Beer in India

Beer in India has been an import since the early 18th century and brewed natively since the late 1820s.

History

Beer began to be exported to India in the early days of the British Empire, including porter and India Pale Ale, also known as IPA.^[1]

The first brewery in India was set up in Kasauli, in the Himalaya mountains, near Shimla, in the late 1820s by the Englishman Edward Dyer. Dyer's brewery produced Asia's first beer, called Lion. The brewery was soon shifted to nearby Solan (close to the British summer capital Shimla), as there was an abundant supply of fresh spring water there. The Kasauli brewery site was converted to a distillery which Mohan Meakin Ltd. still operates. Dyer set up more breweries at Shimla, Murree, Rawalpindi and Mandalay.

Another entrepreneur, H G Meakin, moved to India and bought the old Shimla and Solan Breweries from Edward Dyer and added more at Ranikhet, Dalhousie, Chakrata, Darjeeling and Kirkee. In 1937, when Burma was separated from India, the company was restructured with its Indian assets as Dyer Meakin Breweries, a public company on the London Stock Exchange. Following independence, in 1949 N.N. Mohan took over management of the company and the name was changed to Mohan Meakin Ltd. The company continues to produce beer across India to this day and Lion is still available in northern India. Lion was changed from an IPA to a lager in the 1960s, when due to East European influence, most brewers in India switched from brewing Ales to brewing lagers. Today no brewer in India makes India Pale Ale. All Indian beers are either lagers (4.8% alcohol — such as Australian lager) or strong lagers (15 % alcohol - such as Australian Max super strong beer). In various parts of north-eastern India, traditional rice beer is quite popular. Several festivals feature this nutritious, quite intoxicating, drink as part of the celebrations. The rice is fermented in vats that are sometimes buried underground. Elephants are known to attack villages, with the primary agenda of drinking from these vats. Following one such raid in north-eastern India, a police officer in Dumka was quoted in the press as saying: "Tribals who love rice beer brew the liquor at home. Elephants too are fond of this beer. Often it is found that, attracted by the strong smell of the liquor, wild elephants tear down the tribal houses where the brew is stored."

Industry

The Indian beer industry has been witnessing steady growth of 10 - 17% per year over the last ten years. The rate of growth has increased in recent years, with volumes passing 170m cases during the 2008-2009 financial year. With the average age of the population on the decrease and income levels on the increase, the popularity of beer in the country continues to rise.

The quality of Indian beers was generally considered below average in the past. However, in recent years craft brewers (such as International Breweries P. Ltd.) have entered the market with a focus on high quality brewing. As a result the quality of Indian beer has improved dramatically over the past decade. Recently a beer made in India, Australian MAX, has won the title of "World's Best Strong Lager," at the World Beer Awards (October 27, 2011). This is the first time a beer produced in India has claimed a World's Best title beating the best beers produced in Germany, Belgium, England, USA, Holland and from all over the world. Over the past three years many craft brewpubs have been built all over India and the quality of beer production is rapidly catching up with the best worldwide.

Consolidation

The Indian beer industry has witnessed a big change during the last five years. The industry was previously dominated by competition between the Vijay Mallya-controlled United Breweries Group and the Manu Chabbria-controlled Shaw Wallace. The scenario changed, however, with the entry of SABMiller in India. The international beer giant started by acquiring small breweries in the south but then completely changed the landscape with the acquisition of Shaw Wallace’s beer portfolio for a reported US$264m in 2003. This gave SABMiller ownership of strong brands like Haywards, along with its existing brands. After the acquisition, SABMiller focused on spreading its footprint across India, including opening new breweries in states where Shaw Wallace did not have a presence.

On the other hand, rival UB bolstered its presence in the country in 1999 by creating sister company Millennium Alcobev, which produces beer brands like Zingaro and Sandpiper. Today, this is a joint-venture between the UB Group and Scottish & Newcastle (S&N). The company started as a 61:39 joint venture between the UB Group and Ravi Jain, a friend of Mallya’s. In January 2002, this was expanded to accommodate Scottish & Newcastle (when it became a 40:40:20 joint venture between UB, S&N and Ravi Jain). In early 2006, Ravi Jain ceased to be an equity partner and Millennium Alcobev became a 50:50 joint-venture.

The SABMiller acquisition of Shaw Wallace gave the company a good position in the strong beer sector (beer with an alcohol content of 6% or more) which is the fastest-growing segment in the market. While SABMiller’s Haywards 5000 is the biggest-selling strong beer brand (a fact hotly contested by UB Group), UB’s Kingfisher is the largest-selling beer brand overall in the market. But, In Indian market hard drinks are more accepted ones

Between them, UB – along with Millennium Alcobev – and SABMiller account for nearly 85% of the Indian beer market. There are some smaller, regional players too; of them, one of the most important is Mount Shivalik Breweries, which owns brands like Thunderbolt.

Mohan Meakin is also a strong regional player in the country, though family rifts have prompted the family-owned business to put itself up for sale. Consensus between family members is proving difficult to reach, but, with companies such as SABMiller, UB and APB showing interest, the company’s fate should be decided soon.

Imported foreign beer brands such as Murphy's Stout, Boston Lager, Paulaner and Chimay have recently become available in the Indian market, but due to very high custom duty this segment remains tiny.

References

1. ^ http://zythophile.wordpress.com/false-ale-quotes/myth-4-george-hodgson-invented-ipa-to-survive-the-long-trip-to-india/