How to launch a beverage brand in India
Every step a packaged food needs, plus testing the water that goes into your drink.
Rules last checked 4 October 2026. Rules change: confirm with a regulatory consultant before you print packs.
Set up the business
- 1
Register the company (Pvt Ltd, LLP or proprietorship)
Licences, GST and the trademark go in its name.
- 2
Get Udyam (MSME) registration
Free. Halves the trademark fee and exempts micro and small brand owners from plastic EPR obligations.
- 3
Register for GST
Needed above ₹40 lakh turnover, and for any sale to another state (most online and modern-trade sales).
- 4
File the brand name as a trademark (TM-A)
₹4,500 per class for MSMEs and startups. Registration takes 12–24 months, so file before you print packs.
Define the product
- 5
Fix the brief: product, pack sizes, price per pack, first run and channels
Every supplier quotes against it; a vague brief gets vague quotes.
- 6
Check what’s already on the shelf
Price per 100 g, claims and pack formats of products like yours tell you where you fit.
- 7
Confirm it’s a proprietary food, not a non-specified food
Proprietary foods (permitted ingredients, no FSSAI standard) need no product approval. Novel ingredients make it non-specified food: prior approval from FSSAI, often 12–24 months.
Formulate
- 8
Get a recipe and spec from a formulation partner
A tested recipe, process and spec sheet you own, ready to hand to manufacturers.
- 9
Approve samples and lock the spec
Taste, texture and cost agreed before you commit to a production run.
Choose a manufacturer
- 10
Shortlist contract manufacturers and ask for quotes
Compare price per pack, MOQ, lead time and certificates on the same brief.
- 11
Check the manufacturer’s FSSAI licence covers your product category
Their licence must list the kind of food they’ll make for you.
- 12
Visit the plant and run a trial batch
See their hygiene, line and allergen controls before the first order.
- 13
Sign the manufacturing agreement
Formula ownership, quality checks, MOQ, pricing, recalls. Have it reviewed.
Licences
- 14
Get your FSSAI registration or licence as the brand owner
From 1 Apr 2026: registration up to ₹1.5 crore turnover, State licence ₹1.5–50 crore, Central above ₹50 crore. Check the eligibility table for your kind of business.
- 15
Register under Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules
Packers and brand owners register with the state Legal Metrology controller before selling packs.
Pack and label
- 16
Choose food-contact compliant packaging
FSS Packaging Regulations 2018: plastics must pass migration limits (IS 9845). Ask suppliers for the test report.
- 17
Get the label right (FSS Labelling & Display 2020)
Name, ingredients by weight, additives with INS numbers, nutrition panel, veg mark, allergens, brand owner and manufacturer with FSSAI numbers, batch, dates, best before.
- 18
Check every claim on the pack (FSS Advertising & Claims 2018)
Words like natural, fresh, high protein or healthy have conditions; claims must be substantiated.
- 19
Add the Legal Metrology declarations
MRP inclusive of taxes, unit sale price, net quantity, month and year of manufacture, consumer-care contact.
- 20
Register for plastic EPR (or confirm you’re exempt)
Brand owners using plastic packaging register on the CPCB portal; micro and small brand owners with Udyam are exempt.
- 21
Get GS1 barcodes
Quick commerce and modern trade expect them. About ₹48,000 for 100 barcodes in the first year.
Test
- 22
Run a shelf-life study
You set and justify the best-before date: real-time or accelerated, tracking moisture, rancidity and microbiology.
- 23
Test at an NABL-accredited lab
Nutrition panel, contaminants and every claim on the pack, at an FSSAI-notified NABL lab.
- 24
Test the water used in production
Water is an ingredient: the manufacturer should show recent potability tests.
Pilot and launch
- 25
Run the pilot batch and check the printed packs
The first real run on the line, with final packaging and labels.
- 26
List on your channels
Quick commerce, modern trade or your own store: each asks for barcodes, FSSAI numbers and images.