South African Breweries plans to relaunch Knockout brand

Kavita K Bhaskaran

New Delhi, July 15: South African Breweries is planning to revamp and relaunch Knockout beer brand, which it has acquired following its takeover of Mysore Breweries.

The company is working on a strategy for a national relaunch of this brand under the South African Breweries’ umbrella. Knockout is a well-known brand in south India.

Speaking to The Financial Express South African Breweries’ managing director Roy Bagattini said, “Knockout has a strong market down in southern India. Now that we have acquired this brand, we plan to launch it on an all India basis.” “Knockout is a strong beer and there is a growing market for this segment,” he added.

He said “At present, we are working on acquisitions of more breweries across the country. During the process of acquisition of a brewery if any brand comes our way, we will not phase it out. Rather we will relaunch the brands under our label and market them across the country and position them at along with other popular brands.”
Mr Bagattini said, “What we plan to do with Knockout is just part of our strategy for the country. We will have breweries across the country to strategically cater to all the markets. Therefore, launching a brand on an all India basis is on our priority list.

South African Breweries has three Indian beer brands under its umbrella through the acquisition route. While acquisition of Mysore Breweries got it “Knockout,” the takeover of Narang Breweries gave the company two other local beer brands “Continental Quality Lager beer’ and “Tipsy”.

He said, “The brands that we have acquired from Narang Breweries have a strong presence in the local market, but we will look at even increasing the market share of these brands.”

He added, “We are a long term player in the Indian market, therefore, we want to have brands for every segment and every price point.” According to Mr Bagattini, capacity acquisition is the company’s primary task. After that is achieved it will also work on introducing its international brands like Castle lager and Pilsner Urquel in India.

He said, “Of course capacity acquisition will help us launch the brands that we acquire on a national basis.”