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| USL set to export its branded wines |
| Shahana Joshi / New Delhi Dec 19, 2009, 00:57 IST |
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USL Wines, a division of United Spirits, part of the United Breweries (UB) group, is set to start exporting its brands.
USL Wines is looking at the US, Britain, Germany, Hong Kong and Singapore to export its non-premium brands, named Four Seasons and Zinzi. These brands were launched earlier this year. The company also plans to expand the presence of its premium wine, Bouvet-Ladubay, in the same period.
USL acquired Bouvet-Ladubay, a premium French wine, 18 months earlier. A bottle of Bouvet-Ladubay is priced between Rs 1,600 and Rs 2,500 and is available only in the main metros in India.
For the Indian (non-premium) wines, the company has a distilling unit in Baramati, with a capacity of a million cases (12 bottles to a case) a year. “USL Wines is looking at 25-30 per cent of their produce (from here) to be exported in three years,” says Abhay Kewadkar, Chief Wine Maker and head of USL Wines. The non-premium range goes by the name Four Seasons, also the name of a brand in this category; Zinzi is the other. The former is being priced between Rs 425 and Rs 600 for a 750 ml bottle and the latter between Rs 275 and Rs 350 for a 750 ml bottle. The company says it’s targeting the ‘young wine drinker’.
“We are expecting about 30 per cent of USL’s wine revenue to come from the premium range and the remaining to come from the Four Seasons range of wines,” says Kewadkar. The Indian wine market is around Rs 800-900 crore a year, with Grover Wines, Sula and Chateau Indage dominating the market.
The overall market is growing at a compounded rate of 30-40 per cent annually; the premium range’s annual sales growth is 20-25 per cent. Analysts believe it will be an uphill task for USL to cut through this niche market in India.
Industry experts are also not bullish about USL Wines' overseas ventures. “The global wine market is a different case and one cannot be too optimistic about USL Wines making a mark overseas,” says a senior analyst. He says the market abroad is very competitive and pushing USL’s home-grown wines will be an uphill task.
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