The Hindu Business Line : Bubbly takes on beer, soft drinks

Pune April 10 Thirst busters this summer are poised for some added sparkle, with the country's leading wine maker preparing the pitch for an aggressive national launch of its latest low-end sparkling wine Vino.

The newest `Indian champagne' from Chateau Indage, which was launched in Maharashtra a little over a month ago, and is now ready for a national rollout, will aspire to make a dent in the carbonated soft drinks and beer market by virtue of its package size and price tag.

In a departure from tradition, the "dry-sweet" bubbly has been launched in a 375-ml bottle (against 750 ml) that will be available to the consumer between Rs 40 and Rs 75 depending upon the tax structure of the State where it is purchased. And if the figures of its first month sales are anything to go by, the aspiration to take on the beer and carbonated soft drinks isn't all just gas and fizz.

Robust sales

Mr Santosh Verma, Executive Vice-President, Marketing and Sales, Chateau Indage, reveals that since its launch, Vino has already notched sales of 1,30,000 bottles. In terms of litres, that translates into 48,000 litres, which is around 25 per cent (in litres) of the annual sales of its present range of three premium end (Ivy Brut, Marquise de Pompadour, Joie) sparkling wines.

The strategy is to keep the price "affordable" enough to lure the beer drinker into moving up the value chain, as well as attract those who might opt for cold carbonated drinks.

Mr Verma is emphatic that the offered price band has been enabled without compromising the basic quality of the bubbly. "We have used crown caps in place of corks which add to the expense," he says. The raw material too is an Indian variety of grape, instead of the blend of fruit from imported vines that goes into their other sparkling offerings.

With the national launch of Vino imminent, the company expects not only to sell 45 lakh litres of the champagne this fiscal, but is adding another sparkling wine to this segment in a couple of months' time.

Growing market

Though the current market size of `Indian-made champagne' is miniscule - the still wine to sparkling wine ratio stands at 90:10 - it is growing at a heady rate of 80-100 per cent.

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Bubbly takes on beer, soft drinks