United Spirits sells Bengaluru-based Four Seasons Wines

Alcoholic beverages company, United Spirits has acquired a 15 per cent stake in Inspired Hospitality, the parent company of premium spirit brand, Pistola for Rs 5.65 crore, reported USL in BSE filing on Thursday.

“The Company will subscribe to 3,494 (three thousand four hundred ninety-four) Compulsory Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) and 10 (ten) equity shares of Pistola, constituting approximately 15.0% of the paid-up share capital of Pistola (on a fully diluted basis),” added the filing.

Founded by brother-sister duo, Rakshay and Radhika Dhariwal, Pistola is engaged in the business of development, marketing and selling of agave spirits. 

Pistola doesn't own a bottling unit facility and has contracted with a third party.

With this investment, United Spirits aims to strengthen its position in the premium craft segment, read the filing.

The company further added that upon Pistola achieving certain pre-agreed milestones within a defined time period, United Spirits may acquire the remaining shares held by other shareholders.

Founded in 2010, Pistola positions itself among emerging premium agave brands in India. The brand started the commercial operations of its agave spirits business in December 2021.

It is also available across the USA, Singapore and Thailand. 

Home-grown craft spirit brand Maya Pistola Agavepura recently announced its launch in Gurugram.

Maya Pistola Agavepura has established a unique presence in the Indian craft spirit space, offering a 100% agave spirit made from the wild agave Americana, sourced from India's Deccan plateau.

Consumers can find the craft spirit at 12 esteemed locations, including The Liquor Warehouse, The Cellar, and G-Town Wines, strategically situated in prime areas of Gurugram.

"We are thrilled to bring Maya Pistola Agavepura to the discerning consumers of Gurugram. Our craft spirit represents the perfect blend of passion, expertise, and the rich heritage of India's Deccan plateau. With its smoothness, zero additives, and premium quality, Maya Pistola Agavepura is set to redefine the expectations of craft spirits in the region,” shared Rakshay Dhariwal, Founder, Maya Pistola Agavepura.

The launch in Gurugram marks just the beginning of Maya Pistola Agavepura's ambitious expansion phase. Alongside geographical growth, the brand aims to introduce exciting new variants, engage in collaborations with like-minded brands, and cater to popular demand by retailing Pistola merchandise.

Founded in 2020, Pistola is the brainchild of Rakshay and Radhika Dhariwal and a product of Pass Code Spirits Co.- a sister concern of Pass Code Hospitality that runs highly acclaimed bars and restaurants such as PCO, Saz, and Ping’s Orient Cafe across multiple cities in India.

Indian home-grown beverage maker United Spirits Ltd. announced a quarterly profit decline of 64.4% on Tuesday due to rising input costs, declining sales, and a one-time charge.

The distiller of Johnnie Walker whisky reported a profit of 1.11 billion rupees ($13.61 million) for the quarter that ended on December 31, a decrease from 3.11 billion rupees the year before.

The industry has struggled with the high price of additional neutral alcohol and soda ash. In the meantime, bottle costs have increased as a result of rising natural gas costs needed to produce glass.

The Bengaluru-based scotch producer's quarterly revenue dropped by 25% to 66.12 billion rupees, while net sales dropped by about 10% to 2.78 billion rupees.

The business claimed a one-time cost of 1.51 billion rupees, while input costs increased by 4.6%.

Hina Nagarajan, CEO of United Spirits, stated that she expects inflationary challenges to persist in the near future.

Haywards and Old Tavern were among 32 brands sold to Inbrew Beverages by the Diageo PLC-backed firm in May of last year.

Ahead of the quarterly results on Tuesday, shares decreased by around 1.5%.

United Spirits has entered into craft spirits segment by launching Epitome Reserve that is at par with an imported whisky.

Owned by British Diageo Plc, United Spirits want to capitalise on growing demand for premium spirits and locally crafted spirits in India.

Epitome Reserve is available on request or in select premium outlets.

The whisky is a small batch, craft, artisanal whisky made of 100% rice.  It has been distilled in Punjab and matured in Goa. It is also the most premium Indian whisky sold by USL in the country and presently only 2,000 such bottles are available in the first batch.

“Over the last year and a half, we've seen that consumers in the absence of being able to travel or socialise or go out and have the best food and beverage experiences have been experimenting with premium spirits at home with do-it-yourself or DIY experiences. That has become part of small, intimate celebrations and they are just savouring and experiencing new kinds of liquids," shared Deepika Warrier, CMO, Diageo India.

She also added that there is a growing appetite for more domestically produced spirits.

“Consumer is of course looking for world-class experiences, which is why you see global brands and our premium offerings from around the world, seeing very rapid growth, particularly over the last year or so in India. There's also this growing desire for more local produce, local flavors and ingredients, and a sense of pride in the Indian craftsmanship," added Warrier.

Homegrown spirits brand Nao Spirits and Beverages has raised USD 2 million as a Series A investment led by existing investors, family offices and a boutique VC firm.

With this, Nao Spirits has now raised a total of USD 5 million since inception.

“We have been absolutely privileged to enjoy the continued support of the F&B community and consumers alike as they have propelled us along these past few years. It has further been heartening to receive a very tangible vote of confidence from our new and existing investors who have got behind us in this time which has proven to be challenging for most,” said Anand Virmani, Co-Founder & CEO, NAO Spirits and Beverages.

Founded in 2015, Nao Spirits launched its first brand and India’s first craft Gin, Greater Than London Dry, in 2017 followed closely by a contemporary sipping Gin, Hapusa Himalayan Dry, in 2018. Together, these brands have been spearheading the resurgence of the premium Gin category in India. These Gins are already found in 8 different cities across the country, namely Goa, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Nagpur, alongside 14 export countries.

Also Read: How This Gin-Brand is making it to the globe during the pandemic

The new infusion of funds is expected to provide a working capital boost to help the brands expand to new states like Rajasthan, Haryana, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya along with new export markets.

In addition, the management of the company hopes to inject further excitement in the brands as well as the category as a whole through its amplified marketing efforts and strengthening of its team.

In FY19 it clocked a turnover of  USD 450,000, FY20 witnessed a turnover of USD 1.2 million and the projected turnover for FY21 is USD 3 million. 

“The last 24 months have been very positive for the business as we've been able to drive serious volumes across all our markets. The current fund raise has come in at a great time as we unlock our next phase of growth by further strengthening and streamlining our operations & supply chain, growing our team and expanding our footprint in India and the overseas markets,” added Abhinav Rajput, Chief Operating Officer at NAO Spirits and Beverages.

Grover Zampa Vineyards, the longest standing winery in India, has expanded its wine portfolio by adding Four Seasons Wines, a wholly-owned subsidiary of United Spirits Ltd, and Charosa Vineyards, an asset of Hindustan Construction Company, to the portfolio.

The move follows the brand's efforts to bolster its sales, improvise on its mass and premiumisation strategies, and further fueling the growing wine business of India.

The addition of these two new brands will help the company to expand into a multi-brand lifestyle label with wine being at the core of their business. Grover Zampa is targeting at widening its portfolio and provide more varieties, resonating with the millennials and new age wine drinkers.

Vivek Chandramohan, CEO of Grover Zampa Vineyards, said, "The wine industry has been on a positive growth trajectory for the past few years, with growing interest from varying consumers to better understand and experience the beverage. This has opened up the pathway to expand and reach out to these very consumers through various touch-points – an insight which has significantly dictated our association with Four Seasons and Charosa. We have a positive ambition for what the future has in store for us and are committed to providing our patrons with the very best in wine."

Unibev is looking to raise Rs 100 crore to fund an expansion drive planned by the premium alcohol startup, founded by former United Spirits managing director Vijay Rekhi in collaboration with bulk alcohol producer Globus Spirits.

“The fundraising will be completed before March 2019 to help us spread to the top 17 markets in the country and enable us garner around a tenth of India’s premium alcohol market, which is currently growing at 9% a year,” Rekhi told ET.

He said the company has launched the Governor’s Reserve whisky using 12-year-old scotch, Oakton Barrel Aged whisky with 18-year-old scotch and a brandy brand, L’Affaire, using three-year-old grape spirit in the southern states.

Unibev’s offerings compete with the premium brands of French giant Pernod Ricard and British company Diageo, which now controls United Spirits.

“In a price-sensitive market, our premium brands are priced very competitively to deliver to consumer aspiration for scotch like smooth and premium blends,” said Rekhi, adding that this was part of a strategy to disrupt India’s premium alcohol market.

The firm is now eyeing to sell 100,000 cases in the first year that could fetch it a 5-7% market share in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Puducherry where it currently sells products. While the semi-premium and premium whisky segments were growing at 7% and 9% a year, respectively, in India, the premium brandy market is growing at 15%.

Rekhi said Unibev’s partner Globus Spirits owns the largest grain-based distillery in India that offered a distinct advantage for the startup’s premium portfolio.

The company is looking at launching whiskies of higher vintage shortly, he said.

Viewing that the Indian market had not seen any innovation in brandy flavours for more than three decades, Rekhi said Unibev’s L’Affaire was a runaway success in the pilot market of Puducherry. “Here again, we plan to launch brandies with higher vintages, shortly,” he said.

Rekhi said Unibev would ramp up its portfolio also with premium differentiated rum, vodka, beer and imported brands. “This is the beginning of a long drawn out disruption by Unibev in all flavours and profitable price points in the Indian beverage alcohol market,” he said.

United Spirits Limited has acquired 26% stake in HipBar Private Limited, a payment technology start-up for Rs27 crore, underpinning its focus on e-commerce to drive sales.

HipBar allows consumers to select from a range of alcoholic beverages and make payment using the mobile wallet to have the product either delivered at their doorstep in places where it permitted or pick it up from a retail store. "This investment allows us to discover ideas that anticipate shifts in consumer behaviour and enables us to remain at the forefront of trends," said Anand Kripalu, Managing Director at Diageo India.

Founded in 2015, currently HipBar operates in Bengaluru and Chennai and will continue to run as an independent enterprise driven by its founding team, the company said.

With the physical retail space in India's liquor market shrinking, United Spirits, the country's largest alcoholic beverages maker, said last month, it is seeking to harness e-commerce to reach out to customers. HipBar works closely with the beverage alcohol industry and the government to custom build software and deploy technology projects in a compliant manner.

India's largest alcoholic beverages company, United Spirits Ltd has appointed Sanjeev Churiwala as its chief financial officer, reported ET.

Churiwala has moved to United Spirits, a subsidiary of London headquartered Diageo plc, from Ambuja Cements, where he had been the chief financial officer since 2011.

He replaces Vinod Rao, finance director, Diageo Asia Pacific, who had been serving as an interim head of finance. He has worked with Ambuja Cements, the Indian subsidiary of Switzerland's LafargeHolcim, for about two decades in diverse roles including finance, business development, project management, commercial operations, business and financial integration.

He is a fellow member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Institute of Company Secretaries of India and Institute of Cost Accountants of India and holds an Executive MBA from the London Business School. "I am delighted to welcome Sanjeev to United Spirits and to our executive team. His strong track record and depth of experience will serve USL well and we are confident that he will be a key contributor to the achievement of our performance ambition", said Anand Kripalu, managing director of United Spirits.