Allied Blenders and Distillers, the makers of Officer’s Choice Whisky, is looking to consolidate its presence as the third largest IMFL (India Made Foreign Liquor) company in India. According to a Technopak study, the size of the IMFL market in fiscal 2021 was 310 million cases.
The market is led by United Spirits with a share of 23 per cent followed by Pernod Ricard at 18 per cent. The competition below them is close with Allied Blenders placed third at 8 per cent and Radico Khaitan at 7 per cent. (See chart).
A combination of new brands and a focus on premium products will be the key growth drivers for the company, which plans to raise Rs 2,000 crore through an IPO. Shekhar Ramamurthy, executive deputy chairman of Allied Blenders and Distillers, said that the focus in the near term would be to consolidate its third position in the domestic market. “We recognise what our strengths are, what opportunities exist in the market and our endeavor is to keep strengthening our position. We want to be a strong number three player,” he told The Telegraph.
He said the company is looking to deepen its product portfolio, work on innovations and strengthen its distribution capabilities. “We are looking at introducing new brands. Some of these new innovations will be in the market very soon. We have a pipeline of new brands. They will help us premiumise and we will have products at different price points.”
The liquor major’s annual sales volume in 2020-21 was 25.52 million cases. Even though the company is present in segments such as brandy, rum and vodka, whisky is the main category with 24.60million cases sold in 2020-21. With new launches and brand relaunches, the Indian whisky market is currently seeing a strong trend towards premiumisation.
As imported liquor has become cheaper across key markets due to the lowering of duties on bottled in origin spirits, the move towards premiumisation has emerged as a key focus area.
“The domestic industry welcomes the competition. But, at the same time there needs to be a level playing field,” Ramamurthy said.
