NYUCT Design Labs

19/05/2026

Rhum’s the word. Right? Or wrong?

Yes you read that right. With that little additional ‘h’. Well almost, had the rules of usage applied beyond the French Caribbean territories. But that’s a debate for another day. For now there’s another reason for celebration.

“Neoli” from Himmaleh is an Agricole styled rum made entirely from fresh sugarcane juice and distilled in a double retort pot still - a first time in India.

The brand, bottle and packaging were literally designed to manifest this transparency and “clear of molasses” proposition. With its see-through design.

The brand recently secured a silver medal at the London Spirits Competition 2026. And thereby added more metals to the Himmaleh cabinet, following the earlier success of Kumaon&I and Bandarful.

Himmaleh Spirits as a venture has been designed around sustainability and a 100% farm to bottle Himalayan promise. Sustainability is central to Neoli’s ethos. Himmaleh Spirits works closely with local farmers and artisans, ensuring 100% traceability and ethical sourcing.

Neoli carries the tradition of its sibling brands by honouring both the land and the hands that cultivate it.

And the name? Well that’s just a bird-call away. Transparency demands, you see :)

Read the full case study on our linktr.ee link.

17/05/2026

02/05/2026

For thousands of years the Himalayas have held a profound significance for people in the Indian subcontinent, as their literature, mythologies, and philosophies reflect.

Himmaleh Distillery has been an edible venture that brings in a beautiful world together around this esteemed territory. Nature’s orchards, passionate grower communities, glacial sources, wilderness, Tiger tales, brave foragers, artful distillers and consumers who seek the unordinary.

This has been a Himalayan pursuit that has fetched global awards for the best spirits in their category for Kumaon & I (Gin) and Bandarful (Coffee Liqueur) and critical appreciation.

This is a reminder on how indigenous heritage & culture can shape and inspire modern day brands in the edible space.

For founders in the food space and all things food, the India story and hyper local themes within it are great opportunities for edible ventures and brands seeking to captivate the global palate.

distillery

13/04/2026

The team at Edible Ventures led by Dr. Samir M and Mandar, worked on site with the inspiring founders at Outpost 12, Kanha to design the food system, experiences and operations. This was a significant part of our venture development exercise.

From hyper-local millets & mahua flowers to forager tables and from tribal wisdom to jungle meals and unique forest cocktails (the wild guava, chillies & mahua blend is a roar 🐅).

Experience seekers will love the Maikal Thali (a culinary tapestry of Kanha’s tribal communities), Mahua & Black Rice Cake, Kutki Kheer and bush meals that give you both - wild flavours and adventure.

This has been a Venture Design and Innovation adventure far from the usual and a sustainable one in more ways.

Minimal food miles, locally developed recipes, unusual experiences and trained talent are at the centre of the edible experience. The journey from research to plate, micro-farms to forest has been a beautiful adventure with the founders, over many bites and sips.

The adventure gets into the second innings, in the summer.

Outpost 12 is a forest-first, bio-lodge run and led by naturalists. If a sustainable safari experience is on your mind, you know where to look.

(Edible Ventures™️ is a specialised venture development cell of NYUCT Design Labs for food ventures, culinary brands and edible innovations).

11/04/2026

What is a good venture to start? What should you build and scale? What will customers value that yields profitability?

Often the world underestimates makers who are building smaller but more intensive, experiential ventures.

Look around and you see an increasing tribe of producers & makers venturing into high craft territories or reinterpreting them. They are blending (1) ancient source-codes of human & cultural ingenuity with (2) original design and country of origin branding.

Be it jewellery, watch-making, wellness, furnishings, apparel, rare hotels, bespoke restaurants, cosmetics, fragrances - the list simply goes on.

Such independent high-craft ventures and passion businesses are snapped up and acquired by large corporations who often lack the agility, cultural context or patience to produce these in-house. Some of the biggest acquisition news that you come across are pointing towards this - Forest Essentials by Estée Lauder, Diageo buying out Nao Spirits (makers of Greater Than and Hapusa craft gins) and Ritual Zero Proof or LVMH buying into Dishoom. For the acquirer it is the faster way to get into new markets and niches. These ventures fit both - corporate strategy & culture.

Hence the market is quietly demonstrating the value of these businesses, and what they are built upon - artisanal ingenuity. That’s the pixie 🧚 dust, that make things and objects of human craft so deeply desired and treasured.

Where is this leading to?

To a realisation and truth, more beautiful. Which folks often ignore amidst the headlines and noise.

While one camp chases only AI and synthetic products to the extent that they become commoditised (as the market matures), there is another world of makers and founders building the bespoke and artisanal. The value of such human craft and experiences will continue to RISE exponentially over time. They will become more valuable as the world seeks human centred, mindful experiences.

Hence, if as a founder or startup, if you are building something high-craft or artisanal or boutique, you are building right. It’s a profitable space. And one good to 📐 scale.

02/04/2026

The love for food finally got the better of us 😋. Happy to share the foray of Venture Design and Innovation into the adventurous world of food, culinary experiences and brands. This was in the works for sometime, and was being formally readied for 2026.

Ventures is a specialised, design, development, and experience innovation arm of NYUCT Design Labs - for culinary ventures and businesses around food 🥘.

Edible Ventures intends to make the journey of enterprising founders, hospitality brands, restaurateurs and chef-preneurs, better and simpler. Providing a suite of strategic capabilities and a maker community to “innovation-hungry” organisations. It also works with government organisations to help unlock food heritage, develop edible tourism and incubate new ventures. So if you have something interesting brewing up, cooking or steaming, and need help with building, scaling and positioning, this could be your cup of tea. 🫖

design

28/02/2026

Meet 3 proud 100% Himalayan ambassadors. Made in India, made for the world, made right. From farm to bottle.

These limited batch editions bear cultural designs, each an identity that is proudly Indian at heart.

1. A that marks the spirit of the mountain women in Uttarakhand who forage and grow botanicals. ⛰️ Meet Kumaon&I. This premium artisanal dry Gin, won a Gold medal, and continued its winning streak after the Bronze medal for the “Best Gin” at the London Spirits Competition 2025 and the Icons of Gin India 2024 accolades.

2. A in a staid category, that is as full of life as the loopy Langur in the Himalayas. 🦧 Meet Bandarful. This cold-brew coffee liqueur, won a gold medal and was named the World’s Best Liqueur at the USA Spirits Ratings 2025.

3. A or rather Rhum that’s as clear & transparent as the fresh cane juice it’s made from.🍸 Meet Neoli. It is the world’s first white, Himalayan Agricole style rum.

Such award-winning, challenger brands that gently stir the world of connoisseurs is a demonstration of the power of culture, design & innovation in helping create transformative businesses.

design labs has been the Venture Design, Product & Brand Development partner in this beautiful journey and stays inspired by this home-grown distillery.

This venture bears the passion and craft of its founders at , distillers, producer communities, foragers, and growers, who have put in their 100%.

26/01/2026

India’s amazingly unique Constitution is prescient, as it manifested design thinking decades before the practice was even conceived. 

Its most powerful reminder, day in and day out, is one that shaped India’s tryst with destiny. It has been its central principle in words and practice. It is this very essence & purpose around which the Constitution of India is designed and which marks out our republic as truly unique. 

India’s greatest heritage and capital is its diversity capital - different communities, regions, philosophies, faiths and cultures living as one.

This was in fact designed into the Constitution by those who sacrificed their lives, gave their illustrious years for a free, bold and independent future. For a beautiful and inimitable Republic of India. 

What went behind the making and shaping of the Indian Constitution is a tale that’s equally unique and one to be forever proud of.

Experience this digital and interactive story about India’s Constitution. 

Click the link in the bio to experience the full interactive story and discover more than 9 unique facets. 

Wish you all a very Happy Republic Day!

[Indian Constitution, Design Thinking, Storytelling, Republic of India, Innovation, Design, House of Stories]

30/12/2025

Brand. Take a closer look at this word.
1. It is a seemingly simple word with multiple meanings.
2. An extremely familiar, everyday word, yet many parts strange and dynamic.
3. An oft used term that continues to unravel like an endless spool, artfully avoiding stereotypes.

This is the magic and guile of the entity called “Brand”. Often far more valuable & determining than the physical product/service/artefact that it introduces.

The brand is a powerful shape-shifter. Never a constant, it continues to evolve in the minds of its followers & believers. And this makes it a very versatile and effective investment for business. But making brands can be either tragically misunderstood (“oh it’s the logo!”, “I need a catchy slogan”, “it’s my product”) OR it can be artfully created and shaped into a tour-de-force with multiverses inside it.

Crafting a memorable brand isn’t easy or a jiffy-job. Like Rome, it won’t be built in a day. After all it has to stand the test of time and fidelity. But however complex crafting a brand might be, there are certain principles that remain core and central.

But why the need for a method, when creativity should be enough?

Because without method, this craft can be chaotic and meaningless. At its worst, it can be a gooey mess or a roller coaster without guardrails. And at its best a compelling universe that overrides and overpowers both - logic and resistance, in the minds of customers.

The secret of making loveable and memorable brands, probably lies most in the PIN. And then it evolves, lives a life its own.

19/12/2025

All that innovation needs as someone rightly said is a village. Innovation needs a coalition of skills and passion - “the collective hands”. And this is as much true for corporate venture development as for grassroots micro-venture development. is a classic case in point.

After the offtake of nearly 400 kilos since the incubation of the micro-label artisanal ghee, the community and team of “Dongaon Local”, have launched a range of micro-batch homemade pickles. With the same promise - small farm, big love. Each traceable to a home, to a maker. Currently the pickle is being retailed at Simply Nativ in Alibaug (raw mango, lemon & chillies).

A nano-venture incubated by Design Labs with a community of women in a lesser known village of Maharastra, Dongaon Local was conceived and modelled around small batch, homemade farm to table recipes starting with Ghee (Sajuk tup). And access conscious consumers who seek mindful products.

When we started, there were more questions than answers, as was expected. And the usual share of sceptics. But the mission was clear. Demonstrate with doing.

The usual questions before the first batch hit the market- Why? How? It’s a crowded market. What about reach. And branding? Is it A1,A2 or B complex :)??

The verdict was to let the market decide the answers while building brick by brick. A multidisciplinary team worked on getting the venture model, product, community engagement, licenses, branding, digital presence and packaging sorted. The platform .xplorium was used to launch and seed the product. The rest was left to merit, partners and customer love. And demonstrate they did with orders and repeat helpings.

Just goes to show that a venture however small, if baked with passion and consumer trust in mind, does beget trust.

To see such a proud and honest micro venture scale steadily, and take small but firm steps, keeps us venture designers excited. It reinforces the power of venture design & innovation to unlock entrepreneurship even at micro levels.

To support Dongaon Local and other such micro ventures and community led incubation, get in touch with us at [email protected]