‘Drink Less but Better’ Will Not Impact Market Growth

In India’s evolving alcobev space, companies are going for premium liquor products because in that route the return on investment are expected to be better rather than on investing more money on usual non premium liquor products. However, Satpal Chaudhry, COO, Khoday India Ltd., still believes regular brands will command more volumes than premium brands.

No doubt the buying power of consumers has helped them upgrade their choice of alcohol drinks. For instance, many people drinking Johnnie Walker Red Label have shifted to Johnnie Walker Black Label and on to JW Gold Label. The same holds true for Chivas Regal too. In most parties one finds that instead of Chivas 12 years, it is now Chivas 18 years old. But in Khoday India, “we don’t have much choice because we have not launched many brands in the Peter Scot category. People are still drinking the same Peter Scot,” says Satpal Chaudhry, COO, Khoday India Ltd. Talking about adding premium brands to the company’s products, he says, “most companies believe that because of the high purchase capacity of the consumers, they are adding premium brands in their portfolio. This market segment may  not grow in terms of volumes because of high costs but return on investments will grow.” Talking about product rationalisation, he observes that companies have already rationalised regular brands but still middle-class consumers, who themselves have upgraded to a premium category can give a bigger thrust to regular brands because of base volume. “I still believe regular brands will command more volumes than the premium brands,” he asserts confidently.

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