UB to develop Heineken brand locally

UB Group today said it would make substantial investments to develop Dutch beer brand Heineken in the country.

Launching the Heineken mild beer here today, Sanjay Roy, GM (marketing) of United Breweries, said the company would develop the brand Heineken to capture 5% of the beer market within 18 to 24 months.

He said Heineken had a 37.5% stake in UB after the former bought out Scottish and New Castle. Heineken was previously launched in Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Goa, New Delhi and Haryana.

He said the company was targeting to sell 5 lakh cases of Heineken next year.

The beer market in the country is growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10% in the last five years, Roy said.

The mild beer segment has 25% share in the beer segment, while the rest belonged to strong beer.

UB is brewing Heineken beer at its Taloja facility near Mumbai.

"We have enough capacity to cope with the demand growth," Roy said.