Deepak Roy inks Gorbatschow JV to take on Smirnoff
The company is learnt to be targeting volume sales of 15 million cases by 2010, and a possible listing on the bourses by then. Invest in wine I High-end whiskies
By Boby Kurian, TNN |
BANGALORE: This one is a blast from the past. Alcobev industry veteran Deepak Roy spent most part of the 90s spearheading Diageo���s local operations centered around Smirnoff vodka, almost defining premium vodka and a larger white spirits market.
Now, months after taking the reins, and a small stake in the Kishore Chhabria-owned Allied Blenders & Distillers, Mr Roy is back with a vodka story���to be at the vanguard of a battle with Smirnoff, which has an overwhelming presence in the domestic premium vodka market.
Allied Blenders & Distillers, formerly BDA Ltd, has finalised a joint venture with Berlin-based Wodka Gorbatschow KG, part of the German Henkell Sohnlein Group. ���We have floated a 50:50 joint venture with Henkell Sohnlein to bring in Gorbatschow. It will be locally bottled, and priced in the premium range along with Smirnoff,��� ABD vice chairman & CEO Deepak Roy confirmed to ET.
Gorbatschow is a pedigree brand that came out of St. Petersburg about a century back, but was forced out of Russia in the wake of the 1917 revolution. ���We have not yet unveiled the exact pricing,��� said Mr Roy, who also plans to bring in the German group���s wine portfolio Henkel Trocken at a later date.
Now, months after taking the reins, and a small stake in the Kishore Chhabria-owned Allied Blenders & Distillers, Mr Roy is back with a vodka story���to be at the vanguard of a battle with Smirnoff, which has an overwhelming presence in the domestic premium vodka market.
Allied Blenders & Distillers, formerly BDA Ltd, has finalised a joint venture with Berlin-based Wodka Gorbatschow KG, part of the German Henkell Sohnlein Group. ���We have floated a 50:50 joint venture with Henkell Sohnlein to bring in Gorbatschow. It will be locally bottled, and priced in the premium range along with Smirnoff,��� ABD vice chairman & CEO Deepak Roy confirmed to ET.
Gorbatschow is a pedigree brand that came out of St. Petersburg about a century back, but was forced out of Russia in the wake of the 1917 revolution. ���We have not yet unveiled the exact pricing,��� said Mr Roy, who also plans to bring in the German group���s wine portfolio Henkel Trocken at a later date.
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The JV will not own any manufacturing assets, and will depend on ABD���s bottling network to push the vodka. This will be Mr Roy���s first definitive move after arriving at the helm of the Chhabria company, selling almost 7 million cases of Officer���s Choice whisky.
The company is learnt to be targeting volume sales of 15 million cases by 2010, and a possible listing on the bourses by then. In context, Gorbatschow���s successful entry is decisive, not just for the JV, but for ABD too.
But Gorbatschow already has a task cut out for it. Not many have challenged Smirnoff in the Indian market in the last one decade, except Pernod Ricard, which made a feeble attempt with Fling vodka. Bacardi, in recent months, has testmarketed its Georgian vodka brand Eristoff in Bangalore.
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