With the luxury liquor segment in India growing by 30-40 per cent annually, the coming year could see a number of premium overseas brands entering into the domestic market.
Acme Consultants, a Mumbai-based firm, has tied up with Parsan Brothers, among the largest importers and distributors of foreign liquor in the eastern region, to bring at least five new foreign brands into the country next year.
While the former will own the brand in the country, the latter will import and distribute the liquor.
“The white spirit as well as the dark spirit segments have been registering robust growth and the potential size of the luxury liquor market in India is very big. There is substantial demand. But the problem is that there isn't enough retailing space available, so we'll have to find new ways to push the product to the consumers,” Acme Consultants Managing Partner Sudip Majumdar said.
On Wednesday, Acme and Parsan Brothers launched O2, a sparkling Vodka brand from Britain and the venture intends to bring between 5-6 other imported brands over the next year. In January, a Vodka-based liqueur — Ecstasy — from the United States will be brought to India, and likely to be followed by the introduction of a premium malt whiskey and upmarket champagne later in the year.
“The price band for the spirits will be between Rs 3,000 to 5,000 and we expect a turnover of about Rs 10 crore from our operations in the coming calender year. For O2 alone, we intend to sell over 600 cases annually and the target is to capture about 10 per cent of the luxury Vodka market,” Majumdar said.
The venture would also look at exporting a percentage to the SAARC countries and the West Asia. “Sri Lanka, Maldives, Dubai and Muscat are target markets too,” he added.