Upbeat on McDowell’s becoming India’s largest brand valued at Rs 8,300 crore, United Spirits expects its range of spirits under the label to grow by 10 per cent in the current fiscal.
McDowell’s, which was recently named by the UK-based beverages research firm Pash as the largest brand in India with a value of Rs 8,300 crore, has three verticals -- rum, whisky and brandy. It recorded total sales of over 30 million cases in the last fiscal.
United Spirits Ltd’s (USL) is looking at the whisky segment, primarily its prestige range ‘McDowell No 1’, driving the sales.
“Our estimate is that overall sales of the McDowell’s brand will grow by about 10 per cent this fiscal,” USL Business Head Mathew Xavier told PTI. He, however, said there were more opportunities in the prestige whisky segment.
“Over the last three years, the prestige segment whisky has registered a growth of around 22 per cent, while our McDowell’s No I whisky is growing at the rate of 30 per cent per annum,” he said, adding the company is aiming to garner 60 per cent share in the segment.
The total market for ‘Prestige segment whisky’, with a price range of Rs 330-450 per bottle of 750 ml, is around 23.6 million cases while the total whisky market in the country is estimated to be around 124.29 million cases.
In order to boost sales during the festival season, USL has come out with special limited editions packaging for the festive season. It is also now getting into the gifting segment to make the brand available for occasions like birthdays and Friendship Day celebration.
“The prices of our limited edition festival packs will remain the same. In fact we had started with Durga Puja. Going forward, we will extend these offerings to other celebrations such as New Year Celebrations and Christmas,” Xavier said.
