‘We shall be definitely crossing the turnover of 100,000 cases this fiscal year,’ insists Ravi as he unfolds the marketing plans of the new company Grover-Zampa and sets about the task of revamping the distribution channel. ‘I know it is an uphill task and we are in the processing of clearing the old issues left behind after Brindco left the company. But Grover has had a strong branding; I was impressed by the retail trade asking for Grover wines and the brand equity of labels like La Reserve,’ adding with caution however, that the quantity of La Reserve for the current year is already capped since the grapes have already been crushed and the quantity is limited. ‘But we shall have enough of other labels to feed the market and achieve the target,’ says Ravi.
The company plans to continue selling the Zampa brands as they are in their current markets. ‘For instance, we shall continue to make Zampa sparkling wine under the same label. But the wines that are not selling in the current markets will not be pushed as Zampa. The merger also implies that the Zampa winemaking facilities will be utilized to make even Grover labels to sell in Maharashtra. Grover currently bottles its wines for Maharashtra by leasing bottling arrangements just as Sula does in Karnataka for that market - to circumvent the rules in the respective states charging extra excise duties on the out-of state wines.
‘Our big push towards exports will continue with focus on France, Japan and UK markets,’ says Ravi Jain, who is also a fellow IITian from Delhi. ‘We are surely going to cross the export of 200,000 bottles to France alone. I returned from London last week, where we had gone regarding the distribution of wine in UK. We are already well received in Japan.’
Grover was the second largest wine producer till last year when the declining sales to less than 60,000 cases brought them behind Four Seasons, which tried to touch the 70,000 case mark but was a clear number 2 producer in volume. Sula, with a turnover of around 450,000 cases of domestic wine, is laps ahead of all the other producers - combined. Even in the low end ‘Port’ wine segment, it has taken several strides; out of the ‘mainstream’ producers, Sula is already leading. Even Grover has now designed a strategy to capture a reasonable chunk of this fast growing market.
It may appear a tough nut to crack - or is it the case of a tough bottle to uncork? But Ravi is very optimistic and says, ‘after all, the wine season starts from October 1. We are ready with the wines and the distribution network and will cover the lost ground fast.’ Grover-Zampa is out to prove the market skeptics wrong. Most optimists expect that it would be difficult to cross 50,000 cases with a significant number predicting as low as 40,000 for the current year. It has never crossed beyond 90,000.
Only time will tell. But the race to be the second largest wine producer is hotting up! Ravi Jain and Grover-Zampa are keen to prove the pundits wrong. Watch this space for the actual results.
Subhash Arora |