What Swizzle Reveals About India’s Changing Beverage Preferences

In a country where beverages are often split between sugar-heavy indulgence and overly serious “health” drinks, a quieter shift is underway. Consumers are beginning to ask for more — not louder branding or exaggerated claims, but balance. Drinks that feel light, honest, and enjoyable without pretending to be something they’re not.

It is within this evolving landscape that Swizzle finds its place. Not as a disruptor chasing buzzwords, but as a response to a gap that many consumers felt but few brands addressed directly.

A Personal Gap Becomes a Brand Idea

Swizzle did not begin with market reports or trend decks. It began with frustration. As a consumer who enjoyed experimenting with flavours, the co-founder found herself stuck between artificial drinks and uninspiring “clean” options. “I loved experimenting with flavours and drinks, but everything available was either very sugary, too artificial or very boring. There was nothing fun and clean at the same time,” Vrinda Singhal shares.

What made this gap even more apparent was India’s own flavour familiarity. Fruits, herbs, and spices are deeply embedded in everyday cooking, yet beverages are rarely explored in this space with creativity. The idea of building something playful yet rooted in real ingredients felt not just possible, but overdue.

From the outset, Swizzle’s philosophy was shaped by personal consumption choices rather than category trends. “Natural and vegan wasn’t a trend decision for us, it was a values decision,” Singhal explains. The intention was simple: to build something she would willingly consume herself.

This meant committing to clean labels early on — no lab-derived ingredients, no unnecessary additives, and no compromises made for convenience. By treating these values as a foundation rather than a future add-on, Swizzle avoided the pitfalls many brands face when trying to course-correct later.

Introducing a New Category to Indian Consumers

Sparkling water infused with fruit remains a relatively niche category in India, and Swizzle’s early challenge was less about acceptance and more about understanding. “The biggest challenge was education,” the co-founder notes. Consumers weren’t sure what to expect — whether it would resemble soda or a traditional soft drink.

Sampling became crucial. Once people tasted the product, hesitation faded quickly. The difficulty lay in creating that first moment of interaction. As the Singhal puts it, the product sold itself, but the journey to that first sip required consistent effort on the ground.

Working with natural ingredients comes with unpredictability, and Swizzle’s formulation journey was anything but linear. “We spent a lot of time getting the balance right between taste, carbonation, and shelf life,” she says. Natural flavours behave differently from synthetic ones, demanding repeated testing and recalibration.

Experimentation Beyond the Lab

Flavour development extended far beyond controlled environments. Friends, pop-ups, events, and informal tastings all became testing grounds. “Market-ready flavours were the ones that got repeat reactions, not just ‘this is interesting’ but ‘where can I buy this again?’” Singhal explains.

For a category still unfamiliar to many, branding and packaging played a crucial communicative role. “Packaging was our first conversation with the consumer,” she says. Swizzle needed to feel approachable and fun without appearing frivolous or overly ‘healthy.’ The aim was to avoid intimidation. If the brand felt too serious, it risked alienating curious first-time buyers. Instead, Swizzle chose visual simplicity and playfulness to invite exploration rather than instruction.

Operational challenges were inevitable. Natural ingredients varied by season and sourcing, while manufacturing partners were often accustomed to synthetic-heavy processes. Aligning everyone with Swizzle’s philosophy took time and persistence. Pricing posed another challenge — balancing premium ingredients with accessibility required constant recalibration.

There were missteps along the way: batches that didn’t work, launches that underperformed, and partnerships that failed to scale. “Those mistakes taught us where to be stricter, where to listen more to consumers, and where to say no faster,” the co-founder reflects.

Building with Time, Not Trends

For first-time founders, particularly in FMCG, the advice is grounded in realism. Timelines stretch, approvals delay, and patience becomes non-negotiable. On the occasion of the upcoming National Start-Up Day, the co-founder’s message remains consistent: “Build with honesty and long-term intent. Don’t chase trends blindly.”

Value-driven brands take time, she believes, but trust compounds. When consistency and clarity guide decisions, the brand eventually reflects that integrity — quietly, but convincingly.