Sangli winemaker eyes foreign markets

After capturing major shares in many Indian states, Ritza Wine Pvt Ltd (RWPL), owners of the country's biggest vineyard, is now looking to capture the UK and Malaysian markets.

Despite having a mere six-year experience in wine-making, RWPL, which owns 600 acres of grape farm in western Maharashtra's Sangli district, has big plans for the future.

"We will be able to break the ice with the UK and Malaysian markets by this year-end. With the opening of new markets, our wine-production capacity will be doubled from 2.5 lakh litres per year to six lakh litres," RWPL chairman Bhujbali Nandgave, who is also a farmer, said. "We have almost finalised the modalities for exports," Nandgave, who employs around 1,500 labourers at his Sangli vineyard, said.

RWPL, which produces six different brands of wines, has spread its branches across India, mainly targeting markets in Maharashtra, Goa, Daman, Kolkata, Punjab and Delhi.

"We will add Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh to our list next year," Nandgave said.

Talking about conditions, in which RWPL was conceived and launched, he said it was the result of their attempt to hold fort in a dull international dry-grapes market that held sway till 2000. "Prices for dry grapes sunk tremendously prior to 2000, so we thought of processing grapes ourselves to make value-addition. That's how Ritza Wines was born with an initial investment of Rs 3 crore," he said.

However, Nandgave's 30 years' stint at the vineyard came handy when he decided on this forward integration. "We are comfortable and can assure the purest of wine because we have raw material produced in our backyard," he said.

"All end consumers are our target customers," Nandgave added.