Raghu Dixit, a singer and music composer by profession, has reportedly invested in craft beer brand Geist. It has recently been rolled out from its new brewery in the outskirts of Bengaluru.
With this investment, Raghu Dixit will now be joining the American craft brewing pioneer Steve Wagnor in backing Beerworks Restaurants and Microbrewery, the parent company of Geist.
Along with Raghu Dixit, Gaurav Vaz, who is the bass guitarist for The Raghu Dixit Project, has also come on-board as an investor in Geist.
Geist was started by Narayan Manepally, Paul Chowdhury and Mohan Alapatt. Geist could possibly be the only one brand after White Rhino in Gurgaon to operate from a fully-owned brewery.
Craft beer is typically produced in small batches by independent brewers. The Geist brewery currently has a capacity to produce about 70,000 litres annually for three variants of wheat beers.
The brewer started supplying kegs to more than 20 outlets in Bengaluru with a price point of Rs 179 and upwards for 330ml tap servings. The brand plans to introduce bottled and canned beers in the coming months.
Narayan Manepally, co-founder of Geist, said,
We expect the Indian beer consumption trends to reflect the US market, much faster possibly. Craft beers could account for about 10% of the domestic sales, and corner a bigger value share, in a decade. We have a diverse investor base, from Raghu Dixit to Steve Wagnor and others, who share this conviction.