Spirits giant Suntory bets on Oaksmith, Jim Beam to crack India’s whisky market by 2030

Mumbai: Suntory Global Spirits expects India to become its third-largest market by revenue by the turn of the decade by adopting a focused strategy of selling locally-made whiskies along with imported Japanese and American brands, said chief executive Greg Hughes.

The world’s third-largest distiller has set an ambitious aim of closing the gap with rivals Diageo and Pernod Ricard in the expanding Indian market where it currently generates $150 million in annual sales. The maker of Jim Beam, Roku, and Yamazaki brands previously set a target of achieving $1 billion in annual sales in India by 2030. Hughes said the company has made progress on the target but declined to elaborate.

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To be sure, India is currently near the lower end of Suntory’s top ten markets by revenue, with Japan and the US occupying the top two positions. “Certainly by 2030, it should be our third largest market after Japan and the US,” Hughes said in an interview. “If you think about our business as a three-legged stool. Right now, 70% of our P&L (profit and loss) sits between Japan and the US. We’d like India to be the third leg of our global business.”

Suntory is stressing on scale to attain its goal. “We have the brands; we have the portfolio,” said Hughes. “We need to be disciplined about how we scale. But it’s really all about how we close that gap to the size and of our business that meets our aspiration.”

Towards this, Suntory will be embarking on a strategy different from its larger rivals. While its locally made whisky business Oaksmith will target the mass and mid-premium segments, it will deploy Japanese and American whiskies to capture premium consumers, rather than launching an Indian single malt brand like its competitors.

“We’re not banking on massive premiumisation for our growth,” said Hughes. “It’s more on how we scale and win share in the IMFL segment.”

Oaksmith, the Indian whisky developed with Suntory chief blender Shinji Fukuyo, is central to the strategy. The company plans to use Oaksmith to reach a much broader base of Indian whisky consumers, while Jim Beam and Japanese brands such as Hibiki and Toki will serve premium segments.

With sales of 260 million cases in 2025, India is the largest whiskey market in the world by volume.

Suntory dominates the Japanese whisky segment in the country, with about 95% share, through brands such as The Yamazaki and Hibiki, besides owning Teacher’s, the fifth-largest scotch brand in India. The company behind Jim Beam also controls 44% of the American whiskey category.

According to Suntory, the Indian whisky market is experiencing premiumisation within different segments, rather than simply through a shift towards expensive imported or single-malt brands.

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“You have this massive IMFL base, and that is constantly upgrading relatively to their individual segments,” said Neeraj Kumar, managing director, India at Suntory. “Pricing is no longer the only way to segment the consumer...”

Hughes said there’s no plan currently to launch an Indian single malt, despite the category gaining traction, and that the company would instead continue to focus on the large and emerging consumer base beyond premium spirits.

India is expected to add about 100 million legal-drinking-age consumers by 2030, said Hughes, contrasting that with a shrinking base of new consumers in mature markets.

Yet India remains difficult to navigate.

“I would describe it as dynamic and exciting, but complicated and highly regulated,” said Hughes.

Suntory has responded by building local regulatory and commercial capabilities besides narrowing its focus.

“When you see a market the size of India, it’s really easy to get … a big view and think, ah, you know, let’s go aggressively against all these opportunities,” he said. “What we learned over time is the more focused we can be on key markets and key brands, the more successful we are at connecting with consumers.”

Nearly two years ago, Suntory Holdings set up another local unit, Suntory India to explore potential expansion opportunities for the group in the country, mainly for its soft-drinks and wellness brands. The company has excluded its ready-to-drink (RTD) portfolio from the India business so far.

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“For now, to reach those ambitions, we need to scale our whiskey business in India to be the number one whiskey player,” Hughes said. “RTDs could become a phase two opportunity once the whisky business reaches the right scale”.

He didn’t elaborate on potential investment, saying it will be initially focused on strengthening the organisation and supply infrastructure rather than a large acquisition. “Our big investments will be in one, scaling our organisation, so our commercial capabilities, our market-by-market regulatory capabilities, the infrastructure that we need to compete,” said Hughes.

Bottling capacity is another priority, including through co-manufacturing arrangements. Hughes declined to disclose the investments involved in this venture.