E-Malt.com News article: India: Australia’s VB beer launched in India, targets a 12% market share by 2012

Australia's highest selling iconic beer brand VB has been launched in New Delhi by The Australian Trade Commission, the trade and investment promotion agency of the Australian Government, India PRWire communicated on January, 20.

VB is an Australian beer with the highest market share of all beer sold in Australia having held this dominant position for the last 20 years. It is brewed by Carlton & United Breweries, a subsidiary of Foster's Group.

In India, VB will be available in 375 ml bottles and cans. The brand is targeted at the younger audience in India and it will initially be available in NCR in Gurgaon, Faridabad & New Delhi followed by Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Mumbai, Goa, Chennai and Kerala targeting five-star hotels and A-class restaurants.

"India is increasingly becoming a key market for Australian brands, with discerning consumers looking for new & exciting tastes. In the competitive Indian beer market, where capturing a key market segment and establishing a strong brand presence and brand identity is paramount, there is room for new entrants like VB to carve out a sustainable market share and contribute to growing the segment,” Mr Michael Carter, Trade Commissioner, Australian Trade Commission said.

"The Indian beer industry has been growing at14 to 15% per annum over the last 10 years and the beer market is expected to grow from 1225 million litres in 2008 to 2017 million litres in 2013, translating into a US$ 5.7 billion beer market. The growth in the beer market has encouraged Foster's Group to partner with Pearls Wines to launch and distribute VB in India", added Mr Carter.

"We have set ourselves a target of 25,000 cases for the quarter commencing January 2010. In the next one year the target is one lakh cases and we aim to have a 12% market share of India's beer market for VB by 2012 and 26% market share by 2014,” Mr Rikhab Jain, Pearls Wines General Manager, said.



20 January, 2010