Building on Maithreyi's post about Changing Wine Trends in India back in January, a few Indian wineries made the news last week with changes in their approach to hospitality and packaging, with their particular end customer -- not the traditional wine customer -- in mind. As context, my parents immigrated from India roughly 30 years ago, and made it a point to bring my siblings and I to the country at least every other year growing up. In my experience in the country, beer and other spirits dominate the alcoholic beverage category. I can't think of a single example in which I've heard my extended family there discuss wine, and certainly have not seen anyone consume it. So, this week, when I saw a post from the NY Times titled "India's Wine Country: A Charming Work in Progress," I was intrigued. The article describes a visit to Indian wine country, including the tasting room and hotel at Sula Vineyards, India's largest winemaker, and Chandon India. What struck me through the anecdotes described is the massive need to market education in order for wine broadly, and especially different wine varietals, to succeed in India. Rather than embarking on the herculean task of teaching 1.4 billion people that a Chardonnay is different from a Sauvignon Blanc, Sula has met the customer base at its current interest level:
“One thing about Sula: they have never said they are trying to make wines for connoisseurs,” Ms. Holland said. “They say, we are trying to give consumers what they want: fruit-forward wines edging on sweetness. And that has worked.”
Then, I saw that last week, Sula announced they would be bringing canned wine to India via 330mL cans at 8% ABV. Innovation in wine is happening in India, just maybe not in the traditional path it has taken in other markets given where the customer base is starting.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/travel/nashik-india-wine-country-grapes.html
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/cons-products/liquor/sula-vineyards-launches-countrys-first-canned-wine/articleshow/74224095.cms?
I also saw the NYT article -- one thing that resonated with me as well was the comment about giving consumers what they want. Having just heard from Michael Preis from Palm Bay about their philosophy and some of their top selling wines, it doesn't seem to be a bad strategy. Especially turning a market that doesn't traditionally consume wine into a nation of wine drinkers! The advantage is that when expanding the Indian market, there are fewer preconceptions about what wine should and shouldn't be, opening the door for innovations in form like cans.
ReplyDeleteKarishma Grover of Grover Zampa Vineyards is a GSB grad and she'll actually be on campus next week as part of a Wine Circle event!