Paving a way for BYOB revolution: Innovations at Indian cafes

BYOB or BYO is an acronym coined with respect to alcoholic beverages that means "bring your own bottle" or "bring your own booze" or "bring your own beer”. The most common one though is to bring your own BOOZE.

Initially, this was used for private parties and events where usually the host or the organizer did not want to invest in alcoholic beverages (for obvious reasons) but they were okay if the guests wanted to carry their own bottle of liquor. In the west this is a very common thing, during house parties guests would generally carry a bottle of wine or scotch and the table would end up having a variety of alcohol which is then enjoyed by all the guests collectively.

It’s a great concept in a lot of ways, for instance, it takes down the cost of hosting a party or an event down drastically, a lot of times this also means no license is needed, and for the event audience, they don’t have to buy unnecessarily expensive booze.

The concept is now unfolding into many other formats, for instance, there is a restaurant in the north of India, and during winter they encourage their customers to BYOB - ‘Bring their Own Blankets So there are definitely a lot of ways in which restaurants, cafes, and pubs are adopting this idea.

A newly found cafe in Pune, Mauji Time Cafe has taken this to another level where they call themselves India’s first BYO cafe (Bring your Own) and they allow you to even bring your own food. This normally is against restaurant or cafe policies, where outside food is not allowed. But since Mauji is a Time Cafe, they charge their customers for the time they are spending, hence allowing food from outside if the customer wants. 

There is also a bar in Delhi that allows customers to bring their own alcohol and provide the peripherals like water/soda, chakna, etc that people usually need with alcohol. There is also a place that allows you to store your bottle and enjoy it every time you visit that restaurant.

Cafe Industry is constantly evolving and has become even more experimental post-COVID. It’s no more about just great food and beverage but equally about unique experiences and great hospitality.

To summarize here are my 5 reasons why we are seeing more and more BYOB cafes coming up:

- It’s an interesting concept and adds to the uniqueness of any cafe/restaurant
- Allows the restaurants/cafe to offer alcoholic beverages without actually allowing it or having to keep a stock
- Takes down the capital investment drastically, stocking a variety of alcoholic beverage can be very expensive
- The customers can enjoy their preferred beverage at regular prices instead of having to pay 30-50% more
- It takes away the hassle of licensing in many cases, getting a license and renewals can be both expensive and extremely tedious

So pave way for the BYOB revolution! It's here to stay and evolve your dining or cafe experience in many ways.