The second largest wedding market across the world – the luxury weddings ecosystem of India is rapidly evolving. A report in the Indibiz recently highlighted that an estimate for 14000+ new businesses enter the industry every year hoping to bite into the large pie of opportunities that this thriving industry has to offer.
While most of these new businesses don’t end up succeeding, every now and then emerges a brand that changes the game with its dynamic offerings, excellent service, and exceptional delivery on the immersive experience expected at a ‘Big Fat Indian Wedding’. The Betel Affaire headed by Radhika Nath is one such brand that has changed the game for how Live Paan counters are done at luxury weddings by adding a modern twist to the Indian tradition of Paan.
In an exclusive interview with EXP Exchange, Radhika shares her vision for The Betel Affaire and other major offerings by her brand.
What was the idea behind the birth of The Betel Affaire and how did the brand come to life?
My Co-founder, Varun Nath has always been an ardent paan lover. For him, every dinner is incomplete without having a paan. He even loves taking flavorsome and exotic mouth fresheners at home and has always ensured that we get our hands on the best ones.
Continuing his tradition of having a paan after dinner he conceived the idea of modernising the traditional paans by taking an exotic route. We immediately converted his idea into reality and that’s how The Betel Affaire was born. He always knew that this business can grow by leaps and bounds as there is no end to exotic flavors, ingredients and concoctions.
Paan has been such an important part of Indian weddings – traditionally used in rituals as well as how its considered a must for people after a meal. How has The Betel Affaire leveraged on the importance of Paan with their offerings?
Exactly, the betel leaf has always been an innate part of Indian culture and traditions. Be it from welcoming the groom, ceremonies, or having a pooja – Betel leaf plays an important role as it signifies purity, good fortune, loyalty in love, freshness and prosperity.
With The Betel Affaire, we have leveraged the importance of this tradition by serving the richness of Paan with a modern twist. Our aim is to deliver a rich yet luxurious experience to our customers with our exceptional plating, attention to detail and presentation. We take customer requirements and briefs very seriously and ensure that all the arrangements are done accordingly.
Our paans have many outstanding flavors like butterscotch paan, ferrero rocher paan, fruity paan, gold chocolate paan, white chocolate paan, nutella paan and many more which are extremely popular and loved by the youngsters as well.
Let’s talk about the Paan LIVE counters at luxury weddings by your brand. How is the experience and how has it been received?
Our live counters at weddings have totally been a showstopper because no one in the industry is doing the way we do it. This is a fairly new concept and the variety and innovation that we serve is something that people are overwhelmed with.
The presentation gives a very luxurious look & feel and we even have an option of customising the paans according to the preferences of the guests.
The presentation also includes a luxe display of traditional paans & mouth fresheners. Paan & mouth freshener setup is usually on the exit whereas, we have given utmost importance to paan by serving it next to the dessert display. Our customised paans are for everyone – from a child to a senior citizen, vegan or non-vegan..
There are other brands in the market that offer Paan counters at weddings and private social events, what makes The Betel Affaire different and unique?
We are vegan, freshly made, and FSSAI certified. We only use 100% organic betel leaves and lab tested ingredients to give a hygienic and luxurious experience to all our clients. Apart from this, our presentation, styling and plating are what our clients really like and result in repeated orders.
Share with us more about the festive hampers category from your brand. What is the pricing and the ideal TG for it?
Our festive hampers include all mouth fresheners which are customised according to client requests and budgets. We even include fresh paans which are pre-plated and curated with fresh ingredients. One of our most recent achievements includes 1000+ orders this diwali season.
The ideal TG is everyone from Corporates to Wedding planners to Event planners and even Individual events and party hosts.
What is your vision for The Betel Affaire and where do you see the brand in the next 5 years?
Our vision for the next 5 years includes offline stores in metropolitan cities. Also, we aspire that The Betel Affaire becomes a synonym for only paan catering for both online and offline ordering.
