Vijay Mallya-led United Spirits Ltd (USL) is betting big on the burgeoning wine sector and will invest around Rs 100 crore over the next five years in its wine division.
“We wish to cash on the rising demand for wines in the country, as a result we will pump in around Rs 100 crore by 2013,” Abhay Kewadkar, chief wine maker and business head, USL told FE, adding that in the first year itself the firm will pump in Rs 30 crore. A chunk of this money, around Rs 80 crore, will be invested in USL?s subsidiary, Four Seasons Wines Ltd. USL own 51% stake in Four Seasons Wines Ltd, while local farmers of Baramati region own the remaining 49%.
In the first phase the company will launch Four Season Still Virital Wines followed by sparkling wines in the second phase. After both these phases the company will go for capacity expansion.
“Initially we will sell 1.5 million bottles which will be scaled up to one million cases,” Kewadkar said. USL also plans to launch multiple wine brands both in the domestic and overseas markets. In 2007, the company had launched wine brand ?Zinzi? in Maharashtra and Goa, which was mainly aimed at targeting the youth. The firm will soon launch another brand called Four Seasons Wine for the premium range.