Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Jan 29, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Jan 29, 2002 |
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Marketing
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Channels and Franchises Highland Distillers to have Maxxum for distribution Purvita Chatterjee
MUMBAI, Jan. 28 THE Scotland-based Highland Distillers Ltd, which has a liaison office in the country, may soon have its distribution company, Maxxum, in place, according to Mr Dinesh Jain, Managing Director of the company's liaison arm. In 1998, Highland Distillers forged a joint venture with Remy Martin of France, Jim Bean of the US and Absolut Vodka of Sweden to float Maxxum, a distribution company headquartered in Holland. The company markets a plethora of brands which include whiskies, liqueurs, vodka and gin. It has a presence in 35 countries across the world. According to Mr Jain, Maxxum would exist either as a subsidiary or a joint venture company in India. Highland Distillers expects to break even within the next 18 months. Its flagship brand, Famous Grouse (pegged at Rs 1,850 for 750 ml in Maharashtra), launched last September, is claimed to have already bagged the second position at ITDC's duty free shops (the top slot is occupied by Red Label from UDV). Expecting some rationalising of duties in this Budget, the company is also planning to introduce its other premium malted whisky brands, Macallan, Bunnahavhain and Highland Park, this year. However, these would be super premium brands pegged up to Rs 6,000. There will be no change in the baseline once these brands are launched in the country. For instance, Macallan is known as `The Rolls Royce among malts', while Highland Park is also known as `The greatest all-rounder in malt whisky'. "We expect to be present in 3-4 cities by the end of this year and are waiting for the effective opening of the market and expect duties to come down to 150 per cent," states Mr Jain. As it intends to sell its brands with the Bottled in Origin (BIO) tag, there is no intention of setting up a manufacturing base in the country. Although Famous Grouse is freely available at the duty-free shops, it has formally been launched in stores in Mumbai and Chandigarh. By sponsoring sports such as golf, rugby and horse racing, Famous Grouse has consciously stayed away from any form of surrogate advertising. "We are not interested in using mass media and do not support any form of surrogate advertising," adds Mr Jain. Devising a special India-specific baseline for its Famous Grouse whisky brand (`No.1 in Scotland'), the intention is to drive home the point that the brand is an authentic one from Scotland. Its international baseline, however, is `breath of fresh air'. Meanwhile, the company intends to expand its distribution network from 750 to 1,000 retail outlets within the next 18 months. According to the International Wine and Spirits Manufacturers Association, India gets seven lakh cases of foreign liquor out of which almost six lakh cases comprise the grey market and liquor brought in in hand luggage. However, in spite of the steep duties imposed on imported liquor, the market for it grew by 20 per cent last year.
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