India's scale offers Diageo huge growth opportunity: Diageo's Debra Crew

Diageo Plc global chief executive Debra Crew said India is its biggest growth priority and that women, especially the younger generation, are changing the spirits consumption narrative in driving growth in the premium segment in its largest market by volume and second by value.

"We have got big opportunities around the world...the scale of India is an unmatched opportunity. I would like to see India as our highest growth market. Many of our brands are appealing to women, and we are seeing some of that change due to the younger generation," Crew said.

Breaking Drinking Taboo

"It's actually becoming less taboo. Women's tastes are evolving as well, and there is willingness to go out and be who you are," Crew said, adding that 40% of luxury spirits growth in India is coming from women and nearly a third of drinking occasions are with women now. "This is way more than what it used to be in the past," she told ET in an interview during a three-day India visit, with a packed schedule of meeting government officials, retailers and employees.

Crew, 53, who has worked with Nestle, Mars and PepsiCo, joined Diageo in 2020 and was elevated as the British firm's top boss in June last year.

Diageo, the world's biggest liquor firm with brands such as Johnnie Walker, Tanqueray and Smirnoff, said it has invested $3.5 billion in India including its acquisition of United Spirits a decade ago.

With 100 million people expected to enter the age bracket for legal alcohol consumption in India in the next five years, most global firms, including Diageo and rival Pernod Ricard, count the country among their top three priority markets. Crew said its Indian unit is now 50% bigger compared to three years ago, outperforming rivals over the past two years. "About 63% of Indian consumers plan on increasing their discretionary spend right now. When you think about the geopolitical uncertainty in the macro kind of economy around the world, that number on average is like 15%," said Crew, who after graduation had served four years in the US Army, achieving the rank of captain. "The household penetration in India is half of what it is in the UK and US. And yet it's the largest market already for Diageo."

Experts said the number of female consumers is increasing despite having fewer places where they can walk into a liquor shop or a bar feeling safe or without being afraid of male gaze. While alcohol consumption becoming more normal will take many forms, perhaps the most significant will be the recruitment of female consumers, said IWSR, the global beverage alcohol data and intelligence company.

"The greater involvement of women will be a key component in alcohol market development in the future. Developments in retail are seeing shopping for alcohol become less of a chore and more of an enjoyable experience. After-work social occasions are becoming less of a male preserve. These factors all give reason to believe that the involvement of female consumers will boost the alcohol industry as a whole in future," said the latest IWSR report.

Mass products

The liquor business in India is highly regulated. Also, India, the world's biggest whisky consuming market, is predominantly skewed towards the mass-end, which historically helped Diageo-owned United Spirits gain share through brands such as Bagpiper and McDowell's.

Three years ago, Hina Nagarajan became the first woman to head the biggest liquor business in India, with her strategy pivoting around reshaping the portfolio, with a focus on accelerating premiumisation-led growth and moving India to "drink better, not more."

After selling 32 brands that accounted for one-fifth of the company's overall sales along with a five-year franchise arrangement for 11 other brands, the company's premium portfolio now accounts for over 87% of its overall sales, up from 72% when she took over in 2021.