New-Age Mantra Drink less, Drink better

There has been a paradigm shift in the way people drink these days. There is a growing trend among young adult drinkers in India to drink less but drink better and people in the country are trading up for much better quality alcoholic beverages products.

This trend is obviously throwing up new challenges for alcoholic beverages makers across India. The Indian consumers are coming of age. People now experiment with different kinds of alcohol. They pair their alcohol with food and as a result of this, alcohol becomes the ‘second screen’ in their socialising occasions, says Shelley Sengupta, Head–Consumer Planning, Diageo India.

India’s GDP is set to quadruple by 2030  to become the third largest economy in the world. As a result of this, the share of consumption expenditure in India’s GDP will grow from 50% in 2018 to 60% in 2030. What this means is that there will be a shift from a ‘savings’ mindset to a ‘consumption’ mindset with more people wanting to ‘buy more’ as well as ‘buy better.’

Abhishek Khaitan, Managing Director, Radico Khaitan Ltd, Romesh Pandita, Managing Director, Alcobrew, Kapil Sekhri, Managing Director, Fratelli Wines, Varun Jain, Director NV Distilleries and Raju Vaziraney, Adviser, Amrut Distilleries concur that it is right time for premium and super premium products and super specialisation. Top-end consumers are highly aware and want quality experiences. The right strategy, as Abhishek suggests, is to chase value rather than volume.

Domestic beer makers face the brunt of huge jump in marketing costs for the premium beer market, and that goes to the advantage of multinationals with deep pockets, observes Prem Dewan, MD – Devans Modern Breweries.

India now has to be prepared for the new challenges & opportunities, thanks to this new trend.