World's largest beer maker adds Budweiser Magnum whiskey to its India menu

India's love for darker spirits makes the world's largest beer maker enter the whiskey segment in the country

The world’s largest beer maker has added whiskey to its menu in India.

Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), the Belgian brewer behind the popular Budweiser brand that beer guzzlers are familiar with, on Wednesday entered the whiskey segment in India with the launch of the premium Budweiser Magnum Double Barrel whiskey.

AB InBev’s fresh foray comes at a time Indians are veering towards consuming darker spirits and looking for more value, the company said. India is also the largest consumer of whiskey in the world.

“People do the value equation and find that it would be better to spend money on whiskey or other forms of brown spirits and drink something in moderation. That enables greater socialisation over a longer period of time than beer, which is a four per cent (alcohol) product,” Kartikeya Sharma, president India and South East Asia, AB InBev, told Business Standard.

India, which is the world’s largest consumer of whiskey in volume and second largest in value, registered $13.6 billion in sales in 2021 (Rs 1.1 lakh crore). AB InBev launched the Budweiser Magnum whiskey in Goa at a price point of Rs 1,800 for a 750 ml bottle and Rs 2,800 for a 750 ml bottle in Maharashtra. It will later retail in Karnataka, Haryana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

Sharma added that the premium whiskey segment in India was growing in double digits, at 15-18 per cent. “There is nothing to suggest that the next three to four years would be any different than the last four years.”

He explained that the inequality of the tax structure — designed to tax the volume of beer, not the alcohol in that volume — has over time made the alcoholic drink a niche category. This, he added, resulted in limiting beer’s share to 15-17 per cent of the overall alcohol market.

Although a first for the company in India, AB InBev does have a marginal presence in the whiskey segment in other markets that it operates in.

AB InBev houses brands such as Budweiser, Corona, Hoegaarden, Fosters, Haywards and Knock Out in India’s Rs 40,000-crore (including excise duty) beer market. Excluding excise duty, the market size is Rs 15,000 crore.

The Indian alcoholic beverages market is dominated by dark spirits, with whiskey accounting for 72 per cent of the total consumption in the country, according to IWSR data.

This is not the first time AB InBev has launched a product only for India. In 2011, it launched Budweiser Magnum Beer similarly for the Indian market.

“We are focused on building the premium and premiumisation trend that is happening and the alcobev category is not different from this. It is not just tier-I but tier-II towns are also seeing a lot of premiumisation,” said Vineet Sharma, chief marketing officer, AB InBev India.

High Spirits

• AB InBev brands includes Budweiser, Corona, Hoegaarden, Fosters, Haywards and Knock Out
• The Indian alcobev market is dominated by dark spirits, with whiskey accounting for 72% of total consumption according to IWSR data
• India is the largest whiskey market globally, and also one of the fastest-growing alcoholic beverage markets with over $52.5 bn sales in 2021, according to Statista