Drinking practices vary substantially among different countries and different masses. But both alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages are very popular among all ages of people. The alcoholic drinks market is broadly classified into five classes ,starting from beers, wines, hard liquors, liqueurs and others. The Indian alcoholic market has been growing rapidly for the last ten years, due to the positive impact of demographic trends and expected changes like rising income levels, changing age profile, changing lifestyles and reduction in beverages prices. Similarly non-alcoholic drinks market is broadly classified into carbonated drinks, non-carbonated drinks and hot beverages. These include juices, energy drinks, carbonated drinks, tea, coffee and bottled water.
The Indian alcoholic Industry has been witnessing a steady growth rate especially in beer segment of 7-9 per cent per year for the last ten years. Apart from Kingfisher and Foster’s Beer, the pother brands in the Indian market are Carling Black Label, Carlsberg, Dansberg, Golden Eagle, Haywards 5000,Premium Lager, Kingfisher Strong, Hi-Five etc. to name a few. Champagne Indage has been the pioneer in making French style wine in India. Grover Vineyards and Sula Vineyards too have made smart strides in a short time span. Recently, companies in the Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) space like Diageo, United Breweries and Seagrams too have ventured into making wine.
Coming to the non alcoholic beverages section, we can say, traditionally, the Indian life style has a predilection for fresh fruits and vegetables or those processed at home. There is a sea change. People, are now increasingly going in for fresh fruit vending from kiosk fountains which produce instant juices from fresh fruits in the presence of the consumer. Fast expanding middle class population that is currently around 340 Million, increased urbanization and rising disposable income are some of the major reasons contributing to this change. Besides this, growing health consciousness among India’s young population has brought about a revolution in the Indian non-alcoholic drinks market. Among the fruit juices beverages are Pepsi’s Tropicana, nectars (Dabur’s Real) and fruit drinks (Frooti and Slice).All these are real, reconstituted from fruit pulps or concentrates. The leading fruit juice brands include Real, Onjus, Tropicana, Frooti, and Jumpin. The branded fruit juices segment is growing at around 11 per cent annually. Similarly the bottled water market is growing at a rapid rate of around 20 per cent a year. Multinationals, Coca-cola, Pepsi, Nestle, Parle Export, Parle Agro and others are trying to grab a significant share of the market. The leading bottled water brands include Bisleri, Kinley, Aquafina, Himalaya, Hello, Perrier, Golden Eagle ,Penguin mineral water etc .to name a few.
India presents a huge growth potential for alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages sales. Increasing GDP, favourable growth in the demographics with a growing urban middle class, growth of modern retail formats, hopeful rationalization of the taxation rules and ban on local country liquor and rising health consciousness, age preferences will act in favour of the growth of both alcoholic (specially beer) and non alcoholic (specially fruit juices, energy drinks etc) beverages in India in the near future. All new entrepreneurs venturing into this field will find a future which is looking very promising and bright.
