The fall of Bira 91: How a simple name change triggered the collapse of India’s coolest beer brand
The famous playwright William Shakespeare once said, “What’s in a name?” “. For India’s coolest beer brand, Bira 91, it was all about its name, as a slight name change led to its collapse.
Investor D Muthukrishnan explained in a social media post on Friday how a minor change in the brand name led to its collapse, with company employees forcing the founder to resign.
“Bira 91 was one of the successful start-ups of the last decade. It is a popular craft beer brand. It was growing so well. The reality is stranger than you can imagine. A procedural error led to the collapse of the entire company and the founder was even forced to leave the company by the company’s employees,” he wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Furthermore, he said the collapse of Bira 91 began in late 2023. At that time, the company, operated by B9 Beverages Private Limited, was preparing for its long-awaited IPO.
In a bid to comply with listing standards, the company’s management has decided to drop ‘Private’ and adopt B9 Beverages Limited as its name. In January 2024, the company officially changed its name with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), but the company’s packaging, labels and licenses were still printed under the old name since distribution was from existing stock.
But what impact has this change had on the country’s coolest beer brand?
According to Muthukrishnan, “All hell then broke loose. All states immediately banned the sale of Bira 91, treating the new name as a different entity. They demanded new legal approvals, label approvals, product registrations and new licenses for each variant. Google it and find out. This led to one problem after another. Once a thriving business seems not to survive. “
Due to this, distribution stopped overnight and inventory worth billions remained unsold in the company’s warehouses. Between July and September 2024, Bira sales volumes decreased by approximately 25% compared to the previous year.
FY2024 revenue fell to around ₹638 crore from ₹824 crore in FY2023, and the company posted a net loss of ₹748 crore, one of its worst years ever. Even though the brand finally got new approvals in most states and production restarted gradually in early 2025, the momentum of the Bira 91 brand is lost and the IPO plan is on indefinite hold.
The Chennai-based investor said bureaucratic red tape in India led to the collapse of the brand. He added that former Diageo India CEO Hina Nagarajan once said that she retained the name United Spirits instead of changing it to Diageo India Limited to avoid huge disruption in business.
“Even though what happened in Bira is extremely unfair, you have to accept the reality of India. Procedures, compliance and proper documentation are extremely important. The rules are so complex that you should never give up consulting experts. What you assume need not work in reality and may even work against you,” he said towards the end of his message.
