Highland single malt Scotch whisky brand Glenmorangie has launched The Lasanta 15 Years Old in India, completing its evolved age-led range of 12-, 15-, and 18-year-old expressions. The launch comes as parent company Moët Hennessy doubles down on India, one of its fastest-growing markets globally, amid rising premiumisation and growing demand for luxury spirits. Siddharth Suri, Managing Director, Moët Hennessy India (MHI), discusses the company’s whisky-led growth strategy and how India could become one of its top three whisky markets worldwide over the next few years.
Where does India rank among Moët Hennessy’s global markets?
India is one of the fastest-growing premium wine and spirits markets today. The country is among the top three global alcobev markets, with about 400 million annual cases. Just the premium category is about 2.5 million cases, growing at double digits year-on-year, which no other market today can claim. Even as big global markets like the US and China face some slowdown, the opportunity in India is immense.
India is predominantly a whisky-driven market, while we are a big champagne and cognac-driven organisation. But that’s where the opportunity is for us in India. The country is strategic because Moët Hennessy is looking to build its whisky portfolio here. Today, we are among the top eight markets for the global brand as far as whisky is concerned. But over the next 3-4 years, we intend to be in the top three whisky markets.
As premiumisation gathers pace in India, what demand trends are you seeing for luxury spirits across your portfolio?
It’s pretty optimistic. We now need to lead with our whisky portfolio. We are coming in with our Glenmorangie 15-Year-Old, The Lasanta. We’re trying to play that portfolio in the whisky category with our 12-year-old, now our 15-Year-Old. We already have an 18-year-old in the market and will bring the 21-year-old soon.
We are trying to play with the complete whisky portfolio in the premium plus segment, because that’s the biggest opportunity in India. Instead of leading it with a champagne or a cognac, it makes sense to lead with Glenmorangie, an established category, where our right to success is high.
How many states are you present in today, and what are your plans to deepen or widen your presence across India?
We are present in almost 15 states, with plans to expand our distribution network in India. The country’s landscape is challenging because every state has a different route to market, policy, and pricing. Given that we are in the premium-plus space, it’s not about going and opening deeper small markets, but a two-pronged strategy where we consolidate our strength in the key metro cities, followed by entry into the tier two cities where the consumer is aspirational and tries to mirror what’s happening in the larger metro cities. In the next couple of years, we plan to be in about 24 states across India.
Glenmorangie The Lasanta 15 Years Old is currently available in Mumbai, and will be in Bangalore over the next few months. We started with Maharashtra, in Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Aurangabad, and Nagpur. We will be expanding to Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, West Bengal, Bangalore, Telangana, and Rajasthan. By September, pre-Diwali, we will be present across 15 states.
We are targeting the Glenmorangie portfolio to be the most distributed brand from our portfolio because the category is such, and we want to be present everywhere.
How does India’s category mix compare with your global portfolio? Is whisky a significantly larger contributor to revenue in India than it is globally?
Globally, we are predominantly a champagne and a cognac market. Number one is cognac, number two is the champagne brands. Then come the spirits, including Glenmorangie, Belvedere, and Ardbeg, followed by Chandon sparkling wine. We also have other wines in the portfolio. So that’s the order globally. Because India is a spirit-forward market, Glenmorangie would be the biggest brand, followed by Belvedere, our premium vodka. Both put together would about 75% of our business today.
As far as champagnes and cognacs are concerned, we are market leaders and have about 75 to 80% market share. The category is extremely small in India, so we are trying to build it by creating experiences. Cognac in India is a seasonal play. For example, in the North, people usually consume it in the winter. In Goa and the South, it is predominantly a larger, all-year-round play. But the volumes are pretty small.
How could the India-EU trade deal affect Moët Hennessy’s business and the broader premium spirits market in India?
Whatever happens will benefit the industry as a whole. India is a highly taxed market for alcobev. There is a 150% customs duty, with every state having separate duties. This slows down the pace of premiumisation. What we hope the FTA will do is that if the duties are reduced, more consumers will be brought into the fold. So it’ll be accessible to a larger group of people for whom today’s price is a barrier. When the FTA gets implemented, I hope it opens up a much larger market for another set of consumers who can’t access it today.
