Brewing Interest

The response to such beer-familiarisation drives in the city has been very encouraging. The tickets for the first-ever Oktoberfest-Mumbai at Royal Western Turf Club at Mahalaxmi Race Course,Mumbai were sold out days before the festival began. Colaba-based Woodside Inn’s Beer and Burger Festival last July saw a huge turnout,subsequently increasing footfall. Now,they are getting ready to host the second edition this July.

In spite of these success stories,the Indian beer market is not enjoying a high,yet. That’s mainly because even as the Indian consumer develops a taste for new beers,suppliers are finding it difficult to maintain a consistent supply. “A lot of barriers have been put into place that impact the import of international beers,” says Ankur Jain,the managing director of Cerana Imports Pvt Ltd,which supplies brands from Belgium,Germany,and the US to many of the SAARC countries. “The state of Maharashtra has one of the highest tax structures for imported alcohols. This means the tax component alone is 75 per cent of a beer bottle’s cost.”

Taxes on imports keep fluctuating. So do the prices on menus. “If there is an increase of Rs 5 or 10 per bottle,then we don’t bother to change the prices,” says Mukesh Tiwari,manager of Woodside Inn,that serves 12 varieties of international beers. “But if there is an increase by Rs 40-50 per bottle,then we have to reprint our menu.” In the last year alone,they have reprinted the menu four times to reflect the increase in prices.

Another issue that scares importers is the impending expiry date of the brews. “Unlike wine and spirits,beer is a perishable item,with a ‘best before’ date that is usually within four to six months from its manufacture,” explains Singh. “By the time the stock is cleared by customs and excise officials in India,it’s already four months old.”

But having learned from the challenges they faced in the last few years,suppliers are now importing beer in smaller quantities to avoid spoilage as well as to space out their import and excise duties. Smaller quantity also ensures less paperwork. This has resulted in a more consistent import of international brands. Encouraged by this,Lower Parel’s Blue Frog has been bold enough to import Stella Artois and Hoegaarden by the keg. “Consistency used to be a concern for us in past,” says Gaurav Bakaya,the head of food and beverage operations for the club. “Of late,things have gotten much better. Also,there is a lot of demand and awareness of these brands so we always manage to sell everything before it perishes.”