Sula Vineyards, India’s largest wine brand with an enviable market share of 60 per cent, plans to maintain its stranglehold by growing faster than the industry.

This, it plans to achieve in a sustainable manner.

It currently sells a million cases a year (about a million bottles a month) of its wines such as Sula Zinfandel, Sula Cabernet Shiraz, Sula Cabernet Sauvignon, Dia Red, Dia White, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc apart from a range of imported selections.

Its products are also exported to over 25 countries. Last fiscal, Sula’s turnover was about ₹500 crore, and in FY19, that is expected to increase to ₹550 crore.

Sula Vineyards CEO Rajeev Samant, who gave up his job at Oracle in the Silicon Valley to enter this business, is optimistic about the brand he founded in 1999.

Road ahead

“The road ahead is long but we have a set of guiding principles for the future,” he told BusinessLine on the sidelines of ‘Globe in a Glass’ road show here, where over 40 wines and 15 spirits from 14 countries were showcased on Sunday.

“We will grow at — or faster than — the industry growth rate of 15 per cent, continuously improve quality and, most importantly, do both in a sustainable manner,” he said.

Sustainable growth is something he is obsessed with. Wine making is energy intensive in India as it has to be done under refrigeration. Also, water consumption is high in the manufacturing process.

Sula Vineyards has been working to find ways and means to reduce power consumption while shifting to renewable sources of energy.

“About 40 per cent of our energy comes from renewable sources now. This will increase to 75 per cent in three years,” Samant added.

Zero discharge facility

Water is recycled and raw water usage is minimised. “We are on our way to becoming a zero discharge facility,” he said. Packaging materials including the aluminium caps are recycled.

Thanks to these efforts, power consumption from the grid per case has reduced by 40 per cent in the past three years. Water use per case is down 20 per cent in the same period.

The sustainability factor extends to the grape growers, too. “We get them to sign a sustainability charter for not employing child labour, reducing usage of chemicals and water during cultivation,” Samant said.

Challenging environment

But Sula has its share of challenges.

It has to deal with unfavourable government policies such as restrictions (Tamil Nadu government does not allow it to sell in the State as its wines are not locally manufactured), high taxes (globally, wine, being a mild drink, is taxed less than in India), climate change (grape is a temperate crop), lack of awareness about wine in India and logistical challenges (wine needs to transported in refrigerated trucks and sold in shops with refrigeration facilities).

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