E-Malt.com News article: Pakistan & India: Pakistan and India’s largest brewers may revive brand exchange programme some day

Rawalpindi, Pakistan - based Murree Brewery plans to revive a brand exchange programme with United Breweries — make and market Murree beer in India, and Murree will match the favour for UB Group's Kingfisher beer in Pakistan, The Times of India reported on August, 5.

The UB Group "is open" to the proposal, sources said.

The 150-year-old Murree Brewery (named after a hill resort near Islamabad) aims to revive its old association with Kolkata during the British Raj. Murree beer was particularly popular with British troops in Calcutta during World War II, then the headquarters of Allied forces in South East Asia.

In fact, the company was listed on Calcutta Stock Exch-ange even after Partition, till 1953, and was one of the favourites in the stock market. But all that became history.

Now, after half a century, the biggest brewers of the two countries may toast a new beginning.

Murree has been trying to re-launch its products in India for five years.

"We planned to make forays in the UK market and re-launch the brand Murree Beer in India in collaboration with UB. UB showed interest initially but backed out later for reasons best known to them," said Isphanyar M Bhandara, chief executive of Murree Brewery. But Bhandara did not give up. He is still looking for some sort of a business arrangement that would benefit both companies.

In response, UB Group president (breweries division) Kalyan Ganguly said: "Yes, we had talks with the Pakistani firm 4-5 years back. But nothing materialized. Since then, there have been no talks in this regard."

However, he keeps the hope alive for the future. "We are open. But nothing is happening at this moment," he said.

Murree Brewery controls 90% of the liquor business in Pakistan



06 August, 2010