Budweiser to become Rs100-crore brand in 2009
Budweiser to become Rs100-crore brand in 2009
New Delhi: Belgium-based brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev today said it expects one of its global brand ‘Budweiser´ to achieve a sale of around Rs100 crore in the current year.
“We expect our global flagship brand Budweiser to achieve a sale of around 2.5 million cases in the current year, which in value terms is around Rs100 crore," Anheuser-Busch InBev India CEO Raja Mukherji told reporters here today.
Mukherji said, the company would invest around $10 million in manufacturing, marketing and other brand building initiatives in the country.
Budweiser, the company’s beer brand introduced in the country last year, was today launched in north India and the company has plans to make it available across all states soon.
“Currently, it is available in nine states and it would take another couple of years to make it available in all the states across India," Mukjerji said.
For alcoholic beverages, every state in India is like a separate country and it takes around three to six month in obtaining clearance and licences for selling, he said.
Budweiser’s launch in North Indian states will be carried out in two phases. Delhi-NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh and Haryana will be targeted in the first phase while Madhya Pradesh,Chhattisgarh and Punjab will be part of the next phase, the company said.
InBev has been operating in India since 2007 through a joint venture with the country’s largest bottler RJ Corp., while Anheuser-Busch entered in the country in the same year through another joint venture with Crown Beers.
Later InBev acquired Anheuser-Busch in 2008, which resulted in the consolidation of Indian subsidiaries and a joint company Anheuser-Busch InBev India was created.
Anheuser-Busch InBev India currently owns and manages three breweries in the country with a total capacity of around 9 million cases. Anheuser-Busch Inbev India has six brands Hoegarden, Stella Artois, Leffe, Beck, Tennet and Budweiser under its portfolio.
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