Exclusive- Shark Tank India 3: Iced tea brand pitchers Gaurang and Avik react to Anupam Mittal's concern over giving caffeine drinks to school kids

On Shark Tank India Season 3, two 21-year-old entrepreneurs pitched their zero-refined sugar iced tea brand, sparking a bidding war among the sharks. Anupam Mittal, concerned about their focus and school distribution, offered Rs 35 lakh for 7% equity. Ritesh and Namita matched the offer, emphasizing broader channels. Amit Jain also showed interest. Aman partnered with Anupam, leading the entrepreneurs to accept Rs 35 lakh for 6% equity from Anupam and Aman, impressed by their adaptability. In an exclusive conversation with ETimes TV, the pitchers Gaurang and Avik shared an insight on everything that happened in the tank, Anupam's concerns and more.

The time in the tank was really surreal. You generally have nerves while going in but for us, the story was a bit different. We were feeling a bit confident and energetic. When you see the sharks, the nerves creep back in, once you pitch the sharks then things get normal as the question answer happens. You never know whether you get the deal or not. But we did get a deal in the tank and it was great.

When we entered the tank, there was a small realisation of life coming full circle because we used to do these mock Shark Tank pitches when we were in school grades 11 and 12. So there was a pinch-me moment that we had over there. But yes, as soon as we walked in and started our pitch, the nerves started to settle in, the confidence came and we were able to hold ourselves in front of the sharks and take a deal home.

Very right on that, Anupam was grilling us and was dissecting the business. He was really into it. He was into the pitch and knew about the products because he started it in the US. And in the West, Iced Teas are a big phenomenon. He has seen this in general and I think that is where his curiosity came from. In the US, in general among the corporates and high schoolers. So the hydration beverage apart from water is generally iced teas and lemonades. Talking about the conversation we had, the caffeine point was raised and majorly we talked about how the taste was settled in schools. It was completely up to the schools if they wanted to take it and they were taking it from us.

After the Shark Tank episode, we got this review from a lot of people and we got the caffeine content tested as well. The report came as the permissible limits for anyone who is above the age of 10. We brew black tea, it has a magnificently lesser amount of caffeine as compared to coffee or garam chai. So that is the point about iced teas across nations, and why it is considered to be a great hydration beverage is because it provides you with the right amount of energy hit and glucose required for the day. And it is hydrating because most of it is water.

The whole point of schools consuming caffeine or not, it is an independent decision for schools. After getting the testing done for caffeine content in our beverages, it is not an energy drink and we are not adding any on top of caffeine or taurine so it's not as much. The products will be wrapped in the range of 50-60 mg the whole bottle and the recommended daily limit goes up to 85 mg so 10-18 ke bhi permissible limits mein aa jaata hai.

In schools, the general norm would be cold coffee, Coca-Cola or any cold beverage. There are two things, the amount of sugar in the beverages and the caffeine content. Yes, with excessive caffeine kids may have jitters but so is sugar harmful. There is the same debate which can follow. Even we want to ask and raise the fact that we are providing hydration beverages that are well-suited for you to drink in the middle of the day, we are trying to cut out sugar while maintaining the taste upfront. We believe India is a taste-first country so our whole innovation is based on what better sweeteners we can use while matching the taste of the best of the best in the market.