Heineken doubles down on India, eyes 'biggest untapped beer market'

Mumbai: Heineken is doubling down on India, betting that shifting social attitudes, rising incomes and gradual policy changes will unlock what the brewer called the world's biggest untapped beer market.

"India is the largest untapped opportunity for beer that we see on the planet," Harold Broek, chief financial officer and member of the executive board at Heineken told investors. "But this is not going to be a very quick win."

The Amsterdam-based company, which operates in India through its majority stake in the country's largest beer maker United Breweries, said it sees long-term structural drivers supporting demand even though the market remains regulated and fragmented across states.



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India's beer market is still relatively small compared with other large economies, with per-capita consumption among the lowest globally. Complex state regulations, restrictions on retail licenses and high taxes have long constrained the industry. Heineken, which owns Kingfisher said unlocking growth depends as much on improving how the market functions as on increasing consumption. "How do we normalise and professionalise the category is the biggest unlock for beer in the Indian market. This is something that we, as a market leader with close to 50% market share should be leading and are leading, but all the international brewers are playing a role in that," said Broek adding that three structural shifts are already started to reshape demand.

India-a warm, tropical country with promising demographics and increasing affluence-remains one of the largest beer markets worldwide.