By Tirzah Rowland

Maxine Henderson based Bollygood Sparkling Beverages in 2021 to share her love for the flavors of her ancestral tradition of India. In September, the corporate launched 4 flavors and an entire packaging redesign at Expo East 2023 in Philadelphia that will probably be featured on cabinets at Pop-Up Grocer in New York City in December.

Inspired by summers spent in India as a baby, Henderson, a Carmel resident, remembered being captivated by the vibrancy of colours in Bollywood movies and the flavors of the meals.

“I soaked up the culture, enjoyed elephant rides and going to markets,” Henderson mentioned.

She additionally remembers the overload of patterns, chaos of the ambiance and vibrant purple hues.

One of the highlights of the visits was having fun with nimbu pani, Hindi for lemon water.

“Nimbu pani is a centuries-old drink shared over time in markets or at home,” Henderson mentioned.

Nimbu pani Ingredients embrace water, citrus juice, sugar and Indian spices.

Although her dad and mom emigrated from India to Canada, the place she was born and raised, she was immersed of their tradition and wished to share that along with her circle of relatives.

“When I had kids, reading labels became more important to me. I would see Indian-inspired food but no Indian-inspired beverages,” Henderson mentioned.

So, she began making variations of nimbu pani, experimenting with substances and flavors and finally including carbonation.

“It was my husband who inspired me to sell my product,” mentioned Henderson, who’s married to former Indiana University basketball standout Alan Henderson. “I was a stay-at-home mom for 10 years. When we first started talking about the idea, we had four kids under age 5.”

In October 2021 her children have been all in class, and she or he based Bollygood as creator of the primary canned nimbu pani.

“Alan started his entrepreneurial journey in the alcoholic space (Henderson Spirits Group) a couple of years ahead of me and continues to share invaluable advice along the way,” Henderson mentioned.

The mission of Bollygood is “to spread happiness and culture through delicious Indian-inspired beverages while supporting the empowerment of women and women-owned businesses in the USA and India.”

Henderson didn’t got down to grow to be an entrepreneur. She holds a level in electrical engineering from The University of Western Ontario and labored for Motorola in Georgia for seven years.

“My experience in engineering has helped me look at the process in a detailed and organized way and take time to make sure things are right,” Henderson mentioned. “Everything took longer than I thought.”

Henderson promoted Bollygood on social media, via retailer samples and throughout the nation at occasions, even showing on QVC.

“We soon realized we had a very culture-curious, health-conscious customer base and needed to adapt,” Henderson mentioned. “I care about what I eat and want customers to feel good about what they are putting in their bodies.”

The Bollygood “relaunch,” as Henderson calls it, contains new packaging and style profiles.

The 4 flavors are lemon ginger mint, lemon mango turmeric, lemon pomegranate cardamom and lime basil cumin, every with 50 energy and 7 grams of sugar per serving. The drinks are Project Non-GMO Verified and now have 50 p.c much less sugar than the unique method.

“Our ingredients are sourced in the USA,” Henderson mentioned. “We were particular about every ingredient that went into our beverages.”

Kristin Patrick, co-owner of Loren’s Alcohol Free Beverages in Carmel, mentioned she was interested by carrying Bollygood merchandise within the retailer “from the moment Maxine approached us.”

“We love the packaging and price point, but more importantly, we love the taste,” Patrick mentioned. “We also knew it would mix well with zero-proof spirits. Most of our customers don’t want complicated drinks. They want something they can pop open and sip or mix with one other ingredient.”

While Henderson and her husband run the day by day operations of the corporate, they’ve a 3rd celebration logistics that sends out orders from their web site. All of the merchandise are canned in Georgia at Beverage Solutions, Inc. they usually just lately signed with KeHe, a nationwide distributor.

“We are ready to expand and bring Indian culture to more shelves,” Henderson mentioned.

They are actively looking for buyers to assist them develop the corporate and distribution alternatives.

Henderson was chosen as one among 50 ladies within the 2023 Tory Burch Foundation Fellows Program offering networking and training for rising ladies entrepreneurs.

Bollygood will be bought on-line at bollygood.com and regionally at Loren’s Alcohol Free Beverages 5790 E. Main Street in Carmel.

Bollygood relaunch celebration

Kristin Patrick and Andee Simpson, co-founders of Loren’s Alcohol Free Beverages, welcome the general public to a relaunch celebration for Bollygood Sparkling Beverages from 4 to 7 p.m. Nov. 10 on the retailer, 5790 E. Main St. in Carmel.

Bollygood Founder and CEO Maxine Henderson will probably be on web site to introduce the brand new packaging and flavors. Attendees can take pleasure in music and giveaways and buy Bollygood selection packs for $12.

Bollygood merchandise are at all times accessible at Loren’s together with alcohol-removed wine, non-alcoholic beer, and zero-proof spirits and mixers.

For extra data or for his or her common working hours go to lorensaf.com.