Bubbly uppers

Q&A/ Jon Berchon

India's big spenders can't have enough of a good thing. No wonder luxury brands are queueing up to get a foot in into a market that, though still small, is growing and could be a volumes leader in time to come.

Vice president communications of Moet & Chandon (part of the LVMH group) Jean Berchon was in Mumbai earlier this week to launch two new vintages.

Prior to the launch party, Berchon, a descendant of the Chandon family, took time out to talk about India and champagne with Business Standard.

What is the purpose of your trip and how has the Asian market developed?

The birth of a new vintage is very emotional and also important for the house of Moet & Chandon because mother nature is not always good to us. We can, on an average over the last 20 years, make an elaborate vintage once every three years.

We will be presenting Dom Perignon white vintage 1996, and also the very rare and exclusive '95 rose-pink, as well as the Moet & Chandon 1998 and 1990 vintages. However,

I'm not going around to all the countries for the launches "" only Mumbai, which is a major city for us.

Till the 1970s, Moet & Chandon was pioneering champagne in all countries in Asia and our investment in these countries over the last 20 years is now starting to pay off.

Today, in Asia, Japan ranks as number one, but we started investing in Japan long back. Also, our merger with the house of Hennessy in 1972 helped the sales of Moet & Chandon because Hennessy was a big brand in Japan.

What potential does Moet & Chandon see in the Indian market?

The only problem in India is import duty rate. It is slowly decreasing but is still quite high. Also, duties differ in every state. However, we believe in India's potential because the middle class and incomes are increasing.

There is lot of culture in the country and wine consumption versus spirit consumption is all about refinement, sophistication and culture. This year, apart from the cities we are present in, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Agra, Rajasthan are going to be our key focus.

What makes India an attractive market?

International influences, cosmopolitan culture, open-mindedness and awareness of the rest of the world are increasing our core consumers for Moet & Chandon and Dom Perignon.

Indians are travelling for business or leisure and there's a steady influx of travellers to India as well.

In developing markets, we start the process by selling champagne by the glass, to induce tasting. You are not obliged to buy a bottle, but can enjoy a glass, get used to it and then graduate to buying a bottle, half bottle or by the magnum.

It makes the product more accessible since education is the key in such markets; we are creating knowledge of premium wines.

What are you doing to exploit its potential?

The way champagne is, wine agents in France are organised through the appellation controlled system so we cannot produce more than we do.

If we are selling more in India, it would be because we are selling less in other countries; it's a trade off.

Here in India, we have to start the process from scratch because the awareness of champagne is small and because networks of distribution are rather small because of import duties and the fact that the country is not a wine consuming country.

When that happens, we will begin to push with sales. It is a luxury industry so we cannot think of big numbers. Figures are important but not key; the key is knowledge, lifestyle and sophistication.

It will never be a big business.