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Foster's to uncork more beer brands in India

Reeba Zachariah

It's one foreign company which is in high spirits in India. Foster's India, the Indian arm of the Australian brewery giant, is drawing up plans to expand the portfolio of its products by launching more beer brands from its global stables and entering the wines market.

Pradeep Gidwani, managing director of Foster's India, said: "Once we establish ourselves (the Foster's Lager beer brand) in India, we will be introducing Foster's other international beer brands. We would also look at launching some wine brands."

Foster's beer portfolio includes Crown Lager, Foster's Ice, Carlton Cold, Cascade Premium Lager and Victoria Bitter. The wine labels include Wolf Blass, Jamieson's Run, Yellowglen, St Clement, Stag's Leap and Chateau St Jean.

The $4.5-billion Foster's group has a presence in beer, wine, spirits and the hospitality business.

Foster's, which has a presence in mild beer, will soon be uncorking a strong beer brand in the Indian market. This is because Indian consumers prefer strong beer to mild beer, Gidwani said, which is quite the opposite to the international trend.

"Internationally, we do not have a brand in the strong beer category, so we will be launching a new brand for the Indian market," Gidwani added. According to sources, the company could name the strong beer brand as Foster's Plus.

Foster's has recognised India as a strategic alcoholic beverages market and is bullish about its plans here. Foster's entered India in 1998, and the multinational expects to break-even in 2002.

The company expects that it will notch a turnover of Rs 650 million (net of excise and taxes) by next year as compared to the current turnover of Rs 450 million. However, the breakeven return on investment of Rs 550 million on Foster's Aurangabad brewery will take some time, Gidwani added.

The company at present services its markets from the Aurangabad brewery. The Foster's brand is currently available in Maharashtra, Goa, Daman, Diu, Pondicherry, Andhra Pradesh, New Delhi and the company has plans to further increase its reach in India.

Even though the company is looking at adding more breweries to increase production either through acquisitions or through bottling arrangements, the company is not interested in picking up the 26 per cent stake in the UB Group's beer business. "Our strategy is to build our brand Foster's and not add up capacities," Gidwani said.

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