Screen to startup: Sanya Malhotra turns entrepreneur with matcha label, targets health drink market

Sanya Malhotra launches a new startup with a matcha brand called Bree.

Sanya Malhotra of Dangal fame has turned entrepreneur by launching her own matcha brand called Bree in association with nutraceutical and herbal contract manufacturing company Essenzaa Nutrition.

Starting with two variants and many more to come, Malhotra is enthusiastic about the health benefits of matcha and seems to have made it her mission to convert people into matcha drinkers.

Matcha versus green tea

"Three years back when I was introduced to matcha, I was a huge coffee drinker and I just loved having this ritual of making something in the morning. But I was not realising that coffee was making me feel jittery. A lot of people love their chai, coffee, but now people are also catching up to matcha, they are realising how many health benefits matcha has," Malhotra told Moneycontrol.

Siddharth Shah, Co-Founder of Essenzaa, noted that the matcha market in India today is worth around Rs 450 crore and is at a nascent stage. In the next five years, this market is estimated to cross Rs 850 crore, he added.

"I think the number is going to go way beyond what has been estimated because matcha has been picked up by the new generation, especially the millennials and Gen Zs and it has been widely accepted because of its versatility. I see the matcha industry becoming bigger than the green tea industry in India," he said.

As per industry estimates, the Indian green tea market was about Rs 4,000 crore in 2022.

Co-Founder Dr Kunal Shah said that matcha is about 100 times more concentrated than green tea. "It (matcha) has caffeine, the amino acid L-theanine brings calmness to one's energy so you don't feel that jitters and lethargy and one doesn't feel a drop or a sudden spike in energy. Matcha helps maintain the balance. It helps in cardiac health and also helps in managing the entire metabolism. It also helps in focus and improves memory and attention."

Siddharth Shah thinks matcha will be just like salt — a household necessity. "Matcha will become part of the daily lives of every household in India."

"If you go 15 years back, green tea was not a market in India. Today, green tea is a regular part of culture, a regular part of everyday lifestyle. 10 years later, matcha is going to be where green tea is today," he said.

Malhotra's matcha love

Passionate about her new venture, Malhotra said that while acting is her first love, she loves matcha too, and that matcha drinkers usually are very good at balancing things whether it's energy or work. "I think I am doing a great job at balancing my personal and professional life. And within my professional life also, I am known to take up many roles."

She always wanted to introduce more people to matcha whenever she would get a taste of the health drink while travelling abroad.

"Whenever I travelled, I would get matcha for myself, and I was like I would love for my friends and people who are close to me to experience this feeling of having matcha. I got a lot of my friends converted into matcha drinkers and then I wanted to get the nicest form of matcha to India. The entire team at Essenzaa really got together and made this passion of mine, this dream of mine a reality," the actor said.

Siddharth Shah noted that along with Malhotra's investment, which he did not disclose, they have raised money from outside.

"Sanya has invested her time and money into this venture and if need be she might as well do it again. We have also raised capital from outside and we think we have enough runway for the next six to eight months for this venture. From external investors, we've raised Rs 1 crore in a pre-seed round and everything else comes from within the promoter's circle, which is Sanya and us."

Online first

The two variants by Bree — a ceremonial blend, which Malhotra said is currently not available in India, and an everyday matcha — will initially be sold online.

"This is going to be a consumer-first brand. So, the distribution is predominantly happening online first. It will be through our website, through e-commerce platforms like Amazon and quick commerce platforms like Blinkit to start with. Retail distribution is also a part of our plans along with distribution through cafes and restaurants," Shah added.

Everyday matcha has been priced at Rs 600 for 30 grams and Shah said that this will be a month's worth of matcha, while the ceremonial matcha, which is the first flush of a matcha leaf, is priced at Rs 1,600 for 30 grams.

Malhotra and her team are also planning to launch new variants by the end of this year, which include ready-to-mix matcha, flavoured matcha, and instant matcha.

Shah expects Bree to grow five times its current size and break even in 12–18 months.

New learnings

Along with learning about building a business, Malhotra noted that the brand has taught her a lot of new things. "From the name, to the packaging, to the product, to the tasting of the product, to sourcing the right quality of matcha, how the packaging should look like, how the box should look like, and how do we store the matcha, how do we make the matcha look, and making our packaging recyclable, everything has been a huge learning for me," she said.

While she will continue to immerse herself in making matcha every day in the morning along with growing her brand, Malhotra has a host of releases and new movie projects that she is working on.

"Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari with Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor will release at the end of this year. Toaster will be released on Netflix. Another film with Bobby Deol and Anurag Kashyap will be released this year as well. I will start shooting a new film in October," she said.