Swc Posts 16% Rise In Brewery Business

Shaw Wallace & Co (SWC) has recorded a 16 per cent growth in its brewery business in 1996-97. The brewery division registered a sales of 8.5 million cases in 1996-97 as against 7.3 million cases in 1995-96. The company crossed the one-million cases sales mark last month.

The brewery division posted a 16 per cent growth in sales volumes against the 5.5 per cent drop in business for the beer industry as a whole, said a company release here.

The revenue growth has principally come from a spurt in sales volumes across all segments and territories along with substantial reduction in sales expenses and by developing production bases in principal markets all over the country, over the past three years, said managing director Ravi Jain.

 

The company adopted a strategy to expand and develop the beer business aggressively from the early 1990s. SWC has 10 breweries spread across the country. The market share of the companys brands grew 100 per cent from 8.2 per cent in 1993-94 to 16.5 per cent in 1996-97.

The company enjoys over 50 per cent market share in Orissa and Pondicherry, while it has over 25 per cent market share in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, the release said.

The company hopes to tap Andhra Pradesh market which accounts for nearly 20 per cent of beer consumption in the country.

It had acquired the Hyderabad-based Charminar Breweries which suffered a set-back after the prohibition imposed in that state.

SWC is hopeful that the relaxation of prohibition in Andhra Pradesh will have an average beer sales at one million cases per month for the whole year ahead.

To enhance its beer sales, the company has undertaken modernisation and capacity expansion at its breweries at Central Distilleries & Breweries, Meerut, East Coast Breweries & Distilleries, Paradeep and Doburg Lager Breweries.

SWC has estimated to clinch 25 per cent share of the domestic beer market by the turn of the century, said Philip A B Sargunar, vice-president of SWC.

In contrast to the Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) market which is characterised by an elaborate segmentation based on price and imagery, the beer market is marked by demand in the regular and strong segments till recently.

SWC has played a significant role in developing the premium segment by introducing the Royal Challenge Premium Lager in 1994.

It recorded a 35 per cent growth during the year 1996-97, said the company release.

The company has decided to expand the strong beer category by pushing Haywards 5000 nationally, it added.