From a Homegrown original Jeera to a ₹1,000-Crore Vision: The House of Bindu Story steps into its 25th Year with new launches, customer interactions and National rollout

Q&A on House of Bindu - answered by Megha Shankar, Director-Strategy, House of Bindu

In an exclusive interaction, the leadership team of SG Corporates which has House of Bindu (the FMCG company) and Praveen Capital (an NBFC) shared how a leading regional company with an original new flavour is becoming a national ethnic flavored FMCG powerhouse and why the journey is only just beginning.

Answered by Megha Shankar, Director and Strategy, House of Bindu

Q: What is SG Corporates and where does House of Bindu fit in?

A: SG Corporates, also known as the Shankar Group of Corporates, was established in 1991. It operates in two distinct verticals: financial services and fast-moving consumer goods or FMCG

The financial arm is Praveen Capital, an NBFC, while the FMCG arm is House of Bindu, which handles all food and beverage manufacturing, branding, sales and aims to be a leading ethnic food and beverage company in India. While the NBFC brings stability, House of Bindu is the real growth engine of the group. Being a B2C brand, it defines our public presence, scale, and future ambitions, including a planned IPO in the coming years.

Q: How did the iconic Bindu Jeera drink come into existence?

A: Bindu was born in 2000 with Bindu water, but the turning point came in 2002 with the launch of Bindu Jeera. Jeera (cumin) was already a loved flavour in Indian homes — but it was missing from store shelves as a branded beverage.

Our founder and my father Sathya Shankar, saw this gap. He believed that a flavor Indians trusted at home could succeed commercially if done right.  Hence, he started the 1^st plant in Puttur way back in 2002 for jeera. But the challenge was huge since it was a new flavour and Indians then were only used to colas, lime and orange. Therefore, convincing retailers and consumers to try something completely new was the journey my father embarked upon but with conviction, clarity and conscious efforts. We started samplings, set up small stalls, encouraged people to taste before they bought and thus slowly and steadily, we trust built. The quality remained consistent and same throughout all these years. And word spread. That’s how Bindu Jeera became the brand’s flagship and Karnataka’s leading jeera brand and a popular beverage. Btw we were the 1^st to launch a jeera flavour way back in 2002 much ahead of any other brand.

Q: Today the market is flooded with Jeera drinks. How does Bindu stay ahead?

A: We were the first movers in this category — and that still gives us a strong edge. But legacy alone doesn’t sustain a brand. What keeps us relevant is:

· Consistent quality

· Continuous product upgrades and customizations

· Expansion into new channels like modern trade, e-commerce and quick commerce

· Strong regional loyalty, especially in South India

· While packaging and marketing evolve, the taste that customers loved in 2002 remains unchanged and while we cover 2 lac retail outlets today, we wish to target 5 lac in next 2 years.

Q: Where is House of Bindu currently present?

A: We are deeply entrenched in South India, with strong distribution across:

Karnataka

Telangana

Andhra Pradesh

Tamil Nadu

Goa

From late 2024, we began expanding into North and West India, including: 

Maharashtra

Delhi

Uttar Pradesh

Punjab

Rajasthan

Uttarakhand

West Bengal

This is part of a phased national expansion strategy.

Q: What does your distribution model look like?

A: Bindu is a mass FMCG brand, so the backbone of our sales is still Kirana stores and general trade. At the same time, we have expanded into: Modern trade, E-commerce, Quick commerce platforms

 Today, Bindu is available in over 2 lakh retail outlets or general trade, and the goal is to cross 5 lakh outlets pan-India in the next 2 years. 

Q: What are the company’s revenues and growth targets?

A: In the last financial year’s Corporates recorded revenues of around ₹880 crore and House of Bindu alone contributed ₹570 crore

Our ambition is bold:

We are targeting ₹1,000 crore from House of Bindu alone within the next three years taking SG Corporates to cross 1500 crs

This growth will come from:

· New geographies

· New products and more ethnic flavors

· Stronger retail and digital presence

Q: Are you planning franchises or manufacturing partnerships?

A: We are not looking at retail franchises. We have our factory outlets or company outlets and we have now almost 10 in Bengaluru alone.

What we are actively exploring is co-packers — manufacturing partners in North India.

Since our main plants are in Puttur, Hyderabad and Vizag, transporting beverages across the country becomes expensive and slow. To serve North India efficiently, we are looking for regional manufacturing partners who meet our quality standards.

What we look for in a co-packer:

 · Strict quality and hygiene standards

 · Process compatibility with Bindu systems

 · Strategic location near key markets

 · Strong warehousing and logistics

Q: How is sustainability addressed in your packaging?

A: Bindu bottles are made from recyclable PET material. We comply with the government’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) norms and work with certified recycling agencies across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. These agencies collect and recycle post-consumer plastic bottles, for which we pay a mandatory recycling fee. Sustainability isn’t optional — it’s built into our operations along with R&D and quality operations

Q: What new products has House of Bindu launched recently?

A: Along with our iconic Jeera, Mango and SipOn Orange, we have introduced:

Bindu Nannari – A traditional South Indian root-based drink with carbonation which is originally a drink of Kerela

Bindu Lemon – Made with real lemon pulp (not soda-based) and are coming out soon in summer with coconut water.

A growing range of snacks and savoury products are also part of our portfolio.

We are now a complete Food & Beverage brand with over 45–50 products in our portfolio.

Q: What lies ahead for House of Bindu?

A: The next phase is about national expansion and deeper consumer engagement.

Our roadmap includes:

Stronger presence in North & West India

Expansion in quick commerce

New manufacturing capacities

A future IPO

From a humble jeera drink in 2002 to a ₹570-crore FMCG business today, House of Bindu is proving that when tradition meets consistency, brands are built for generations.