DeVANS ventures into premium spirits

New Delhi: GianChand single malt maker DeVANS Modern Breweries Ltd aims to diversify into various spirit categories including premium gin, whisky, and stout beer.

According to chairman and managing director Prem Dewan, DeVANS has initiated craft gin trials, with an emphasis on showcasing local ingredients. “The firm is in the process of developing premium blended whiskies and a premium craft gin with a batch size of 125 ltrs, that will be in the market early 2024. The brands will initially be introduced in Chandigarh, Haryana and Goa. Then it will be expanded to other areas,” Dewan said.

The company is set to introduce two highly matured single malts, one fully peated and the other unpeated, under the GianChand brand. This move is aimed at capitalizing on the growing demand for premium Indian single malt. GianChand competes with other super-premium single-malt brands like Rampur, Indri, Godawan, Amrut, Kamet, and Paul John.

There is strong demand for DeVANS single malt, and the plan is to start exports within two months, Dewan said.

Besides, it has recently inaugurated a new malt spirit production facility in Samba, near Jammu. This unit has India’s largest pot stills for producing malt spirits and has a monthly capacity to produce 400,000 lts, and room for over 25,000 barrels for maturation, he said.

Consumption of super-premium single malts in India is witnessing significant growth. According to estimates by the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Co.(India), the spirits are consumed at a rate of 280,000 cases (9lts each). In this, Indian malts account for nearly 50% of all malt whisky sales. Besides, 50,000 export cases, each containing six bottles contribute to this demand.

The company sells its beers under the Godfather, Kotsberg and Six Fields brands. “Our beer business is sizeable and at present makes up for a majority of revenue. We have breweries in Jammu and Kashmir, and Rajasthan and entered production tie ups with breweries in Arunachal Pradesh and Jharkhand,” Dewan said.

It plans more production tie ups soon to increase beer production capacity. At present, its beer production capacity is at 156,600 KL, including production from partner units.

“Beer is a high-volume, low- margin product and increasing sales in various states via multiple tie ups will enable the company to deal with competition on an even keel. Our beers will also be available in Tamil Nadu within a couple of months through a strategic tie up with a new brewery there. This will add substantially to our country-wide volumes.”

The company also offers a product line with the highest alcohol by volume, boasting a strength of 8%. It is also developing a dark ale, and plans to launch it when trials are complete. DeVANS is looking to conclude the current year with sales of approximately eight million cases and achieve sales of more than 12 million cases next year.