Taylor and Shroff targets Rs250 cr turnover

PTI

Eyeing a turnover of Rs250 crore (35 million pounds) by 2012, UK-based wine maker Taylor and Shroff (T&S) is foraying into the Indian market with a diverse portfolio including beer, rum, wines and whiskey.
“We are looking at India as a major opportunity even if wine consumption, currently, is very low. A target of 35-37 million pounds in next four years is what we think we can achieve,” T&S Managing Director Nainaz Shroff told PTI.
In the first phase, T&S will launch five wines -- White, Apricot, Red, Cherry and Ginger -- in Delhi (priced at Rs1,622 per bottle), Mumbai (Rs2,427 per bottle) and Bangalore (Rs2,012 per bottle) and in second phase from December 2009, the company would increase its portfolio to over 120 brands.
The company claimed that the wines have been developed especially for the Indian platter, which comprises spicy food.
“T&S has partnered Mumbai-based Aspri Spirits for marketing and distribution across 5,800 outlets including bars, liquor shops and hotels across the country,” she said.
T&S, whose primary offering is in the premium category, is looking at touching sales volume of 1.5 million wine bottles in the next two years before it sets up production base in the country.
“Post this volume, we would look at getting an Indian partner to start production in the country,” Shroff said.
“Once, we start production here, India will work as a hub for the company to cater to the Middle East, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and China market,” T&S Chairman David Carr Taylor said.

Source: Livemint.com

Self cooling beer can

Tempra Technology and crown holding have developed a self beer cooling can. The can works by drawing heat with a desiccant (vinegar salt) through a water gel coated evaporator. The absorbed heat is dissipated into a heat-sink container. The user is required to twist the base which exposes the desiccant to the gelled water causing it to evaporate, thereby cooling the beverage.

Drink Responsibly

A person normally takes 30-90 minutes to reach his highest level of intoxication after one stops drinking.

Eating before or after drinks only slows down the pace of intoxication, however it does not guarantee you will not fall sick.

Women are more susceptible to get intoxicated because women have a higher percentage of body fat to water. Less water content implies higher alcohol content and hence higher level of intoxication.

Females have less active alcohol dehydrogenase which begins to break down alcohol in the stomach lining. Less enzyme means more alcohol in the system.

Vomiting is an attempt by the body to get rid of the unabsorbed alcohol from the body

Some people only vomit when they have consumed alcohol while other people just fall asleep. After falling into a deep sleep individuals can vomit and not wake up, without waking up one can choke on his/her own vomit and be unable to clear his/her own airway therefore choking to death


Death by Asphyxiation is common because alcohol depresses the body’s reflexes

Reducing the Risks of Alcohol Poisoning

1.Avoid drunk driving or drinks under medication.
2.Drink slowly. Avoid Bottoms-Up
3.Alternate alcoholic drinks with water or soda.
4.Eat food.
5.Put a cap on the maximum number of drinks you have.
6.Drink with a sober partner

Cobra looks to tap the Indian Wine Market

In a bid to tap into the current nascent wine industry, UK based Cobra Beer is looking to infuse millions of pounds to set up wineries in the country. In an article in the Business Standard Karan Bilimoria is said to be looking at Uttranchal and Karnataka as the possible locations for the wineries. Currently the wine consumption in India is at miniscule levels with the total sales at 1.2 million cases per year. However, the industry is expected to grow by 30% and reach the sales figure of 10 million cases in the next 10 years. The Indian wine industry holds considerable amount of promise with close to 125,000 acres of vineyards in the country of which only 1% are used for wine production.

SABMiller optimistic about the growth of the Indian Beer Industry

Global brewer SABMiller expects the beer consumption in India to increase 5 times over the next 3 years. The company which enjoys a 34.8% share in the Indian beer market in just 8 years of operation is hopeful that the per capita consumption levels in the country would grow. Currently the per-capita consumption level in India is at a dismal 1 litre compared to the world average of 22.1 litres. This seems all the more meager compared to the per-capita consumption levels of some big European drinking nations where it’s over 100 litres. India, therefore which has a population of over 1.1 billion people seems to be a very lucrative market and has been recently thronged by a number of giants like Inbev, Carlsberg, Heineken.

The primary reason cited for the low consumption of beer is taxation. Taxation in India is on volumetric basis and not on the alcohol content basis. The tax on the beer is twice the international average and four times on the Indian Spirits Industry. Also each state is India is considered as a separate country and hence the Inter-state beer taxes paid makes the beer taxes one of the highest in the world. Another disadvantage of separate excise duties and non uniform excise policy is that the benefits of economies of scale cannot be realized. For example, the total beer consumption in India stands at 12.3 million hectoliters( 1 hectolitre= 100 litres) this beer capacity is catered to by 65 breweries spread amongst the 65 states, however, in European countries the same beer capacity could be met by 3-4 breweries. The complex taxation structure forces the major brewers to own a brewery in each of the major beer consuming states and hence results in a larger small number of breweries rather than a few larger breweries.

Taxes almost contribute to 49% of the beer retail’s price compared to the global average of 33.6% and hence the beer makers realize a profit of only 35% of the retail price compared to the global average of 55.4%, hence the operating margin of the companies are very low and to the tune of 2-3%. Another problem which the Indian Beer companies are facing is the distribution set-up. Mainly, the state governments control the distribution set-up with the state owned depots responsible for the secondary sales to the retailers. This further refrains the beer makers from having control over the sales, distribution and the pricing of the beer.