Raising a toast to new launches

BEVERAGES Premium foreign liquor brands see a potential in the Indian market.

Good times in the alcoholic beverages market seem to be getting better. Action in tiny premium wine and beer segments is heating up with the launch of Kobrand that holds one of the world's largest high-end wine portfolios, and SABMiller, which has launched Peroni Nastro Azzuro, the flagship brand from its beer stable.

Kobrand recently showcased samples from Cakebread, its California Napa Valley portfolio, in New Delhi. Robert De Roose, Chief Operating Officer, Kobrand, said that for his brands, educating the consumer was the key. He firmly believes in wine education programmes.

The wines under the Cakebread label will be available in India from $175 (Rs 7,000) onwards. Kobrand has chosen a distribution strategy, in partnership with Indian distributor Brindco, where the wines will be sold only through star hotels and specialty restaurants. De Roose said this approach was chosen because it is those channels that offer the best ambience for wines.

"We don't want the consumer to have a bad experience with good wine. One of challenges in going retail is storage and retail outlets are sorely lacking there," he said.

He added that the chosen distribution channels also enjoy duty-free benefits, thus the stiff import tariff on wines can be bypassed.

The wine market grew by about 53 per cent last year and the demand has now soared to one million cases. In terms of wine imports, French wines lead the way, followed by Australia and the US. American wines account for about 30,000 cases with 8,000 of them being in the premium category.

The Peroni Nastro Azzuro was launched in Mumbai in 2006 and now it has hit Delhi. Jean Marc Delpon De Vaux, Managing Director, SABMiller India said the company will take its time taking the beer to other parts of the country.

"We are ahead of the competition with Peroni in our Indian portfolio. It is an aspirational brand and we want to create a scarcity. We now have a 30 per cent share of the premium beer market," he said.

Nastro Azzuro is brewed by the Peroni Brewery of Rome. Its name means Blue Ribbon in Italian, in honour of the Blue Riband won by Italian Ocean Liner SS Rex in 1933.

Again, the beer will be available only at exclusive hospitality outlets and prices will vary with the establishment, though, typically, it can cost Rs 125 for a pint.

"We are building the brand by word of mouth. This is not a brand that is going to be built on volumes but on image. It stands for Italian style," said De Vaux.

Both the companies feel the current buoyancy of the Indian liquor market is just right for their products. They feel products that signify more than "consumption" are just what a "rapidly learning" consumer needs.

Neha Bhatt

For those who like the taste of beer but are not too keen on the kick it gives, there's reason to cheer. The non-alcoholic German-made Clausterhaler beer is now in India through Dalmia Continental Pvt Ltd (DCPL), its exclusive importer and distributor.

DCPL's chairman, VN Dalmia, thinks that non-alcoholic beer has potential in the Indian market: "The concept is relatively new in the country, so I'm sure it'll do very well," he says.

However, Dalmia claims that currently the market size for non-alcoholic beer is minuscule: it is barely Rs 10 crore a year but growing at 150 per cent per annum.

Clausthaler beer, manufactured by Radeberger Gruppe, rides on the claim that it tastes just like beer "" full-bodied and freshly flavoured. Clausthaler contains 0.45 per cent alcohol content by volume, falling just below the 0.5 per cent mark, above which a beverage is branded as alcoholic.

The company executives say that in India the target consumer for the product will be people who do not consume alcohol either for religious reasons or for health concerns.

Besides, the company could also position it as a beverage for the underage drinkers as well as for those who stick to the no-drinking-and-driving rule. Other consumer segments that could be tapped are the armed forces.

Priced at Rs 54 for a 330 ml can, DCPL will position the product more clearly once it hits the market. For now, its distributors put Clausterhaler somewhere between a soft drink/energiser and a beer without alcohol.

Also in the pipeline for an India launch is Clausthaler Lemon, the non-alcoholic equivalent of Chandy, aimed more at women and soft drinkers.

Clausthaler's foray into the Indian market, meanwhile, is a boost to the Indo-German trade revenue, which touched 10 billion euros in 2006.

"The aim is to take the revenue to 20 billion by 2012," says Julius George Luy, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany.