Champagne Indage to diversify into beer overseas

Champagne Indage Ltd, the country's largest wine maker, is set to enter the overseas beer market with its maiden brand""Tantra. The company has tied up with breweries in Goa and Mahrashtra to manufacture the beer.

The company is planning to tap the US, UK, Middle East and European markets. The company hopes to corner 8 per cent of the 2.5 million cases Indian beer market abroad. The company has already tied up with retail companies in these countries to market the product.

"We will target the non-premium segment with a very customised price tag in these markets, " said Ranjit Chougule, executive director.

"All Indian beer brands available in these markets, especially Europe and the US, are manufactured there and most of them are in the premium segment with higher price band. Hence, Tantra being a brand in the non-premium segment with a price on par with other most selling brands, it will have a marketing edge and price competitiveness despite freight charges," Chougule added.

However, the company has no plans to enter the domestic beer market, Chougule said.

Champagne Indage is the market leader and the largest producer of wine in Asia with 32 principal brands under its umbrella.

With a strong presence in more than 69 countries, the company is moving aggressively towards becoming a global market leader. The company is already exporting wines to the US, Japan, UK, Switzerland, Germany, Gulf, Singapore and other European countries.

The company is now expanding its vineyards by contract farming in Maharshtra, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. The company is targeting an expansion of total vineyards to over 3,000 acre in two years.

Recently, the company tied up with Billecart-Salmon, the French champagne major, to market their leading brands in India. With this pact, Champagne Indage will be responsible to solely market Billecart-Salmon brands "" Champagne Bille Cart-Salmon Brut Reserve, Champagne Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose, in India.

Indage Group, with a turnover of more than Rs 125 crore, has diverse areas of business interest. Wine being the most important, is handled by Champagne Indage, a group company that deals with Indage's wine portfolio and has a turnover of Rs 25 crore.

It also has a production capacity of 45, 00,000 lakh litres, which is much larger than any other player in the market.

Champagne Indage is looking forward to end this fiscal year with an expected turnover of more than Rs 100 crore and an increased market share from 75 per cent to 85 per cent in the Indian wine market.