Thibault Cuny on his India-strategy in an evolving alco-bev market

In a chat with Business Standard's Surajeet Das Gupta, French distiller Pernod Ricard's South Asia chief Thibault Cuny talks about his India-strategy and the customer experience he wants to drive in

2 min read Last Updated : Jan 24 2022 | 8:30 AM IST

Q1: If you could go through the changes that you have seen in India, and what the learning were and change in strategy that you had to do as a result of that.
Ans:

Premiumisation is Pernod Ricard’s brand differentiator in India’s wine and spirits market
India is a market where brands need to adapt constantly
Pernod Ricard focus on value over volume
Aim to introduce the consumer experience of drinking less and emphasis on quality

Q2: India is pushing a lot on the theme of ‘make in India’. And you have a large number of manufacturing plants across the country. So, what is the kind of divide that you have in terms of volumes manufactured in India versus in the place of origin?
Ans:

More than 98% of the products sold in India are made in India
That makes Pernod Ricard more of an Indian company rather than a French company in India
Pernod Ricard is massively skewed toward Indian products
Depending on the brand, more than 90% raw materials are sourced from India

Q3: Do you also see that eventually you will manufacture wine and gin in India also rather than importing it?
Ans:

Manufacturing wine and gin in India is on the agenda
Manufacturing gin is easier from a production process perspective
It was done in the past, but had to stop because the timing was probably not right

Q4: If you look at, sort of five year period from now, or basically 2030, how big is the Indian market going to be?
Ans:

India is Pernod Ricard’s third largest operation
The US and China are ahead of India for Pernod Ricard – Both the markets are large and growing
By 2030, India will be striving to earn the second position within Pernod Ricard’s global operations

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