Bunta Beer is the UK’s first non-alcoholic Indian craft beer, specially brewed to complement bold, flavourful Indian food and has launched with listings with new listings at Kricket, Aspen & Meursault, Vintopia Wine, East West Pizza and cult convenience store Londis N16.
The range will be available soon with the leading wholesalers. Rght now, retailers can reach out directly to Bunta Beer.
Bunta Beer was founded in October 2025 by 27-year-old Gunikka Ahuja, who will also be manufacturing Buntatex - a biodegradable textile which transforms brewing waste into sustainable packaging.
While Indian food in the UK has evolved rapidly – from neighbourhood curry houses to modern restaurants such as Kricket, Dishoom and Hoppers – the beers served alongside it have remained largely unchanged.
Bunta was developed to fill that gap: a lighter, crisper lager that complements spice rather than overpowering it. Bunta’s flagship beer - a 0.5% citrus lager - has been crafted to be incredibly light & refreshing, with subtle citrus notes from orange peel and a hint of coriander seed.
The coriander and citrus elements also mirror flavour compounds commonly found in Indian cooking.The name “Bunta” nods to Indian culture: in North India, “Bunta” refers to the marble used to seal traditional codd-neck bottles, especially for the lemon-based drink Banta Soda, known for its refreshing citrussy ‘pop,’ a drink enjoyed by Ahuja in her youth.
Ahuja says, “I love spicy food and the role of Bunta is to regulate the experience of eating hot food. Bunta cuts through the heat, cleanses the palate and makes you ready for the next bite, while being delicious and not too carbonated to avoid that all too familiar bloat."
The stubby pink can features a punchy cartoon-style graphic of Ahuja’s brother.
For Ahuja, Bunta Beer’s launch and potential is tied up with modern Indian identity of being culturally rooted yet with a global vision.
“Modern Indian identity for me is not about rejecting tradition, it’s about evolving it. For a long time, Indian brands have been boxed into a very narrow visual and cultural language and that doesn’t reflect how our generation actually lives.
"Traditional Indian food and drinks brands often lean on red, yellow, orange colors or even putting the Taj Mahal on packaging. That is not what the new generation is about.
"You see it now in food, fashion, music: a new wave of creatives and founders confident enough to reinterpret culture on their own terms. Bunta is part of that. It is British Indian, but it doesn’t look or feel like what people expect Indian brands to be."