Appollo Alchobev to invest Rs 100cr for expansion

Appollo Alchobev, a Rs 75 crore liquor company, has announced it will invest Rs 100 crore over a period of next five years as part of its expansion plans.

The expansion includes setting up greenfield breweries, acquiring breweries besides importing scotch and other marketing and distribution initiatives. Appollo Alchobev has been carved out of Chennai-based Empee Group of Companies which is into hotels, liquor and power.

Said Sat Pal Chaudhry, CEO, Appollo Alchobev: "We are a two year old company having a topline of Rs 75 crore focussing on Southern markets in the country. Over the next one year, we intend to step up presence across the nation and also launch a slew of brands in the whiskey, white spirits, rum and brandy segments. Our plan is to have a turnover of Rs 300 crore in 4 years time and consolidate our position in the South Indian markets."

The company expects to sell over 8 lakh cases this current year and is expecting to grow this number of 3 million during next year. Chaudhry, a veteran in this industry having worked in UB and Shaw Wallace for a couple of decades is aggresively putting in place a growth strategy in place. "We are taking our brands to West Bengal and North-eastern markets shorly and is also looking at markets such as Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Uttaranchal," he noted.

The company is also toying with the idea of importing scotch from Scotland and marketing its under its own brand. "Imported scotch is always expensive and with this strategy we intend to offer good quality scotch to a vast number of Indians at a cost-effective price," Chaudhry noted.

Appollo is setting up a greenfield plant in Goa with an investment of Rs 7 crore and has recently acquired a IMFL bottling plant in Bangalore for Rs 10 crore. It is also proposing to set up a brewery in Rajasthan shortly.