E-Malt.com News article: India: Beer sales in Tamil Nadu up by 22%

With six more brands joining the list of 23 labels, beer sales in Tamil Nadu has shot up by 22% this summer, TNN reported June 3. But more exciting to beer guzzlers is news that Foster's will hit the TASMAC shelves soon.

Due to shortage of beer last summer and following demands from customers, the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) that runs the liquor retail trade in the state, relaxed its rules and struck deals with three more breweries in the neighbouring states for importing beer in April, ahead of a scorching summer.

The United Breweries supplied two brands from its Calicut factory to Southern districts of Tamil Nadu. Similarly, Skol Breweries introduced two brands of Royal Challenge premium beer and Asia Pacific Breweries sold two brands, Ice Premium and Extra Charger.

That's not all. Tiger Lager Beer was the new addition last week and Turbo Super Strong will be on the shelves in a week's time and Foster's within a month. Two more breweries will roll out five more brands from its stables. Negotiations are on for this, official sources said.

On a single day, the 6,000 odd TASMAC retail shops sell 80,000 to 85,000 thousand cases of beer compared to last year's 60,000 cases. On an average, 21 lakh cases of beer are being sold monthly during the summer.

Following a shortfall of two to three lakh cases a month, the government decided to import beer this summer from other states.

Beer sales roughly constitute 13% of the total consumption of liquor in the state. Of the total offtake of 502 lakh cases last year, IMFS accounted for 306 lakh cases and beer 196 lakh cases. According to official projections, the volume is expected to further go up to 375 lakh cases for IMFS and 240 lakh cases for beer by the end of this financial year.

As two of the breweries supply from its factories in Calicut and Puducherry, the newly introduced beer brands, until now smuggled into the state, have become quite popular.

"The brand positioning is somewhere nearer to local pricing,'' says a senior official, attributing the popularity of the newly introduced brands to attractive pricing.

The sale of Indian Made Foreign Spirit (IMFS), on the other hand, has gone up by 7% compared to last May. Nearly 52% of the drinkers prefer brandy, followed by rum (32%), whiskey (13%), vodka (2%) and gin and wine (1%).

Meanwhile, tipplers will have to wait for original foreign brands from across the world as the government is yet to notify the amendment allowing import of liquor from abroad, sources said.

Once the notification in place, the TASMAC shops will begin to get scotch from Scotland, wine from the vineyards of France and Vodka with love from Russia.


05 June, 2008