Bubbling beer sales drown slowdown

CHENNAI: ���For good times and for bad times, beer is on my side. After all, that���s what they are meant for,������ says George, a resident of Chennai and a beeraholic. How true. Sample this: production of beer and other liquor are seeing a growth in demand amid a slowdown.

According to CMIE data, beer production in the last year ended December ���08 grew 11% over previous year, while Indian-Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) production increased by 13.28% and country liquor grew a huge 34%.

���We are not witnessing any slowdown. We are witnessing an overall growth. Maybe, people are drinking more now due to stress or depression,������ an official of Empee Distilleries told TOI.

The industry produced 4.4 lakh kilolitres (kls) of beer for the year ended December 2008 compared to 3.98 lakh kls for the same period in 2007. IMFL production also grew from 2.95 lakh kls in 2007 to 3.34 lakh kls in 2008 while country liquor production zoomed past the 2 lakh-mark (2.34 lakh kls) in 2008 from 1.75 lakh in 2007.

���The industry���s normal growth is 15-20% and we will know the real impact by September when all the states��� budgets are passed. But we are likely to maintain this growth as global slowdown is yet to make a difference to this industry,������ V C Raamsukaesh, CEO, Vinbros and Company, a Puducherrybased liquor maker, said.

An official of SAB Miller said the beer market���s growth last year was about 2% lower than 2007, but that was not on slowdown account and rather due to the severe monsoon across the country. But with summer setting in, beer sales are likely to peak again.
���Summer is the peak season for beer. South is the biggest beer market in India with a share of about 60%, North contributes 30% and the rest of the country contributes the remaining.������

The annual per capita consumption of beer in India is roughly about one litre while it is 80 in the US, 74 in Europe and about 22 litres in China.

"The past three months have seen moderate beer sales, but renewed IMFL sales. We are gearing up for summer and have plans to bring in other beer brands like Fosters into the city," an official at TASMAC, the TN government���s liquor trading arm said. In the state, all alcohol sales are monopolised through TASMAC.