Strong beers rule, Wheat & other craft beers going down

Brewers are working hard to create good lager beers which are refreshing. A beer should taste like beer, says Avneet Singh, Managing Director, Medusa Beverages Pvt. Ltd.

Medusa entered the beer market with just one variant and is now making waves with Medusa Premium Strong lager beer. Avneet Singh, Managing Director, Medusa Beverages Pvt. Ltd., believes “people are again shifting to classical lager beer while it is noticed that the wheat beer industry as also other craft beers are going down in popularity day by day.” People are Mshifting back to classical lager beers like Budweiser, Medusa and Kingfisher Ultra, he notes.

He goes on to say that lager is the way the India’s beer industry is headed. Talking about new flavours catching up in the Indian market, he says: “Yes, the India’s beer industry will also create good new flavours but it is not necessary that every flavoured beer will be a craft beer. We can follow the lager maturation process and add good flavour to the beer.”

Delving about new beer brands that have caught the fancy of the Indian market, he says brewers are working on the recipes to create good lager beers, which are refreshing. He wants “beer to taste like beer and not like some juice.” “Our R&D is aimed at creating a recipe which is refreshing and offers a good feel to the people. This year, we are coming up with our second variant of lager beer which will be mild in alcoholic strength,” he informs.

Low consumption

On the issue of promoting his beers abroad, he categorically states that the Indian beer market is growing rapidly and one should focus on our home market and give good quality beers to the domestic market. Beer consumption per capita is very low in India as compared to other developing and developed countries. So, growth will come from low base and Indian market will gain momentum, he feels.
Currently, annual beer consumption in India is about 350 million cases. Avneet opines that increasing disposable income, growing
urbanisation, growing youth population as well as rising acceptance of social drinking have buoyed the growth of beer market in India. The country ranks among the largest alcohol markets across the globe and strong beer segment bagged the highest revenue share among beers in India, during 2018.