In 2019, E P Jeevan, an engineer from BITS Pilani, decided to quit a lucrative corporate career to sell sugarcane juice, ice apple juice, and coconut water.
When asked about the risk he was taking, he says, “No matter what the business, risks are always part of it.”
A runner and sports enthusiast, Jeevan would drink freshly squeezed sugarcane juice to replenish himself. The taste and energy of the drink stayed with him and a business idea brewed in his mind.
When he realised how many athletes like himself were looking for a good post-workout drink, he jumped at the opportunity and started Absolute Sugarcane — a venture that puts modern spins on traditional refreshers such as coconut water, sugarcane juice, and ice apple drinks.
“The key was to ensure that whatever I was serving was 100 percent hygienic. Sugarcane is always available, but getting the juice made hygienically was always an issue,” he says.
The drinks at Absolute Sugarcane use three main ingredients – sugarcane, ice apple, and coconut. With these, the venture makes 20 different drinks and serves them at the stores.
“Small tweaks that I have brought about in what I serve have made a difference. For example, we do not add any white sugar to the juices. We replace that with cane juice,” he states.
At the time of the interview with The Better India, Jeevan shared that in the first month of starting the venture in October 2020, they made a revenue of Rs 30,000. And by April 2021, they had grown to Rs 2.25 lakh.
“With serving approximately 100 customers a day, we are now making upwards of Rs 4 lakh a month on an average,” he shared.