Ep. 11 From Bread to Brew: Innovating Against Food Waste w/ Naman Tekriwal

In this engaging episode of The Conscious Cut, host Hoiki Liu chats with Naman Tekriwal, a dynamic student entrepreneur and advocate for financial literacy and sustainability. A recent HKUST graduate hailing from India, Naman recounts his remarkable path starting at age 13 with a startup teaching high schoolers about investing and saving, evolving into Rural Invest to empower rural communities with practical financial tools. Drawn to Hong Kong by serendipity, he co-founded Breer, an innovative upcycling venture turning surplus bread into craft beer to combat food waste. From dorm-room experiments during COVID to launching flavors like pineapple bun IPA and non-alcoholic cocktail bun brews, Naman shares how conscious capitalism can drive real environmental change. The episode even features a lively beer tasting! Listen in for motivating stories on blending innovation with impact, and explore ways to embrace sustainable habits in everyday life.

Naman Tekriwal is the co-founder of Breer and a champion of sustainable entrepreneurship.

Thank you for listening!

Transcript

Introduction to Conscious Cut Podcast

Hoiki Liu 0:04

Welcome to the Conscious Cut . I'm your host Hoiki Liu . This podcast is all about rethinking sustainability across fashion , lifestyle and everyday practices . Through conversations with entrepreneurs , policymakers , educators and changemakers in Hong Kong and beyond , we'll explore real solutions , from industry-wide policies to the small habits we can all adopt . Let's cut through the noise and create meaningful change together .

Meet Naman Tekriwal: Student Entrepreneur

Hoiki Liu 0:35

Welcome to another insightful episode of the Conscious Cut , where we spotlight changemakers who are redefining successful purpose . Today we have with us Namin Thakuriwal , a recent graduate of HKUST , a student entrepreneur , innovator and advocate for financial literacy and sustainability . So you started your first startup at 13 , promoting financial literacy among high school students While you were in high school . You represented India globally twice While you were in financial instruments and co-founded Breer . How do you say it ?

Naman Tekriwal 1:31

Breer .

Hoiki Liu 1:31

Breer yeah , breer , a food upcycling startup , beer from food waste , and I'm super excited to have you here because , besides a regular segment of this podcast , we'll be beer tasting . Yes , okay , maybe for the first question , we won't jump into the beer first , since we're talking about when you were 13 years old , but actually no , even before that . Why don't we go to a little bit about your background , where you're from , what brought you to Hong Kong ? I always ask all my guests that ?

Early Entrepreneurship Journey at 13

Naman Tekriwal 2:05

No , first of all , thank you so much for having me . You know it's a pleasure doing this with you . You know who's already running a successful business , so looking forward to learning from you as well . How did I come to Hong Kong ? You know , I was just mentioning that it's like my life is a story of serendipity , right , everything happens because I was just at the right place at the right time .

Naman Tekriwal 2:26

So I was born into a business family . So actually , before me and my sister , no one completed formal college education , right ? And my dad had to join the family business when he was like 15 . So he had to drop out of high school as well to join the family business , was like 15 . So he had to drop out of high school as well to join the family business . And , yeah , for me , all my summer vacations was literally accompanying him to the office and you know that's how I learned . That was my first twist with like business sales and things like that . But he always really , you know , emphasized on the importance of , you know , self independence , financial independence , and you know like doing thingsependence , financial independence , and you know like doing things for your own .

Naman Tekriwal 3:06

So , yeah , born in India , in Delhi , which is the capital of India and always emphasized on education . But I have an elder sister , so she got the opportunity to choose university first and she chose the US , so she went to the West and then , when it was my turn , my dad gave me the choice that you know , one child is already in the West , so I want the other to be in the East . So you get options in Singapore and Hong Kong you can choose . So then I applied to Singapore and Hong Kong universities , got into HKUST and thus took the decision to come to Hong Kong . So not 100% my choice , because it was a narrow choice done by my father but turned out to be the best decision of my life .

Hoiki Liu 3:49

Yeah , definitely . Because I mean , I'm just going to jump straight in and say this you started beer while you were in school , in university . In my first month of university actually , so yeah , so you can't do that if you're in the US , I assume 100% .

Naman Tekriwal 4:03

Yeah , no , you need so much more time to settle in Hong Kong . I came , I saw a problem and I was like you know why wait ?

Hoiki Liu 4:11

Also the fact that you'll be an underage drinker starting a beer company .

Naman Tekriwal 4:16

Exactly . In US or Delhi right .

Hoiki Liu 4:21

Yes , so Hong Kong worked out in my favor that way . Yes , Okay , so I'm glad you came to Hong Kong because we get to talk about this . Okay , going back to you starting your first entrepreneur journey when you were 13 years old , starting up a startup that promotes financial literacy Correct , what inspired you to do it ? I mean , I know you already said a bit your dad would be very keyed on you guys being financially independent . But , like , like I told you when I met you , I still feel like I'm financially like illiterate , you know . So , like , why did you think it was important for everybody you know at the time and who were you promoting to yeah , so for me , right , coming from personal experiences , like , I bought my first stock when I was like 11 .

Naman Tekriwal 5:08

Because my dad really wanted you know that for me to learn these things , like , if you get money , there's a portion of spending and there's a portion of saving , right , so how do you save money , how do you allocate money ? These things were taught to me at home , right , but when I was going to school and I was seeing my friends , no one was talking about money . And I think there's also cultural very similar between China and India , right , that there's like this taboo around money that it's the male superior of the house which will manage all the money , right , and the kids are not exposed to it . The females are not exposed to it . But my dad approached it differently . But when I saw that , you know , my friends are not talking about it , I'm like you know that's concerning , because India , one out of three people still don't have a bank account , you know , like , and like less than 10% of people invest in the Indian stock markets . The traditional form of saving is still cash denominated , so there are concepts like inflation , which majority of the India doesn't even understand . So I was like , you know , like this needs to start from the grassroots , which is from education , and it was not included in our curriculum . I don't know why we were learning about French revolution but not compound interest . Right , you know that's what we need to learn about the how does compounding work ?

Naman Tekriwal 6:29

So it really started as a social initiative that if I know something , I can go and tell that to other students . The first hurdle was will they take me seriously ? That depends on the content , but I just started . I started reaching out to high schools , middle schools , that hey , I want to come and do a seminar , webinar about financial literacy , and my pitch to students used to be that if you start saving your pocket money today , in five years time you don't even know you might be able to fully finance your college education with the right investments , right ? So then people started understanding the importance of it and then you know , after that , I think visited over 100 schools and a year later you know schools and parents started reaching out to me and saying that , hey , you know you encourage these students , but now where do they save the money ? Because they don't know how to , their parents don't know how to , and I was like , okay , then we need to solve this . Right ?

Naman Tekriwal 7:28

So I partnered , because I couldn't get a license I was only 14 at that time right ? So I went out and partnered with a company which had , you know , the right licenses , and then we started a microfinance platform where students , would you know , contribute like $1 , $2 , $10 . And then that would be a portion of their pocket money saved , and then we would pool that money and invest it into mutual funds , and then the whole idea was that maybe they're not making significant return , but it is habit inculcation , right ? You know , how am I saving is more important than how much am I earning . So that was the idea , and you know , I ran that with all the hurdles and challenges for the next two years , literally learning how to run a business , like how to make pitch decks , how to make presentations , how to talk , all of these things right , and that , like when I was 16 , there was a larger mutual fund house in India which wanted to start a similar product which was like educational , but they also wanted high school students to participate .

Naman Tekriwal 8:31

And I had data of over like 50,000 students , you know , who wanted to do this , which is like top tier cream of India , you know , like their parents' data , their data . So then they asked me that you know , like , can we buy out your company ? Because we want the data . So it was predominantly a data acquisition and the saddest part of this entire story is I still don't know where that acquisition money is , because I couldn't have a bank account in India . So my dad did the negotiation and my dad got the money . But I hope it's safely invested for me , but I still don't know where that money is .

Hoiki Liu 9:02

It's probably in your . Your dad's going to tell you it's in your college education right , which I already financed myself .

Naman Tekriwal 9:07

So I don't know , I don't know where that money is right , so

Birth of Breer: Food Waste Solution

Naman Tekriwal 9:10

, but I hope it's being invested for the right causes and reasons . But that three-year experience really shaped my DNA as a builder . You know , like I realized that I come from this specific sect and part of the Indian community which is just business builders , and you know that's what we do . Like it's almost like doing a job is a sin . You know , like you cannot do a job , like it's just like your society will look down upon you if you do a job .

Naman Tekriwal 9:40

So I think a part of it was . You know , every dinner table conversation was about business . But as soon as I did it myself , I was like this is what I'm made for . You know , like I want to take decisions , I want to be accountable , and the impact I can create with business is what really struck me . Because you know , at that time , this concept of , like social entrepreneurship was just coming up , that you know , like capitalism has created so many problems in the world because it was maximization of profit . Yeah , and I feel and I learned , and I experienced it myself , that it is only capitalism and conscious capitalism we're discussing conscious cut today , right , but it's like conscious capitalism which can also solve these problems . Yeah , that's why I see entrepreneurship as , in many ways , like an enabler for solving so many of these global problems , be it climate change , be it financial illiteracy or so many other problems which the world is plagued with right now right because , um , I would assume like not even assume I would say like financial literacy , especially for our kids at a young age , students .

Hoiki Liu 10:38

It almost seems like such a luxury . You get it if you're from like a top tier family , you know . But , like you said , it's actually should be for everybody . But how do they get involved ? And if it's just you know , like I said , I've done those silly competitions when I was young it's like , oh , pretend you have a hundred dollars and it fits in something . But when you don't really understand what you're doing and you're just being thrown to like experience and try with no understanding , it's basically gambling .

Hoiki Liu 11:04

Okay so it's so great that you're actually putting it into a practical way for them to understand and then for them to actually be able to , um , practically invest , yeah , and and see the outcome . Because I feel like a lot of times , also for students I think this is for for me . I'm talking for myself , but if something doesn't feel real , it's hard to really put invest your time and your energy into it For sure . Yeah , so , having this in an actual platform , that must be so , so real .

Naman Tekriwal 11:36

And so is that what shaped your later ventures , I guess , with Role Infest , yeah so like once , you know , like that company acquired the high school financial literacy company , right , I was just thinking that these students still had resources . You know , they had wealthy families , you know tier one Indian families . So they were well-to-do , right , and that's why they would have , in the end , figured it out . Yes , they figured it out early because of my assistance , but they would have figured it out . But the real problem lies with the rural population of India , which is the blue collar workers , the farmers .

Naman Tekriwal 12:18

And that was the time when India witnessed one of the most significant global financial revolutions , witnessed one of the most significant global financial revolutions . Like we got access to democratized internet , like you know , like 5g being available in villages , and then , obviously , with the access of internet , the access of bank accounts , the access of , you know , this technology of united payments interface called upi in india . You know that's what ushered in a wave of like financialization in India . I was like , how do we now take this concept of financial literacy and bring it to people who actually need it ? And that's what germinated the idea of rural invest , which is , go to tier four , tier five , tier six cities , right , and tell them how they can do it .

Naman Tekriwal 13:06

But the challenges were completely different . Right , these people can't even speak English , most of them , right , and they will only speak their regional languages . And in India , at every 100 kilometers , the language changes . So the aspect that you have to be their friend , because in tier one one , you can still convince people that stock market is good for them , stock marketing is actually gambling . For them , cash is king . You know , that's the only investment , and maybe gold and real estate that's the only thing they invest in .

Hoiki Liu 13:36

So like something that you can hold exactly like tangible like , yeah , like what is stock that's ? Why we talk about like manufacturing , like that . It's a lot of times manufacturing is done by people who only understand the concept of physical items . Yeah , yeah 100% .

Naman Tekriwal 13:50

So that's why this , like when I was building Rural Invest , right , it was really partner . It was really important to partner with the right government organization . So the first partner we got what was like a government body with the same exact mission of like doing what we were doing . So , like then we set up like rural camps very similar playbook , just like you know , like the scale and the impact was astronomically different , you know , because these were people who were probably on their last dollar when we were reaching them right . They were like hand to mouth to the extent that they were spending what they were earning the same day right and enabling them to , you know , take these decisions .

Naman Tekriwal 14:32

Like I literally remember there was this one story of like a farmer who started to invest via the platform we built and then , due to bad monsoons , his like roof in his you know home fell off and then he all the cash which he had stored basically got washed away in the same house .

Naman Tekriwal 14:48

But because he was investing with us , he had that emergency fund which allowed him to build his home back and I was like that's the impact I created . You know , like that is what is enabling farmers and blue collar workers to have that emergency fund which could finance lands , which that emergency fund which could finance lands , which could finance emergencies , which could finance education . So that was really , you know , like my moment to be . Like you know , I'm creating tangible impact , and that is when I was , like you know , like I want to do this for the rest of my life , but obviously , at the same time , I had to progress in my life as well and take the hard decision to come to Hong Kong Right . So then I passed on this business to you know , like healthily , to another organization to run . I still advise them time and again , but now it's doing incredibly well , you know , back in India , creating a lot more impact with the right partner and companies , and I'm so happy that I was able to be a part of starting something so big and so meaningful .

Hoiki Liu 15:45

Yeah , that's why I highlighted you as a student entrepreneur , but also an innovator and an advocator , because you know you're able to just start up something , ensure that it's going to run smoothly and pass it on and you're on to your next thing . But it's so good that you can actually help the lower class , like the rural people that you say , like for them to be able to see past their day to day and just see beyond that , like you know , to actually feel like there's a future . It's giving them a lot of hope .

Naman Tekriwal 16:12

Yeah , 100% , yeah , it's just you know powerful in so many ways .

Hoiki Liu 16:17

Yeah , so I think , besides being a financial tool , it's just something that really lifts the whole community .

Naman Tekriwal 16:24

Yeah , for sure .

Hoiki Liu 16:25

All right , but so and then you're in Hong Kong . Now You're in HKUST . Okay , so your dad is the reason that got you to Hong Kong , but why ? What did you study when you were in ?

Naman Tekriwal 16:37

university . So I studied management and marketing , but when I joined the university I did not declare a major and management and marketing I can get to that story right but for me the idea was that I had like because I just had heard things about finance , hong Kong , bigger finance capital , and my two startups previously were in finance . I'm like sure , finance is what I understand , finance is what I'll do , only for me to come and understand that finance in India and finance globally works very differently . You know , like in , like global finance is all about , like investment , banking and all of these things , and there's no like the problems which we're solving are not the same . So when I came to Hong Kong right for me , I was like , yes , impact is something which appeals to me . And for me I was like very exploratory . I like , literally I was that one student who would raise his hand up for everything and volunteer for everything and say no to you know nothing . I was like saying yes to everything .

Naman Tekriwal 17:34

So when I came to Hong Kong , the first vivid difference I noticed between cultures was the food waste , because , as an Indian , we're raised with the value to not waste food . Like you know , it's like almost a sin to waste food . If you want to eat one bowl of rice , you take one bowl of rice and you finish it . Not take four bowls of rice , waste three and only eat one , right . So we were raised with that value .

Naman Tekriwal 18:01

But Hong Kong was so fast paced that I would see students , you know , fill up an entire plate of food but they had to rush for a class and like leave everything else out and like just waste and the preferences of people in general . So I was like you know , this is something like it was just an overarching problem . I saw , not wanting to do something about it , but again , again , serendipity and I go hand in hand , right , so that's what happened . Like , literally , I was at this orientation for a social impact competition and there were in that room there were only two people who constantly kept engaging with the organizer , like I was . It was me and now the person who is my co-founder .

Hoiki Liu 18:43

Yeah .

Naman Tekriwal 18:44

Because I literally met my co-founder in a room full of , like students , but it was the two people who kept engaging with the , you know , the people who were organizing the session . I was like , okay , there's definitely a connect . And then we connected on the problem of food waste . But it was like , no , we don't have to start a company . That was just the idea , right . And then Serendipity would have it , we were taking the same course and this is when protests were going on in Hong Kong , right ? So everything on campus was shutting down at like 8pm and there was this midterm exam which we took , and it ended at like 9pm and we didn't have any dinner options on campus . We were like , let's take a taxi , and this is HKUST , like far off in Sai Kung , right , like it's like it takes a decade to get there . So we had to take a taxi to go to , like TKO , which is the closest you know metropolis near us , and the only thing which was open was a bakery . Oh , okay , and then we literally went there and they were like literally closing , and my co-founder , who is , like you know , born and raised in Hong Kong , could speak Cantonese . She convinced them that please give us five minutes . We want something to eat . So we got whatever we could . But we were sitting there and then he was like I'll wind up the bakery . And then he took all the bread which was not sold that day and threw it into a rubbish bag , like a black rubbish bag . Yeah , and just out of curiosity , I asked the question right , what are you going to do with it ? Are you going to donate it , use it the next day ? What's the plan ? He's like no , I'm just going to throw it . Yeah , and I was like why ? Because in India , you know , we store bread for like two , three days in the refrigerator . Yes , I was like why would you throw it ? Because he's like it's way too expensive to dispose it off carefully . It's not people's preference to consume not fresh bread , because I'd bake fresh bread tomorrow and people would want fresh bread . So the only easiest option is to throw it . And that is where I was like oh , this is a big problem . This is not a problem of like students , this is a problem which is existing at commercial scale . So then I was like we definitely need to do something about this . But we didn't know what , right ? And then we was like we definitely need to do something about this , but we didn't know what , right . And then we were like exploring charities there's already Feeding Hong Kong , there's already Breadline , there's so much happening .

Naman Tekriwal 20:53

And then the Eureka moment literally happened to me when I was in Lan Kwai Fong , so the midterm exams had ended . It was , they literally ended , and I , as I said , I just became eligible to drink . Like it was at the brink of my eligibility that I can drink now . And then I was still not drinking because I was like , you know , not the right day to start , whatever .

Naman Tekriwal 21:14

But I was in a bar or club and I saw the bartender drinking something same color as beer , but was not beer . And then I asked him him , what are you drinking ? And then he said this is a drink called kvass , k-v-a-s-s . Right , so this is a very popular drink in China . Okay . And then I , when I dug up history , it's like this drink originally used to be created for Egyptian pharaohs , okay . Then it migrated to Russia as a popular drink and now it's a very popular drink in China and kvass is basically alcohol made by fermenting bread . Okay , right . And I was like this is the Eureka moment . You know , you saw the problem last week and today you can see that you can make a product which is commercial habit-forming . You know , third largest consumed drink in the whole world why not do that ?

Hoiki Liu 22:04

so it's the biggest um food waste is also the biggest polluter , exactly yeah , one sort of carbon emissions is food waste , right ?

Naman Tekriwal 22:11

yeah , I was like this is what we have to do . We have to make beer from bread . Yes , that was that was the idea , right ? And then , then what followed was like 10 months of pure r&d . And you know all the all the humble beginnings of breer , as to how we got to where we are today . But , as I said , breer is literally a business born out of serendipity . Everything just happened because I was at the right place at the right time , yeah , being in Hong Kong at the right age , at the right age at the right places , and it just happened yeah , that's so great because I mean actually the the episode before one .

Hoiki Liu 22:43

I was just talking to Green Hour . So yeah , they also collect bread and we donate , we give it out on the same night to people on the streets , but yeah so many charities , like everyone's doing amazing work and you know like we didn't want to like impede on what they're doing , so like I mean it's a good balance because , you know , the truth is we approach a lot of bakeries that don't want to donate their bread to us .

Hoiki Liu 23:10

They would rather discard it and throw it away , and you know , this is part of the reason why I'm always like it gets to an end of the day , either some businesses need to come in to make things make sense , because we can't , or the government needs to step in . It's also hard for the government to stand and be like , hey look , you know , as a business , you have to donate things , that it's wasteful and self-wasting and donate it . A lot of business , you know , from clothes to food . They don't want to do it .

Hoiki Liu 23:31

And we all understand the reasons at the end of the day . But you know , as you guys come in and it's like , look , I'm going to buy your waste at a low price , oh , you don't buy , we don't buy , oh , and they fully donate it .

Naman Tekriwal 23:42

They fully donate it . But the logic there is that , you know , we now obviously work with businesses who had to dispose it off properly , so it was a cost for them . So we replace that cost of disposition by , you know , using our logistics to do that . So it is a win-win . But we , they don't , we don't pay for the bread . And we are obviously eventually maybe we might have to , but right now we don't pay for the bread . Okay , we are obviously eventually we might have to , but right now we don't pay for the bread . But it's like the way we work with companies it is public relations for those companies , it is sustainability for those companies , so those companies want to do it .

Hoiki Liu 24:17

Yeah , if they can document the data of how much food waste they're actually giving to you guys to save it from going into the landfill , it's it's actually very impactful . Correct , correct , um . Can we try the beer ?

Naman Tekriwal 24:28

sure , we , we , we must , you know . Yes , because , like our tagline in this company is literally called does good tastes better ? Yeah , great . So you know , we in the end , with a beer , yeah , you'll buy me for the first time because , yes naman , sustainable , all good , but if it doesn't taste good , you're not going to come back the second time . Exactly as simple as that , right ?

Hoiki Liu 24:50

Okay , so what's the first one we have ?

Naman Tekriwal 24:53

So the first one we have is the

Beer Tasting and Product Development

Naman Tekriwal 24:55

most approachable beer we have . It's a lager , like you know . If I'm going to take a look at it , yes , please , if . If you don't care about sustainability at all , you know like and you just want a beer , okay , it's a lager . Okay , 4.8% . You can drink it all day if you want . So that's the logic of creating a lager , basically .

Hoiki Liu 25:13

I love that how it's got a little beer like a few beer , but is it meant to look like a hole ?

Naman Tekriwal 25:19

No , so . So I mean , in the end I became a marketing student , right ? So there's a lot of logic which actually went into the packaging . So there are three elements which are , like , quite unique about the . Wow , that's a lot of beer for lunchtime .

Hoiki Liu 25:34

I know we should be tasting , but okay , I'll give myself less .

Naman Tekriwal 25:38

Yes .

Hoiki Liu 25:39

Here you go .

Naman Tekriwal 25:42

So there's so much thought which actually went cheers . There's so much thought which actually went into the packaging , right ? So , because when we started originally , it was like you know , we like intensively tested with customers and people were like you know , you have fancy packaging but the bread story does not come out . So we like how can we make the bread story shout ? So there are three things in that can which is really important , right ? So if I could really guide people , the first thing is the cutout .

Naman Tekriwal 26:15

The cutout is that the idea was that , yes , it was cut out from the system and you can see yourself making the change . So that's the logic that we self-empower people , right ? The second thing is this checkered line which represents all the supermarket bread from garden . So everyone who's ever bought bread in Hong Kong knows that there's checkered lines on garden packaging , right ? So it's a instant resonance . And the third thing is the back of the can , which is we close the life cycle of bread . So when the can is closing , it's a bread packet closing , so it's like us closing the life cycle of the bread . And we have this QR code on the cans which , when you scan , you get to know the exact impact you made as an individual by drinking this can . So how much grams of bread did you save ? How much carbon emissions did you save ? How much water did you save ? Everything .

Hoiki Liu 27:06

That's so great . That's what the fashion industry is talking about when we want digital product passport .

Naman Tekriwal 27:11

It's pretty much that . Exactly so that's what we do . So Brier stands for bread plus beer . Basically yes .

Hoiki Liu 27:17

That's so great . Cheers , again Cheers . It's really crisp and refreshing . This one , it's called a crisp lager Right .

Naman Tekriwal 27:34

So that's the intention and the one thing which we've been very thoughtful about . Right , my co-founder is a female .

Hoiki Liu 27:39

Right .

Naman Tekriwal 27:40

And beer is typically , you know , perceived to be an alpha male , machoistic drink . Right , but I was like no , you know , like it needs to be an equitable drink . So , like , we try to make our beer intentionally more light and easy on the palate , like , not like something which will hit your throat , because females don't like that experience . So , like , compared to other beer companies , my data shows that , like , we have a really balanced customer profile of male and female . It's not very male-heavy dominated , which is also something which is quite interesting .

Hoiki Liu 28:14

I do think , I don't know . I guess even in my own groups of people I see like growing up it was relatively balanced in Hong Kong . I'll say Interesting yeah . Okay , and so I like this one , but should we keep trying the next ones so we can compare them side to side For sure ?

Naman Tekriwal 28:34

Yeah , so we will go up in alcohol content from now . Okay , they started at 4.8 .

Hoiki Liu 28:43

This is nice , yeah , and we'll end at like 6.3 . So yeah , how long I'm going to keep asking you , you , these questions . And now I know how the idea came to you guys , but how long was the actual trial and error process ? I mean , it seems like it all makes so much sense because I think you know beer ferments from wheat , yeah , bread , wheat , bread . You know , but how did you know ? How did the science part of it actually come down ?

Naman Tekriwal 29:07

So that was the most humbling experience , like timeline of my life , right For me . I was a marketing student . My co-founder was an electrical engineering student , so no background in chemistry at all right . And no background in food At all right , Zero . So it was just very interesting for us , we . We were like , let's go and learn .

Naman Tekriwal 29:31

But that is exactly when COVID hit , so the government banned alcohol sales . All the breweries shut down . I cannot go and learn . So I was like , well , nothing's going to stop me . So I , very proudly , am a YouTube learned brewer . I literally learned beer making on YouTube . So I ordered a $35 home brewing kit from Amazon .

Naman Tekriwal 29:54

This is when I was in my dorm room and then I was like just tinkering around , so literally there have been times where I was in the common room of HKUST and I blew up the entire roof and the roof was filled with like wheat , right .

Naman Tekriwal 30:07

So we've literally come from those days where we did not know how to do anything and then obviously progressing along that lines , and so that was when we made our home batches , very like extremely bad beer , but just trying to learn , right . And then , when the ban got lifted , then you know , we started reaching out to breweries that , hey , can we do come and learn from you and , you know , do a pilot brew with you . And Can we do come and learn from you and you know , do a pilot brew with you . And then , fortunately , one of the head brewers at a local brewery was an HKUST alumni . I was like perfect , you know perks of being at HKUST alumni , let's get them . So we started approaching them and we did 22 or 23 iterations before we even came to an edible product oh wow , I wouldn't say tasty before we even came to an edible product .

Hoiki Liu 30:48

Oh wow , I wouldn't say tasty , I was going to say at first . I mean I was thinking I was like , oh , you were testing in the dorm during COVID . When everyone's on lockdown , you must have the most popular guy , like everyone's , coming to be your rapper 100% , 100% .

Naman Tekriwal 31:02

You know it's because it was so cool that at 19 , you knew how to make beer right and you were the only student legally allowed by the university to store alcohol in your dorm room , because the like , otherwise you can't store alcohol in your dorm room , right and like , my dorm room was my laboratory , it was my meeting room , it was my warehouse , it was everything right . So it was extremely amazing to be a student at that time , because everyone's like can I volunteer , can I ? Yeah , you try at your own risk , you could potentially die also . Yeah , right , uh , but uh . So yeah , the iterations professionally took like a lot of time because every batch took three weeks , because it's beer right , it needs time to ferment right so three weeks into 23 .

Naman Tekriwal 31:46

you can imagine it was almost an year-long process before you know we really started making progress , because what we really had to figure out was that how is the bread affecting the recipe ?

Hoiki Liu 31:59

Yes , because you need to come up with specific flavors .

Naman Tekriwal 32:02

Exactly so . It was difficult , like you know . The simplest example I can give you is if you're making beer regularly , right , you add a bit of salt for stability . However , you know , like , bread is already processed , so salt is added . But what we did not realize until very late in the process , right , why is the beer becoming salt ? Because we're adding calcium sulfate plus the bread already has the salt . So thus the double salt makes the beer salty .

Naman Tekriwal 32:29

So we made some which were sweet , some which were salty , some which were not even edible , some were like very bad . But as soon as we made a product which we were like drinkable , you know , it won't kill people I was like let's go and speak to customers . So we set up a pop-up booth . I remember our first pop-up booth was at a place called Explorium in Lychee , cork . And then we set up a pop-up booth and then , you know , we made people try and we're like please give us feedback , please give us feedback , right , with some packaging , whatever . Back in the day , and I literally had people like spit the beer out in front of me because it was bad . I was not proud of the product . I was like sure , you know , if you want , spit it on my face , I'm happy , but give me feedback , which is more important .

Hoiki Liu 33:11

And you need the honesty .

Naman Tekriwal 33:12

Yeah , I really need the honesty . So it was that feedback which then snowballed into becoming , you know , the product which we have on the product line today . So the product which we'll try today is actually our first product . So this is the flagship product , called Brewer Pale Ale , because pale ale is the most approachable form of craft beer . So this is the first product we created and for the first year , we only had one product , which is this , and then we literally went like store to store sir , please , test , please . You know , give us a chance , give us , you know , keep us on your shelves . So that's how we started . So this was literally our first product and our flagship product for the long .

Hoiki Liu 33:50

And where can we find your products right now ?

Naman Tekriwal 33:53

So now we sell in over you know like 300 plus stores , so you can buy us in City Super . You can buy us in you know like Slow Vought . You can buy us on our website . You can buy us at a lot of like bars , bottle shops , restaurants , and we're available at a lot of like bars , bottle shops , restaurants and we're available at a lot of places . But obviously since then the business model has evolved

Scaling Internationally: Singapore and Beyond

Naman Tekriwal 34:16

. You can also find us in 7-Eleven , but with 7-Eleven the logic and the model is that we make a custom product for 7-Eleven , so it's still Brewer , but a product made by Brewer for 7-Eleven . So now there are a lot many different models at play which we can discuss , but our own products you can obviously find in bars , bottle shops , restaurants . You go to 99 Bottles , the most popular on Peel Street . You can find us there . So you can find us at a lot of these different popular craft beer places .

Hoiki Liu 34:46

Okay , yeah , I guess it also makes sense that 7-11 does have , does sell , their own brands of baked goods . Yes . Do they give ?

Naman Tekriwal 34:56

it to you guys . So the logic with 7-Eleven is not baked goods , but it's something similar . So what we did with 7-Eleven is 7-Eleven has seven cafes , so what we do is that we collect coffee grounds from 7-Eleven , which is the powder which is left after you make coffee . Right ?

Hoiki Liu 35:13

And the coffee is actually not too bad .

Naman Tekriwal 35:14

Yeah , it's $16 . So , like you know , any day . But we take the coffee grounds and then we make a coffee stout for 7-Eleven . Oh wow . So we don't infuse artificial flavor . We actually upcycle coffee grounds , use that for the flavoring of the coffee along with the bread , and then we make a coffee stout for 7-eleven , which is now selling all 7-eleven stores in hong kong oh cool , all right .

Hoiki Liu 35:40

Cheers to this one , first cheers , and this is the pale . Ale yes , it's definitely less citrusy and less crisp than the last one . The last one has a very bright hit , correct ? But I almost want to say this this seems like an easier drink though yeah , so the pale ale and the like lagers are just more fermented .

Naman Tekriwal 36:05

Pale ales are less fermented . So like , that's why it's different styles , right . Pale ale , it's more crushable . You can keep drinking more and more of pale ales . Lagers bloat you less , so that's why the germans drink lagers . Oh wow , germans . The reason why they can drink beer over water is because they drink like three percent lagers . So like that's why they can drink like 10 , 15 , 20 a day . Right , because they do 3% and it's a lager , so it won't bloat you .

Hoiki Liu 36:34

How do you control the alcohol level ?

Naman Tekriwal 36:38

So you technically can't control . You do the pH testing after the alcohol is made , but you know , with the time of fermentation and the type of yeast and grain you're using , that what's your target range ? Like , our target range for most beers is between the four to five percent , but bread has more sugar and processed than grain , so that's why you'll find all our beers to be 5.5 , because you ended up having more sugar , right ? So , for example , there are breweries in Hongong which , like add actual mango juice to make like mango beers , yeah , right , and those beers can be like 13 as well , because it's like actual solid fructose being eaten by yeast .

Hoiki Liu 37:24

So that's why you'll create more alcohol in that process I see and so um , are you guys still looking to scale up BRR ? Is it going to go international , I guess ? Is there a chance ?

Naman Tekriwal 37:40

Well , we're speaking at the right time because we just launched in Singapore a month ago , okay , great . So after four years of operations in Hong Kong , we decided that there are other places where we can apply the same solution , but we are not the export model , because that is against the entire mission of sustainability . We don't want to export . What we want to do is take local bread from Singapore , make it locally and then make a custom product for Singapore . So the products we launch in Singapore will not be a mandarin sour , it will be a pandan lager , because Singapore loves not be a mandarin sour , right , it will be a pandan lager Because Singapore loves pandan .

Naman Tekriwal 38:16

Singapore loves kaya toast . So why will I use white bread ? I will use kaya toast , right , so it has to be localized . So we just launched in Singapore with our first pilot product , again in a similar collaboration , of what we do in Hong Kong and we're also going to launch in India by the end of the year . Oh , do in Hong Kong and we're also going to launch in India by the end of the year , oh , great . So , yeah , now we have plans of taking Brewer International .

Hoiki Liu 38:37

Oh , that's exciting to hear . So how I mean to grow it in this kind of scale , how do you secure funding ? How do you go to the different ?

Naman Tekriwal 38:51

areas . Do you approach in each area locally again . So Brewer is fully bootstrapped area locally again , or so breer is fully bootstrapped . We never raised external funding . Me and my co-founder own 100 of the company .

Naman Tekriwal 38:58

But the caveat was that , you know , we raised a lot of money through grants and competitions . Like we pitched to a lot of government grants , we pitched to a lot of competitions , right , and I think that's a message to all you know , student entrepreneurs , because it's very you know like , lack of a better word sexy to say that you know , I'll go and raise funds , but we all I mean , we were also enamored by the sexiness we also went to a VC that , hey , we want to raise funds , we want to scale , they're like , sure , but you'll have to drop out . And how do I convince my Indian parents that I want to drop out of a university ? Like it just doesn't work that way . So it was uh , I didn't even raise that conversation , right so that , hey , actually I'm on a student loan but I'm gonna drop out of university . You know like , so I didn't even raise that , but I was like , you know , like every student comes up to me and be like I have an amazing , brilliant idea , but I don't have money . I'm that's the worst excuse you can give me . You know , like , like , literally , the first check of 50K was written by HKUST to us . Like , you have to be at the right place and you have to have the right business plan . Right , hkust amazingly supports entrepreneurs . You know , like , that's why there's a reason that if Hong Kong has generated 13 or 14 unicorns , 9 or 10 are from HKUST Because of how the university treats entrepreneurs . Right , like the fact that we literally got an entire office to work at HKUST . They gave me special permissions to store alcohol in my dorm room .

Naman Tekriwal 40:28

All of this helps , right ? So that's the logic , that's the idea , idea , and we have never raised funding and we always ran this company with the idea of profit , right ? So the one core philosophy of this company is the three p's , which is people , planet and profit , because without profit you're running an NGO , right ? You have to generate profit for you to serve people and the planet . So we always wanted to be a profit-making company since the first year . So we , you know , we focused on that . We didn't want the burn to earn model that you keep burning for 10 years and then , you know , you finally take an exit . It's a model . People do it , I don't support it . Right , so we never raised money . People do it , I don't support it , so we never raised money .

Naman Tekriwal 41:17

And now we are profitable enough to finance our operations . We don't need more money . We can easily scale into other countries because of our asset light model . We don't own any factories . We work with existing factories with strong IP and strong legal documentation and we don't need manufacturing setups . Thus , it is very easy for breer to scale as a concept , because we just go to other countries and be like , hey , we'll do the same concept . We find a partner and we become the r&d , we become the idea , you become the local logistics partner and the local support partner .

Hoiki Liu 41:48

So that's how breer scaling globally now that is so , that's so , that's so smart and so clever . So I mean , I guess all of this did come to you because ever since you were a student , you've been joining a lot of different competitions and hackathons . I also want to try the next beer , but okay , so you've won . I got this from you on LinkedIn , but you've won over 35 hackathons , including by Grab , Haggadice , Deloitte . But when did you start and how many competitions were you looking at in a year ? Or was it like how did you decide what competitions to join , when to join ? What's that whole process ?

Naman Tekriwal 42:34

Well , the answer to it was simple right . For me , learning is experiential learning . Like you know , when people say that , naman , how did you manage the time to run a company while you were a student ? I'm like it is so complimentary , you know . Like , whatever I was learning in university , I was applying to Breer . Whatever I was learning at Breer , I was applying in university . It is so complimentary and I feel university can help you .

Naman Tekriwal 43:02

But university can't make you skilled right . The skills really come from you doing actual things . And I feel hackathons and case competitions are you getting a outlet to do that ? For example , in hackathon with grab or hagen does right . It's like the company is facing a problem which is an actual commercial problem . How do you solve for it ? That's the thinking which people should have and that's why , more than entrepreneurship , I'm an advocate for entrepreneurial mindset , because that you can apply even if you're an employee , even if you're an ngo worker , even if you're a housewife , even if you're a politician . Entrepreneurial mindset is more important , right than being an entrepreneur .

Naman Tekriwal 43:49

So I think these hackathons really form the foundation of you know you doing and approaching problems in the right way . How can you break down problems ? How can you structure solutions , how to pitch better , how to present better . You know , like when I participated in my first hackathon , I remember like our pitch was so bad . You know , because in india , you know , we're literally raised with the value that wrote learn everything . You know . Like wrote , learn the entire script and just blurb it out .

Naman Tekriwal 44:16

But that's not how presentations are . There's a component of storytelling , there's a component of composure , poise . You know , literally , like now , when I write my scripts or when I practice my scripts , it's like an average human can speak 150 minutes , 150 , 150 words in a minute . Right , that's the average . I try to speak 130 so that you seem more calm , you seem more composed . But in India you'll be like I'll go fast , as fast as you can . 200 , 250 , 300 , just comprise all the knowledge you have .

Naman Tekriwal 44:49

I'm like that's not how it works , it's not the quantity , it's the quality . So that's like just so many things which you learn out of these experiences , right ? So I feel these hackathons and case competitions are what university can really give you and the opportunity to meet so many other like-minded students , the opportunity to meet , like literally , like because of that one competition orientation , I met my co-founder , right ? It's like people say , how will I meet my co-founder ? I'm like , if someone has taken the initiative to participate in a case competition , there are anywhere above 99% who haven't taken the initiative . So the filter is already there for you that the people who are taking the initiative are the people who you want as co-founders , and then you make cherry nitpicking after that . So I feel these competitions are really helpful for you to build a mindset of how to solve problems .

Hoiki Liu 45:43

Right . So it's a great way to , I guess , set up your path for logic , yeah yeah , logical past . So , I guess , are these hackathons that you joined , were they in university mostly , or in high school already , because you already represented India twice while you were in high school ? Anyway , right ?

Naman Tekriwal 46:05

because I just wanted again experiential learning , learning by doing . I just wanted to do that right . So , literally , like my my high school teachers infamously say that across 9th , 10th , 11th and 12th grade , I would have sat in class for one year because , because you're always out competing , exactly , I was like literally just going out and you know , representing india , representing my school in different things . So this is a sour beer . So different , this is a sour beer . So we , we saw like so this is a very unique beer . This was our chinese new year special , so it's bread , and what we do , uh , beyond the bread , is we we worked with juice shops in hong kong , collected mandarin peels and then the mandarin was zested in the recipe , so it was mandarin peels also being upcycled . This was a Chinese New Year edition .

Hoiki Liu 46:59

I can taste the mandarin instantly , right away . And actually this is all they can say . I love how it says one can serves 20 grams of surface bread , 4 grams of mandarin peels , 0.3 meter square landfill space nice and 0.055 meter square of water . Correct ? With this beer , you are supporting UNSDG number 12 .

Naman Tekriwal 47:26

Which is responsible ? Consumption and production .

Hoiki Liu 47:28

Perfect . Oh , I love , I actually love this . It's a little bit small for my eyes but , wow , this is like fine print that I actually want to read . So going back , oh , but cheers for us . This is really interesting , but I can totally see this being a Mandarin , like a Chinese New Year or any chinese dishes . It's like opening a dinner opener . Instead of your welcome champagne , you have your welcome and I mean sour beers .

Naman Tekriwal 48:00

You know are very unique to the craft beer world because you find palers and lagers everywhere . But if you can do a good sour which is not overpowering and yet palatable , which means you did the right job right .

Hoiki Liu 48:13

Because I will say most of the time and Joey knows this most of the time , I don't like citrus beers .

Naman Tekriwal 48:18

Yeah .

Hoiki Liu 48:18

Yeah , but this is really nice .

Naman Tekriwal 48:20

Well , that's supposed to my girlfriend . She likes citrus beers . She only likes citrus beers .

Hoiki Liu 48:25

I always stay away from it . Actually , I'm usually more of a red L drinker .

Naman Tekriwal 48:32

Speaks the Canada .

Young Tycoon's Business Challenge

Hoiki Liu 48:34

There you go , yes , so okay , with all these competitions , challenges , hackathons that you've joined , now you've started your own right . What is this thing that you started ? Yang Taikun Business Challenge . Is it correct and localized , or would it be localized ?

Naman Tekriwal 48:53

Yang Taikun's's business challenge . You know , honestly , if you ask me that , until , whatever I've achieved in my life till date , what am I most proud of ? I would say it's by tbc , which is young tycoon's business challenge , and the reason I say that is because we started it , because there was covid right and and you started this while you're a student .

Hoiki Liu 49:15

I get that .

Naman Tekriwal 49:16

Okay , correct , so I started this when , in my second year of university right so it was COVID , peak of COVID right , everything was on Zoom Again , factories were shut down . This is when Omicron was taking off , like the second wave , you know , after the first wave was done , and we were , like you know , like , first of all , this was me and my high school best friends were separated in different parts of the world . I was like I need a reason to talk to you every day , right ? So then we I was like , you know , we want to do something together and we , for me , you know , you , you mentioned about the , the business plan competition I participated in during high school and I feel , in many ways , that competition formed , like you know , the building blocks , or the Lego blocks , of my entrepreneurial journey , because that competition taught me what is a business plan , what is a pitch deck , you know , like all of these very , very basic things .

Naman Tekriwal 50:11

So I was like you , you know , there are many opportunities like this for university students , but there are still not a lot of opportunities for high school students , and I wanted to do something and you had time on hand , right , because it was COVID , everything was online . That was like , let's start something which is a competition , but at the same time , it's a movement where I can get access to high school students anywhere in the world because it's online to experts anywhere in the world , right ? So it was a competition where student teams got mentors , they got workshops , they got resources and we literally started it as a passion project , like you know , no intention , like it was fully non-for-profit we did not generate a single dollar of money with this and we literally started with the first and I was , like you know , like let's see if we can get 100 applications , and when we closed applications , we had over 20,000 applications from 70 countries in the world how do you even handle that so ?

Naman Tekriwal 51:15

yeah , when we saw the numbers , right , I was like , okay , we need a team . You know , I had four people , so , but then , to start this competition , I partnered up with an edtech company in India which had the right resources and then , you know , like brick by brick , we created a team of like 250 student volunteers , so at one point , there were 250 people reporting . We created a team of like 250 student volunteers , so at one point , there were 250 people reporting to me , all of them being students . So this entire competition was by students for students . Oh wow , and then we ran this and then we raised sponsorships , like our competition till date has been the competition which has awarded the most money in cash prizes for across high school competitions . So the winner gets 5000 usd , which is a lot of money for a high school student , right ?

Naman Tekriwal 52:00

So we ran this for , you know , two years online and then we downsized it to become offline because as soon as covid ended , people didn't want online stuff anymore . People wanted physical experiences . So we downsized it to be physical and I passed it off again , healthily someone else to run the physical operations . But the two years I ran it online , right , the the thing which really humbled me , or I'm like , really grateful for is it was not only students from the US or Hong Kong or India , which are more mature markets , but we had students from like Mongolia , sudan , you know , like Nigeria , and they probably don't even have access to basic education , but they had access to entrepreneurial education and that was so heartwarming for me that you know I'm able to create , like , at least just sow this seed , that work for yourself .

Naman Tekriwal 52:55

Don't be a job seeker , be a job giver yeah and that was like you know , like when we ran this for two years , we , you know , changed the life and I still hear stories of like students that , hey , I became an entrepreneur now because of what you taught me back in the day . Right at one point we had over a thousand mentors as part of the program , doing workshops , you know , working with students , and I think everyone was just coming from an altruistic sense . No one wanted to make money in this .

Hoiki Liu 53:24

Yeah .

Naman Tekriwal 53:24

But the impact which we have created , we probably won't see it immediately , but 10 years down the line , when we see it like I see , like someone just pitched on Shark Tank who was a past participant of YTMBC , I'm like this is what I wanted you know , like if , even if we can create like one Elon Musk , yeah . From all the 40,000 participants of that competition . The mission was achieved .

Hoiki Liu 53:46

Yeah , Because not to like crap on current education .

Naman Tekriwal 53:50

But it's no , we shouldn't crap on current education , but it's no , we shouldn't crap on current education .

Hoiki Liu 53:54

To be very honest , I need a few more drinks to do that properly . Yeah , but no , like I mean they can't help it . In a way , they're failing our kids because they haven't caught up . Exactly , I don't even . It's not that they haven't caught up with the future , they haven't even caught up with what's happening currently , you know , we're studying from curriculums that was built like how many years ago ?

Naman Tekriwal 54:18

For sure , and , like , honestly , I don't blame the universities or the schools , right , because it is too hard to catch up . Yeah , exactly , and that's why I feel the future of education has to be experiential .

Hoiki Liu 54:33

And it also needs exactly what you say . It's those mentors who have the real-life experience to be willing to come in and participate and not work against the educators , but alongside the educators , so they can really bridge the knowledge of real-life experiences and what's teaching you being taught as theories . How does that actually play through in real life ? So , with that said , how do students sign up for this going forward ? Can they ? Because now you say it's offline ?

Naman Tekriwal 55:02

Yes , so it's offline . So , after running it for two years online , we basically partnered up with Harvard Student Agencies , which is a student-run body out of Harvard University which basically took over the program . So now this program you can still apply for it via Harvard student agencies , but it's a much downsized operation because they have to do it physically at Harvard .

Naman Tekriwal 55:24

And which is not necessarily a bad thing a lot of times , because if you're finding that group of students that's actually really keen and they're not just here to you know , to play , but they're here to get serious about something like via this platform , right , I will recommend students to just apply for anything right , you know , just apply for competitions , hackathons , anything which you can get access to , because the experiential learning and the knowledge you get from it like , like I always tell people right , as a student entrepreneur , like becoming an entrepreneur as a student is the best thing you can do , because you have nothing to lose , you don't have a kid to feed , you know you don't have any dependence on you . What's the worst which will happen ? The startup will fail and you will have a degree and you can go and get a job . As simple as that , right , but not taking the risk is the biggest risk , because if you took the risk , like , a failed startup is still 10 times better than a successful MBA .

Naman Tekriwal 56:42

Because I learned marketing in university . So I learned only about marketing , yes , about certain subjects , but when I start a company and I scale it to even certain extent , I learn about accounting , supply chain marketing , hr , manufacturing , distribution , sales , marketing , everything . So it is a crash course of what you will study in business school over four years . So why not start something ? That's my thinking right ? Pinking light okay .

Hoiki Liu 57:10

So , um , I want to ask you and more more , a deeper um , I want to go deeper on your failures actually , because you've done so many , like you said , like failures it's how you look at it . It's not necessarily fairly , but it's probably a really good lesson . That kind of spoke you to where you are today because of what you've learned . You know , when you've done something that maybe didn't have the most favorable outcome , what are some of those experiences that's happened that's really shaped or given you this , you know , light For sure I mean first of all , right .

Naman Tekriwal 57:49

This has , like , become my go-to saying in anywhere I do public speaking right . That for me , fail is an acronym which stands for first attempt in learning . Right f-a-i-n . First attempt in learning . Because a failure is only qualified as a failure if you don't learn out of it . If you learned out of it , it's a learn , it's not a failure .

Naman Tekriwal 58:12

So , for me , I wear my failures as my badges of pride , because those are my learning steps , those are my stepping stones to , like , you know , learn and like . Even today , every day , I feel as an entrepreneur . Right , like , yes , we launched in singapore right now , but we're not doing well , you know , we're like , we have to do more . You know like , and I get rejections every day from bars and bottle shops till date that , hey , you're too expensive , hey , our customers won't like the idea of sustainability . But I think , formationally right , I think the ability to cope with failures is more important . Like , for example , I would say the one experience which really shaped my ability to cope with failures was that I was standing up for the student council elections in my high school and I did not get elected as the you know , like , the leader of the student council or whatever .

Naman Tekriwal 59:04

And for me you know , like , because it's like people hyping you up that you will do it , you have that in your mind , that you will do it , but you set the expectation in the bar so high and you don't make it right . So there's a lot to do with how you manage expectations and how you manage those failures , but , like , how you come out of it right , like , for example , right even at HKUST there was this one . There's this one popular program called global business . Right , only 40 students accepted every year and I , you can apply for a major three times at hkust . I applied all three times to get into global business and I was rejected all three times . Right . And after , you know , I graduated with breer and all of these things .

Hoiki Liu 59:47

The program director said it was our loss not yours yeah , right , because I was like you , well , well , you didn't get accepted a program . You were actually start to run global business , exactly , exactly right , so I was .

Naman Tekriwal 59:59

Every failure has to strengthen you , so I feel there have been so many failures across brier's journey as well . Right , like I remember one of the biggest mistakes , failures , learning , was that I remember we had this contract with a big , large conglomerate for bread collection . Right , and you're still a small company and your resource constraint . So we had , like this , one small fridge in which we would store the bread . And I remember we had to do a test batch and we required like five kgs of bread . And then we spoke to this company . We went to collect and they gave us 10 kgs of bread instead of five . And now then we spoke to this company . We went to collect and they gave us 10 kgs of bread instead of five . And now , like , we have to take it right , we can't reject it , but we only need five . So our small fridge could only fit five . So we stored the five and we had no other option but to leave the five outside . And then this was like , already 2am in the night , we were like , let's go and sleep , we'll figure it out tomorrow . And when we came back tomorrow morning , the , the cleaners had thrown it away , the , the five kgs of bread , right . And then we get a call from the university sustainability office that you know this , this company who had the contract with is extremely anguished because their brand was tarnished . That you're . You know , people find their bread in the , in the garbage area and things like that , and the company took away the contract . Like they , they stopped giving us bread right .

Naman Tekriwal 1:01:24

And it was such a big learning about how do you manage stakeholders yes , yes , like I am still an 18 year old , 19 year old , like how do I do board meetings ? How do I go into relationships , like the fact that , how do you manage relationships at the corporate level , is such a valuable learning which I got when I was 19 . Yes , right , that you have to manage expectations . You have to be truthful , you have to be honest and you know we could have maybe rejected the five kgs there at least we would have still saved the contract . But we were like , might as well , take it , we'll figure it out .

Naman Tekriwal 1:01:56

But we weren't able to figure it out . So I think all of these learnings were really important and like forming you know , like now , what we do at brior or any of my other experiences , right , how do you communicate ? How do you manage expectations and I feel , at end of it , all of it is really to do with integrity and value . You know like if you're able to deal with it , you'll make it , but some people get so bogged down by failures or so you know like overwhelmed by failures , that it's very difficult for them to come out of it , and I think the more you train yourself to deal with it , the more you can , you know , excel and scale in life .

Hoiki Liu 1:02:32

Right , that's a really good way of looking at things . Can we get our next one ?

Naman Tekriwal 1:02:38

Next one and our best seller actually oh , really Great , so it's gonna . Once I introduce it , you will be like I'm so excited .

Hoiki Liu 1:02:47

Because I want to make sure we have something great for my next question .

Naman Tekriwal 1:02:52

Amazing . So this one is actually our best seller and it recently won best IPA in Hong Kong as well . So IPA stands for like Indian Pale Ale right . So these are again more like I'm very nuanced , but I would say the most popular choice for craft beer in Hong Kong . I was like , if it's the most popular choice , we will do it with the most popular choice , we will do it with the most popular bread of hong kong , which is bolobab I was just gonna say so .

Naman Tekriwal 1:03:18

The pineapple , it's a pineapple bun beer , right , and I want to pan on his face right now people go crazy over it , yeah , and it's my favorite beer and it's like it's a beer when , when we launch , it's sold out before launch , right , like as soon as we restock , it's sold out before we even restock . So , and I would really recommend you drinking it first . Give it a smell . Yeah , you realize

Learning Through Failure

Naman Tekriwal 1:03:43

, um , how much nuanced this beer is oh , even the color yeah , it's veryzy .

Hoiki Liu 1:03:51

It's the ball up our top . It does have a gosh . It feels like it has a pineapple smell , but it's the pineapple bun doesn't have any pineapple , exactly .

Naman Tekriwal 1:04:09

So that's the story I was coming to right . So me as an expat , I didn't know . Pineapple bun doesn't have pineapple , right ? So when we made the first beer from pineapple bun , I was like why does it not taste like pineapple ? And then my co-founder , who is local , like she told me that it doesn't have pineapple , so it should not taste like pineapple . But I'm like do you really think expats will know that it doesn't have pineapple ? And then we obviously did customer service for us to understand . Everyone thinks bolobao has pineapple , right ? Yeah , and then we intentionally add fresh pineapple to the recipe . That's why there's pineapple flavor okay , I was just got .

Hoiki Liu 1:04:47

I thought my eyes was tricking my sense of smell , you know no .

Naman Tekriwal 1:04:51

And so now this is the most um alcohol beverage content in our beers . It's 6.3 percent because of the sugar in bolobo . So the bolobo is already so sugary , right ? So if you look at plain white bread , you can start with the lager at 4.8 , but the bolobo is so sugary that the beer becomes 6.3 . So if I I tomorrow use a donut , it might be 8% . If I use a chocolate croissant , it might be 10% .

Hoiki Liu 1:05:18

So yeah , what about the oils in the bread ? Because in local Chinese bread like bolabao , they use often , they use lard .

Naman Tekriwal 1:05:25

Yeah .

Hoiki Liu 1:05:26

I guess when you go to India they use ghee .

Naman Tekriwal 1:05:28

Yeah .

Hoiki Liu 1:05:28

In Singapore ? I have no idea what they do .

Naman Tekriwal 1:05:33

So , yes , there in singapore I have no idea what they do . But so , yes , there is like we obviously have to use bolobas which doesn't have lard , you know , otherwise it becomes a non-vegetarian beer in many regards . Right , so we use bolobas which don't have lard . But at the same time , the reason you mention oils right , so oils disturb the stability of the beer , like you know , it won't be a stable beer , it'll have a very off taste . That's why what we do is , whenever we're working with a new bread , we first lactose the bread and we understand what all will this add to the beer , and then we figure out the recipe around that bread . So this bread intentionally has to have lactose , otherwise we cannot make a stable beer , right so it is a very nuanced process . That's why other beer companies can launch a beer in a month . We cannot , because there's so much R&D involved , right ?

Hoiki Liu 1:06:22

Well , I was just going to say , because it's like coming back to in fashion , when we talk about having your virgin polyester fabric versus your recycled polyester fabric . It actually takes so much more time and energy to get recycled materials into the fabric because you have to do so much cleanup . Basically , long story , short , right . I'm guessing with beer also , because when you're fermenting beer from the wheats , it's so easy , you know exactly what that ingredient is , right . But with beer , yeah . With bread . With beer , you have to first find out so much more , yeah .

Naman Tekriwal 1:06:58

So that's why the process is much more longer , and then you obviously have to achieve the right balance of taste right balance is the most important thing and , like one common feedback I've heard across all of our beers is that there is slightly less carbonation compared to if you pour a chinkta or asahi , because there is oils in the bread so it will stop carbonation from happening . So we try our best to retain as much as possible , but I can say it openly that it won't be exact . The first one was super carbonated . Yes , because that's again the lightest beer , right , and the most simplest bread . So that's why it's that's literally the recipe of the first one is five ingredients . So , like there's no fidgeting going on with the recipe or different types of you know elements , but as soon as you make it more , for example , right .

Naman Tekriwal 1:07:55

So last winter Mercedes was launching , like their EV or something like that , right , and they wanted a local product to give to like people who were coming to the launch event . They're like , can you guys do something ? So we made like a egg waffle beer for them . Yes , that's interesting , it was like you know , know , they were like , we want something local and you know , can you do something ? Because it's winter , so can you do a stout ? So we did like an egg waffle stout for mercedes and now egg waffle right , it's . It's not even a bread . Yeah , it has sugar . Yeah , so you can make beer out of that . So it's like you have to do testing . But we already told them that getting fermentation , like getting carbonation in this , is going to be tough , you know , because it's like egg waffle , there's like so much gone into the batter , so much , so there are nuances there .

Naman Tekriwal 1:08:41

But you know like brands love to work with us because it is their way of checking two very important boxes local and sustainable , yeah , right . So us working with swire properties . Like you know , they have rooftop farms and they had pandan leaves which were drying up , so we made like a pandan milkshake ipa for swire properties . There's hong kong tramways , which had their 120th anniversary and then , you know , we made like a egg tart beer and the egg tarts were collected across the tramway route . So , like you know , they got the story to tell . So , similarly , we just work with so many brands and enable them to be sustainable , like 7-eleven , max , sims all of these are same stories , right that ?

Naman Tekriwal 1:09:25

so we , our largest partnership in hong kong is with maxims yeah because maxims controls like 70 of the bread supply chain in hong kong .

Hoiki Liu 1:09:32

Yes , right so and I've approached- maxims many times about brand donations or bun runs and Because Maxim's controls like 70% of the bread supply chain in Hong Kong . Yes , right , and I've approached Maxim's many times about brand donations or bun runs and they said they've already donated to somebody . So I guess that's you ?

Naman Tekriwal 1:09:41

No , I mean , there are many people . So they donate to Feeding Hong Kong , they donate to fish feed farms , they donate to us . They donate Because if you control so much , you have you waste so much , right so you have to donate so much . And maxims has been an incredible supporter for bria , right ? So ? We've made two products with them which sells in almost all their restaurants . So , like kagura , kikusan , sendrio , thai basil , wildfire , like you , have more 250 restaurants , right , soon we will sell in , like some of their other restaurants , like shake shack you need to be in shake shack because they have their food waste .

Naman Tekriwal 1:10:15

That's the next step . That's the next step . So we're going to do that , and we're working with them on some really interesting products for their tea houses as well . So there's a lot of things which we're doing with them . They're also very experimental and one of our most trusted partners .

Hoiki Liu 1:10:29

Great , let's get our last one .

Naman Tekriwal 1:10:34

Yeah , most excited . Great , let's get our last one . Yeah , most excited about the last one , actually , because that's something which you probably wouldn't have had ever .

Hoiki Liu 1:10:38

Okay , I'm excited to try because it's been very , very good so far , and it's so very interesting how , when you guys close this , it's actually all in like this is a mandarin , correct and this is both of them are breads . Yes , what's the ?

Naman Tekriwal 1:10:49

difference between that one and this one . It's the same one . It's the same one . Okay , cool . So the last one is something which you know I proudly stand for , because this is purely driven by customer feedback . So now , one thing I still like to do very actively is do pop up booths , because that's where you hear customer feedback , life right . So I remember this came to me in a pop-up booth that someone said that hey , I want to support your mission , but I'm muslim and I cannot drink . How can you help me ? Or , like you know , I'm pregnant , or I'm lactose intolerant , or I'm this . Like you know , there are so many people who and , in general , there's a health trend where people are trying to like you to do away from alcohol .

Hoiki Liu 1:11:34

So we were like let's create a , and I feel like in the whole motion of being inclusive , no one's ever thought about the person that doesn't drink alcohol . We're all like , oh , we're going to go party , we're going to have so much fun , we're going to have drink . What about the person who wants to beat up but doesn't drink ?

Naman Tekriwal 1:11:47

Exactly so . We created a non-alcoholic beer , and our take on non-alcoholic was very different from other brands . Right , we wanted to celebrate hong kong , but we we wanted people to feel like oh , you're not drinking beer , you're drinking a pina colada , you're drinking a juice . So we used uh gai mei bao , which is cocktail bun .

Naman Tekriwal 1:12:07

You know it has a coconut filling , so when you drink it , it's like you're drinking pina colada , but non-alcoholic , that's awesome , so in a beer right so , and usually you know how it's like , uh , like semi-circle shape , so that's why this closes in that specific way , that's so cute so this is a non-alcoholic beer and now we're going really big on the non-alcoholic segment . We're launching another non-alcoholic beer really soon , so you'll see the color being very light

Defining Success Through Impact

Naman Tekriwal 1:12:32

because it has no fermentation . So it is .

Hoiki Liu 1:12:35

It has to be a light color and I actually was at , uh like a coffee rave with my son okay , nice , he's nine years old , that I mean we're meeting one of my customers who ran the place . So he just stopped by with me and came by and , um , you know , coffee right being totally fine because they were serving cookies and coffees and you know he can get a iced chocolate if he wanted . But they had a sponsor that day , so actually they had no alcohol on premise and when it's it's summer right now , so it's hot . So when we arrived my son , I gave him the non-alcoholic beer Because you know it was given to me . I took a sip of it and I was like , oh , this is not really beer .

Naman Tekriwal 1:13:22

I did it and I gave it to him and he likes it , but yeah , so let's see how this one tastes , cheers .

Hoiki Liu 1:13:36

Oh , I can taste the coconut . It tastes like summer in a cup . It tastes like coconut water in a way , but like more crisp .

Naman Tekriwal 1:13:46

Yeah , and a beer .

Hoiki Liu 1:13:53

Yeah , but not alcoholic . So I mean honestly , namin , it seems to me like you're already super successful and you've only graduated for like two years . I knew that it's summer now we're almost there .

Naman Tekriwal 1:14:05

Okay .

Hoiki Liu 1:14:07

But even though I think you're so successful already , how do you define success ?

Naman Tekriwal 1:14:12

For me , the definition of success is impact . You know , for me , the companies I start , the impact they create is my success . Profit is a part of it , but it's the larger impact which they're creating . The fact that , till Brea's history right , we've been able to save close to 200 tons of bread not going to a landfill right , more than 40 tons of carbon emissions not being emitted in the environment that's success . Right ? Profit is a byproduct it will come if you have a rice product , but for me , the success on a business side is definitely the impact I create . Right , because that is what is my purpose in life . On a personal side , success to me means how can I create more people who think like me ? Right , because for me , like this is an effort to make more people aware that we need impact driven businesses , we need purpose driven businesses , and the fact that we have corporates like Maxim's working with three or four year old companies where they could have worked with a Carlsberg , a Heineken , an AB and Bev right with a Carlsberg , a Heineken , an AB and Bev right , just goes out to show that this has to change across all institutions government , education , corporates , startups , everywhere . Right , where one of the biggest challenges I faced when I start any company is like , oh , you're a baby , you're too young , you know how will you start . And I'm like I will let my actions speak for myself . I don't want to defend my age , right , I'm still learning . Learning will always be a work in progress . But on the personal side , right , I mentor so many students , like , for example , I'm a part of a program that I mentor ethnic minority students which are disadvantaged compared to other students . Right , so it it's like how can I just enable more people to you know , like that's my way of like giving back , that's my mission of how we can create more people with this mindset that , whatever they do , they think from the lens of impact , and that is what matters to me .

Naman Tekriwal 1:16:29

Right , and in the end , there should be commercial success . Always , right , you know , don't do it out of a charity . Don't put your interests below society's interest . Always put yourself first . But don't maximize shareholder value , maximize stakeholder value and think about everyone who's involved in the supply chain , the people who are making the bread , the people who are making your . Yeah , for example , right , our cans because we get the bread for free could be cheaper , but the labels are soy based ink labels the can is recycled aluminium because it matters . You know like and like . Literally so many people have made the pitch to me that you know like now everyone knows you as a bread beer brand . Stop using bread , you know . Go to china , make it for like one-tenth the cost and then make so much money Like . That's not the purpose . The purpose comes first . Profit will be a balanced byproduct of the outcome . So for me , success professionally is impact and personally is how I can create more people with this mindset .

Hoiki Liu 1:17:33

When I look at you now , I think success is how you can shape the world .

Naman Tekriwal 1:17:38

How we can create more change makers , how we can make the world a better place to live .

Hoiki Liu 1:17:44

Yeah , I'm so happy we had you here today .

Naman Tekriwal 1:17:47

Thank you so much it was my pleasure being here at Conscious Cut .

Hoiki Liu 1:17:51

Thank you .