Beam Global Spirits and Wine, maker of the iconic Teacher's Scotch whisky, is cautious about launching any specific local brands in India. This is despite India having a place in the company's top five priority list.

Mr Harish Moolchandani, CEO and Managing Director, India and Indian Sub Continent, Beam Global, told Business Line ,“Currently, we only have BIO (Bottled In Origin) expressions except Teacher's, which is only bottled in India (Rajasthan).”

However, he added that the company “sees tremendous potential in India” and was investing in the Indian market with innovations planned in the next six months, on people and processes and with route-to-market in the country.

The market for Scotch in India has been growing at over 20 per cent an annum, and the overall Indian Scotch market will be touching two million cases (12 bottles of 650 ml each), Mr Moolchandani pointed out. “In the recent past, we have seen that the premium blended Scotch whisky and malt sales in India have outdone the overall growth in the domestic liquor market, a sign that signifies that consumers are not shy of trying luxury brands,” he said.

Beam Global, which currently holds a leadership share of about 45 per cent across the Indian market, sells three variants of its flagship Teacher's brand —Teacher's Highland Cream, Teacher's 50 and Teacher's Origin.

It also sells Jim Beam, Maker's Mark, Laphroaig and Ardmore, but wants to be selective in promoting these brands. “We are undertaking very select initiatives that position them in the apt manner within the right circles; these aren't the kind of brands that would run for a volume business,” said Mr Moolchandani.

According to the latest data released by the International Wine & Spirits Research, Teacher's leads the Scotch Whisky brands in the Indian market and Johnnie Walker's Red & Black Label comes a distinct second, followed by 100 Pipers.

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