“I have a mini fridge in my room that is stacked up with beer” says Yogesh Varman a 26 year old office goer, India. While statements like this can boost a beer producing company, the more you zoom in, the smaller the lot in India. While China, UK and US top the charts in selling beer between 75-100 litres of beer a year to one beeroholic, India stands at 50 litres. However, umpteen number of financial forecasting reports hold their bets on beer market in India to produce the highest revenue in the alcohol segment for the 2016.
Five years back, Indian beer market was valued at 4 billion and it is expected to reach 9 billion by the end of 2018. The key players in this growing field play it tightly strapped producing the best beer they can as they can sniff a trending boom in their ever-growing numbers. How can you battle in a field where there the war shout has been banned? Though the ban on alcohol advertisements are not being lifted, the growing young adults still find their beers cool enough to cling onto.
With the IT lifestyle that has creeped its way into all metros and wanna-be cities, there is a clear hike in the earning capacity of growing adults. However this contradicts 4 key facts that influence a beer(er) to choose beer over other drinks: alcohol content, availability, packaging and price. As Indians we place the hardest load on the price factor (as expected) and it plays the highest priority for choosing one’s beer brand. The confusing part of this analysis however streams down to youngsters choosing the easy availability and packaging over the alcohol content. This is where India plays the newbie card in the international market, where “beer tasting” still has not hit the masses hard enough.
Though the well experienced China and UK masses choose their beer over an umpteen number of options leveraging more on their taste buds, we Indians set back, relax and go for the nearest one up for grabs. When it comes to imported beer consumption VS craft beer, where does our loyalty lie? Though craft beer is segmented for the niche, the underlying reason for its growth owes it to its availability. With microbreweries playing the fastest turtle on the race, more mugs will cling as more walls are risen. Till then bottled beer might play the role of the golden buddy, but not for long.
However it is estimated that beer is surely on the verge of flying off the charts as the most desi drink after coffee and tea by the end of 2018. Let’s see what we choose to sip after 2 years!