Lalit Kalani
Building India’s finest Craft Liquor Brands| Entrepreneur and Advisor | Sustainable products manufacturing and sales
Founder
⭐️
Entrepreneur
💡
Business Strategy
💲
Financial Management
🤝
Business Development
Mumbai, India

I am Lalit Kalani, an entrepreneur and advisor in the craft liquor industry. With 17 years of experience, I have worked with companies like Zume Inc. and Comcast, helping them achieve their sustainability goals. I have a strong background in strategy and business development, and have successfully launched my own brand, Rock Paper Rum. Excited to continue building India's finest craft liquor brands. #craftliquor #entrepreneur #sustainability

Strategic Advisor, Fibmold Packaging
October 2022 - Present
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Founder, Good Barrel Distillery Private Limited
October 2022 - Present
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Head of Sales - Zume EMEA & APAC, Zume Inc.
January 2020 - June 2022
Mumbai Area, India
- - Building Zume's sales teams and networks across EMEA and APAC - Developed go to market strategies for the various markets and products - Launched products in over 20 countries through distribution partners and brands - Working with global Fortune 500 brands to build custom solutions - Built out Zume's distribution and reseller network in India and created playbook to penetrate other markets in the region - Implement salesforce and sales processes across the global organisation
Senior Director, Corporate Strategy, Zume Inc.
June 2019 - January 2020
San Francisco Bay Area
- - Designing go to market strategy for an IOT and smart appliances business - Sustainability strategy for Zume's Sustainable Packaging business
Director, Channel Partnerships & Business Development, Internet of Things (IoT), Comcast
December 2017 - June 2019
Greater Philadelphia Area
- - Leading Sales and Business Development activities to onboard customers on MachineQ SaaS IoT platform - Establishing and growing channel partnerships for increasing sales, including OEMs, system integrators, value added resellers, distributors
- - Lead end-to-end contracting process, structuring services to be provided and commercial terms for high value contracts
- - Developing distribution strategy and setting up national distribution for products with key technology distributors - contract and margin negotiation, operating model etc
- - Building technical acumen to understand product and platform to create value added sales strategy - Cross collaboration between product, strategy and engineering teams to develop new end-to-end solutions business - Key Verticals Managed: Agriculture, Commercial Real Estate/Smart Buildings, Sustainability
- - Completed Customer Centric Selling Course to further develop enterprise sales skills
Co-Founder, CEO, Bandar Foods, Inc.
January 2014 - December 2017
Philadelphia
- • Conceptualized and developed products, international supply chain, operations, and sales for Bandar Foods – the premier Indian-American food brand in the United States (www
- bandarfoods
- com), reaching approximately $2MM sales per year
- • Established sales relationships with national retailers, namely Whole Foods, Target, Safeway, Sam’s Club, TJX, Walmart, Sprouts, FreshMarket, and Albertsons
- Launched Bandar products in Canada, India, and the UAE
- • Raised $2MM from 20 investors (angels, family offices, and institutional seed funds) in equity financing and managed CFO functions including investor relations, projections, accounting, and an IRS audit
- • Built out a team of five employees, negotiated compensation with equity, and oversaw training, managing, and downsizing
- • Managed company through a federal trademark lawsuit as well as settlement agreements
Manager, Strategy and Operations, Deloitte
September 2011 - January 2014
Greater Philadelphia Area
- • Partnered with Fortune 500 companies to solve supply chain issues primarily within Consumer Products
- • Created vision and 3 year supply chain strategy roadmap for one of the largest US food and beverage companies
- • Managed the successful implementation of a Sales and Operations Planning Process across a publicly listed Specialty Chemicals client
- • Built Sourcing and Procurement Playbook for a large dairy manufacturer
COO, Sagar Industries and Distilleries Private Limited
June 2006 - August 2009
Mumbai Area, India
- • Executed turnaround of distressed company by streamlining operations, reducing costs and creating new businesses
- Increased company profits from $20,000 (2006) to $1
- 26MM (2008)
- • Registered company with United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change under the Kyoto Protocol as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Project, becoming the first distillery in India to be qualified as a CDM project
- Earned and traded 212,000 carbon credits, increasing revenue by $500,000 per year
- • Expanded production of alcohol from 18
- 6 million liters (2006) to 24
- 1 million liters (2008) with existing machinery
- Analyzed processes and implemented critical changes in the workflow, reducing the number of breakdowns and increasing the yield of alcohol by 11% to 255 liters per ton of molasses (industry standard is 250 liters)
Education
MBA, Management
2009 - 2011
The Wharton School
BS, Finance & International Business
2003 - 2006
New York University - Leonard N. Stern School of Business
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