drink-your-selfie

The most innovative personalized shakes from “Drink Your Selfie”!

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Website – Drink Your Selfie

Founders – Sabaresh Kumar & Pankaj Himthani

“Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”

This quote has been very true in the case of these two young men Sabareesh Kumar- Founder and CEO, and Pankaj Himthani- Co-Founder of the brand “Drink Your Selfie”. They are what they are today because of their passion and hard work.

Mr. Sabareesh Kumar was a Chartered Accountant in a reputed company. He has more than 5 years of experience in the corporate sector. Even as he was working, he wanted to start a Food & Beverages brand that sold unique and innovative products. He was always passionate about this field. He came across the concept of printing black and white pictures of people on cappuccinos, in London. He was fascinated by this idea and it inspired him to start a similar concept with added variations. While pondering upon this, he came up with the idea of printing colored selfies instead of black and white pictures. He improvised the idea and thought why not print them on milkshakes which is a beverage loved by all age groups. He thought this idea of printing happy selfies on milkshakes would be a different and a very personalized approach that would earn him many customers who would love this concept. There his journey began along with his Co-Founder Pankaj Himthani who was also a Chartered Accountant with 5+ years of experience in the corporate sector, who motivated him to do this business full-time and they both began their business venture.

They started the concept café “Drink Your Selfie” in September 2018 in Pune, Maharashtra. Their key motto was “Innovation and Customer Delight!”. They focused on three main things: quality, taste, and price.They did face a lot of challenges initially since they had to set up this business from scratch with no prior experience in this field.

 They first sold just milkshakes with happy selfies of their customers printed on them with safe and edible food inks. This attracted a lot of customers who loved the idea of personalization. All that their customers needed to do was send their selfies through WhatsApp or click a picture then and there at the café and the shake would be ready within minutes. Their business flourished and this innovative idea was a good customer retention factor.

 Within a year and a half, the company expanded and had 8 outlets across India and Nepal. They have two more outlets in the pipeline waiting to be set up! Then, they started selling a lot of other food items not just limiting to shakes. From being a single-product focused brand,they changed their business into a café model selling more interesting varieties of food and beverages. This brand “Drink Your Selfie” is India’s only selfie shake chain! Their outlets have been set up in various places like Pune, Solapur, Navi Mumbai, Nepal, Kolhapur, Guwahati, and Hubli. Today, this brand “Drink Your Selfie” has been featured in various articles, websites, and news with high rankings for their popularity. They have an excellent customer retention rate and have established their brand far and wide. They are aiming to expand their business to 25 locations by the end of September 2020 and further expand to 50 locations by the end of March 2021. Shortly, they are also aiming to create a new brand with an exclusive focus on Cloud Kitchen Space catering to many major cuisines!

What made you strike this business idea? What inspired you to start this company?

Sabaresh – While I was working as a Chartered Accountant in my previous company, I always wanted to Build a Scalable Brand in  Food & Beverages Space introducing Innovative Food & Beverages. Luckily, I came across the concept of printing & drinking Black & white selfies on cappuccino in London sometime back. I found the concept of Printing Selfies on your Beverages very customised, Personal Feel and in-sync with release of Enhanced Camera phones. Hence, worked upon the concept, got colour pictures and brought to Milkshakes – which shall cut across all age groups and then keeping Selfie as a attraction point, worked upon Concepts like Real Meetha Paan Shake, Pulse Candy Mocktail, Melody Shake etc. . End-to-end time for an selfie shake is kept at just 5 minutes.


When did you start your business?

Sabaresh – September 2018


What does success mean to your company?

Sabaresh – Serving More Customers and Ensuring they are satisfied with our three principles : Quality, Taste & Price. Reaching more Tier-II & III cities with our Innovative concept


How are you performing currently?

Sabaresh – We have scaled to 8 Locations across India & Nepal in a span of 1.5 years.


What is the biggest risk to your company?

Sabaresh – Covid-19 currently.


What are your plans for the funding?

Sabaresh – Looking to raise Funding to start off new Brands for cuisines in Indian Food, Pizza & Burgers


What is the biggest challenge you faced during your start-up setup?

Sabaresh – Building everything from Scratch, as we are 1st timers to this Food & Beverages space. 

What does growth mean to you and your business?

Sabaresh – Validation & Happiness that we can touch/impact a lot of consumer’s smiles.and create wealth for every stakeholder involved.


How does your product stand different from others in the market?

Sabaresh – Today, Drink Your Selfie, is the ONLY Selfie Shake Chain in India. We offer Innovative Milkshakes with Innovative Selfie Printing on it which is completely edible and tasteless. 


Where are your start-up services spread?

Sabaresh – Pune,Navi Mumbai, Solapur, Kolhapur, Hubli (karnataka), Guwahati (Assam), Kathmandu (nepal)


What does it feel to be the founder of your start-up? How does it feel getting up every morning and getting on to work?

Sabaresh – It’s really great to be in a space where you know you can create your path and have the courage to embrace the uncertainties of future


Where do you see your business standing in the next 5 years?

Sabaresh – We are launching a New Brand with exclusive Focus on Cloud Kitchen Space catering to Major Cuisines and few Untapped Product lines too.


Who support you to stand this business and how?

Sabaresh – My Partner Pankaj Himthani is the person who gave me the confidence that I can do this venture full-time and we would see the good side of business.

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