E-Malt.com News article: India: State of Maharashtra sees beer sales following mercury in the thermometer

The sales of beer in the state of Maharashtra increased by 20%-25% over the last week and is steadily on the rise, the Times of India communicated on April, 7.

"We expect beer sales to rise by 40% as summer temperatures peak,'' says a buoyant Sony Sachdev, who runs H20, a discotheque in Juhu.

Randeep Munjral, owner of Shah Wines and Company at Crawford Market, agrees, "The sale of beer has increased by around 20%, especially over the last three days when the heat has become unbearable. We were flooded with enquiries, especially from corporate clients who ordered for crates of beer for their sun-downer parties instead of the usual single malts and vodkas.'' Sales usually pick up during the last week of April and early May. "But this year summer seems to have peaked rather early,'' he says.

Retail liquor shop owners said youngsters-in the 20-25 age group, were shifting from vodka and white rum to beer en masse.

"The sale of mild beer has also gone up as compared to strong beer. Some new brands have entered the market recently and become extremely popular. They are now vying for a larger share of the beer market,'' says the manager of Wine Port, a shop in I C Colony, Borivli (W).

Maharashtra is the second largest consumer of beer in India, guzzling about 250 lakh (1 lakh = 100,000) cases every year. Most of it used to be strong beer. "But this trend is changing as more youngsters are now switching over to light beer,'' says Arvind Shetty, owner of a liquor store in Kandivli.


07 April, 2009