at the same time, he is optimistic about how the coffee demographic in India is steadily on the rise. Perhaps even more encouragingly, “coffee is getting democratised because distribution is getting democratised”. In such an environment, Rage has a golden opportunity to become synonymous with an emerging and evolving Indian palate that is uncompromising and unapologetic. “We’ve been the biggest disruptor in the coffee market till date and want to continue to challenge the status quo,” concludes Sethi.
