Raise a toast to this! Small players in the liquor segment in India are set to tap the retail boom in the country. Finewinesnmore (FWM), importer and distributor of wines and spirits, is set to open exclusive outlets across the country.
The company is in talks with Reliance Fresh and Godrej?s Nature?s Basket to set up outlets in their retail chains. It is also keen on acquiring a vineyard and winery property to start production of its own.
The domestic wine market is expected to grow to 9.76 million bottles by 2010, an increase of 30%, from the current estimated level of about 5 million litres, according to an Assocham report. Wine imports have been growing at about 30-35% in India with around 1,50,000 cases of wines imported last year.
FMW is aiming to sell 10,000 cases of imported wines this year. It has about 130 existing labels in the country, of which about 90 are imported. According to FWM co-founder and CEO Dharti Desai, ?We don?t want to remain only a distributor of imported products. We are in talks with Reliance and Godrej and plan to open at least 25 outlets by March 2008,? she added. FWM has already opened exclusive outlets at Mumbai malls like Hypercity and Spencer?s.
The company is planning to acquire vineyard and winery properties of an existing player in Nashik. Though financial details are not known, the buyout is expected to take place within 12-18 months. The company is also in talks with a New Zealand-based player for vodka import while US and UK-based companies are being courted for beer import.