Premium brands from India now the toast of discerning drinkers

Now the world’s most populous country, with a median age of 28 deliver around 15 to 20 million legal drinking age (LDA) prospects per year Between 2021 and 2031, the country is expected to add 283 million more middle-class consumers (source: ICE 360 data).

According to 2024 ISWR data, the size of India’s entire alcobev industry is 736 million 9 litre cases. Nearly 2/3 of the overall market is controlled by brown spirits such as whisky rum and brandy. Indian single malts have around a 50 per cent segment share of the domestic single malt consumption, leading to an improved export foot towards developed countries in the coming years. Six of the top 10 growing spirits brands are from India.

India is no longer about volumes, when it comes to alcohol beverage sales. It has made significant strides in value too. Among the global market contributors, India now ranks 5th at 3.1 per cent market share after China (21 per cent), the US (17.6 per cent), Japan (7.6 per cent) and Britain (4 per cent), says Nita Kapoor, CEO, International Spirits and Wines Association of India,

In 2022 alone, the spirits industry injected an astonishing $730 billion into global GDP while supporting 36 million jobs, equivalent to the entire workforce of the United Kingdom. Indian consumers have long been drawn to the aspirational status of imported products, such as Scotch whisky, but they are also increasingly taking pride in the rising quality levels of domestic spirits, some of which now rival imports in terms of prestige and pricing. Craft gins and Indian single malts currently epitomise this reappraisal.

India offers a beverage alcohol market with strong growth prospects. Against a backdrop of over 1 per cent volume growth of alcohol beverages globally in 2022, spirits volumes in India increased by over 12 per cent, with beer up over 38 per cent, wine up over 19 per cent and RTDs up over 40 per cent. In all cases, value grew ahead of volume. IWSR forecasts suggest a continued upward trajectory.

“India is one of the few large beverage alcohol markets in the world to consistently display growth momentum, and this is expected to continue,” says Jason Holway, Senior Research Consultant at IWSR. “Imported spirits and wines, while dwarfed by sales of IMFL (Indian Made Foreign Liquor), remain a notable and still growing element of demand, tapping into the local premiumisation momentum”.

Unsurprisingly, ongoing premiumisation in India is being driven by rising levels of affluence, an aspirational consumer base and an overwhelmingly positive outlook across almost all personal confidence metrics. Value growth continues to outpace volume advances across beverage alcohol, with IWSR consumer research indicating an uptick in claimed spend, and consumers stating an intention to prioritise higher-quality products in future. This trend is illustrated by IWSR market data forecasts: premium-and-above blended Scotch volumes are predicted to grow at a CAGR of over 13 per cent between 2022 and 2027, and premium-plus malt Scotch at a over 19 per cent CAGR. ISMs (Indian Single Malts) and craft gins are also expected to post strong double digit CAGRs to 2027. This trend is partly supply-driven, as distillers face rising costs that far outpace price increases and so naturally focus more attention on higher margin expressions, but also demand-driven: “Such strategies meet with success, not least because there is a gathering enthusiasm for local products, many of which are now of more than acceptable quality – a fact that fills many consumers, particularly the young, with pride.

Some of the recently launched premium spirits include Idaaya, an international award-winning rum from the Himalayas. Inspired by the ancient methodologies described in the Arthashastra, Idaaya is crafted from the fermentation and distillation of sugarcane juice, as mentioned in our forgotten scriptures. This unique heritage and dedication to quality have earned Idaaya a distinctive place in the world of spirits. Currently available at duty-free shops in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore, it will soon be available in India’s premium restaurants and bars. It has also received international acclaim, winning Double Gold at the International SIP Awards 2024, Silver at The Asian Spirit Master 2024, and Bronze at the International Wine and Spirits Competition 2024. Launched in December 2023, Crazy Cock luxury single malts are exquisite whiskies crafted by South Seas Distilleries, is price at Rs8,000 – Rs8,700 and Crazy Cock “DHUA” priced at Rs11,800 – Rs12,500. D’yavol Inception stands out as a 100 per cent pure malt Scotch whisky. It is carefully crafted from a medley of eight single malts, two each from the distinctive whisky-making regions of Scotland, namely: Speyside, Highland, Lowland, and Islay is priced Rs7,500. Godawan Artisanal Single Malt with over 50 global laurels to its name, is an exquisite whisky born out of Rajasthan, aptly named the Spirit of the Desert.