වදින්නැති addiction! Snack Entity - We are organically going Viral!
This was one of the most fun experiments we’ve ever worked on.
When we first floated the idea of selling cold brew coffee in a glass bottle, people were split. Some instantly loved it. Others couldn’t see why anyone would buy coffee this way.
Fair enough.
The biggest challenge wasn’t convincing people. It was building a product that deserved to stay on the shelf.
Our first version had shelf life limitations. So instead of forcing it into the market, we pulled back and focused on the product. We spent months improving the formulation, testing, refining, tasting, and repeating until we achieved a shelf life of over six months without compromising the flavour. That mattered more than anything.
That’s one thing I’ve learned about building consumer brands.
Customers don’t care how difficult it was to make. They only care about what they experience.
Cold brew itself deserves a conversation of its own. It has a completely different brewing process and drinking experience compared to regular hot coffee. That’s a story for another day.
For this one, we stuck to the fundamentals.
We built a cold brew coffee that people could simply grab and go. Four flavours: Americano, Iced Latte, Mocha, and Original Milk Coffee. All packed into a glass bottle that immediately stood out in the chiller. We priced it at Rs. 350, making it affordable enough to become a regular purchase instead of an occasional indulgence. Then we focused on getting it into modern trade supermarkets, making sure it sat at eye level inside the chillers where people naturally make impulse decisions. The bottle did the first job by creating curiosity. The coffee had to do the second by giving people a reason to come back.
But before any of that, we validated everything the old-fashioned way.
My brothers and I pushed an e-cart around the streets and handed out over 1,000 bottles ourselves.
Not because sampling looked good in photos.
Because there is no substitute for watching someone take their first sip.
You hear the feedback.
You notice what they don’t finish.
You see which flavour disappears first.
You understand buying behaviour beyond spreadsheets and surveys.
Those conversations shaped the product far more than any boardroom discussion ever could.
Building an FMCG brand looks glamorous once the product reaches supermarket shelves.
What most people don’t see are the hundreds of tiny decisions, failed versions, formulation changes, supplier discussions, customer conversations, and long days that happen before one bottle earns its place there.
We’re proud of how far this range has come.
And we’re just getting started.
More fun products are already in development, and our cold brew range is ready to reach many more shelves across Sri Lanka.
Available at Keells 😉
