Going easy on sugar
You have answered a fair bit on this in the past but tell me more about the packaged fruit juices market please.
Anandi, if I am to avoid repetition, here is a quick one.
This is a market waiting to open up dramatically both in terms of size and niches. The size-end of the market is all about the fact that fruit juices in packaged forms will be a big hit, as India re-discovers the joy of fruit and the joy of good health. As consumers get more and more wary of the coloured, carbonated sweetened beverage of every kind, the positive impact of such a move will be felt by packaged fruit juices at large.
The niche end of the market is bound to boom as well, with value-added fruit-juice options that will govern the top end in terms of premiums and imagery. Juices made out of fruits we have never ever heard of even.
Also, as the anti-sugar lobby grows in health consciousness, the goodness of fruit and natural fructose at large demands to be positioned positively.
The market is really huge. Even the narrow tip of the iceberg of this opportunity has not been tapped to date. Wait for action in this space then.
When I look at IMFL numbers, whisky is big in India, what’s with my favourite beer?
New Delhi
Naveed, India is certainly a whisky-driven market, but beer is not too far behind. At least in terms of volume-of-fluid intake. While the whisky market is all of 150 million cases, the beer market is really ahead at 166 million cases. The difference really is in the fact that alcohol content varies hugely between the two sets of fluid-volumes. One other big difference also lies in the fact that the beer market is growing slower at 7 per cent per annum in India, as compared to whisky which is still showing a robust growth of 19 per cent per annum.
Beer is really a laggard in India in terms of sales volume growth. While vodka is the front-runner in this alcohol marathon of India with a 31 per cent growth rate, whisky (19 per cent) comes next, followed by rum (12 per cent). Beer is even behind the niche Scotch market which is growing at 21 per cent. Far behind! Just goes to show that India is a bang for the fluid market, when compared to markets overseas. The drinker in the market is essentially a functional-led drinker with just a singular goal: get high and get the kick that alcohol gives! By this logic, everything else gets you high with low volume and at relatively low price than beer does. And therefore everything else grows faster. Further, beer is seasonal in India with the summer months driving bigger sales. Units catering to the beer market over-stress during the summers and chill during the rest of the season. This is not across distillery units, but is common to many.
The growth of beer is really related to first-generation drinkers. Beer is the starter kit item on the list of most drinkers who adopt the route of alcohol in their life-styles. Beer is the one with the least alcohol, and the highest degree of social acceptance. The youth market is therefore the secret to beer’s growth. Making the drink younger than it is, in terms of imagery is a great way to go. The beer market is totally image driven. Prospects for beer are clearly linked to two issues. One, the youth market that is large in India with 54 per cent of the population below the age of 25. The second is the issue of regulation that governs the market. Every State has a different rule, and in many ways is a different country altogether in terms of control, regulation and taxation structures. A cheaper beer is possibly a big driver of the market. A third adjunct to growth is the strong-beer market, which is growing at a much faster rate. This remains with the logic I propose that India is a functional-alcohol market as opposed to a cosmetic-alcohol market.
Harish Bijoor, is a business strategy expert and CEO of Harish Bijoor Consults Inc. Mail your questions to cat.a.lyst@thehindu.co.in