Scottish beer brand BrewDog eyes aggressive expansion plans in India
BrewDog launched its first brewpub in Delhi-NCR at Gurugram yesterday. It is their third outlet in the country, the other two being in Mumbai.
- Aug 18, 2022,
- Updated Aug 18, 2022 2:12 PM IST
One of the biggest names in the business, Scottish craft brew brand BrewDog launched its first brewpub in Delhi-NCR at Gurugram yesterday. It is their third outlet in the country, the other two being in Mumbai.
“By the end of the year we will have three more – Amritsar, Chandigarh and Hyderabad. Next year we hope to open 6-9 more outlets across the country in places like Goa, Bangalore, Indore, etc. We are looking at 25 plus outlets in the next three years,” says Karan Jain, CEO at Aloha International Brewpub, which has brought BrewDog to India.
The company has invested about Rs 30 crore till now and plans to invest another Rs 100 crore over the next year. Investment will go up to Rs 500 crore over the next five years, says Jain. He hopes to have opened 75 outlets by then.
While the first outlet opened in Mumbai’s Kamala Mills in mid-2021, it only became fully operational in February this year post the third wave of the pandemic. The second outlet opened in Mumbai’s Bandra four months ago.
“India is a nascent beer market by virtue of the fact that craft beer has been around for only 12-13 years. Today there are around 400 or so craft breweries in India. But nearly 50 per cent is wheat beer. The remaining players are making only 4-5 different variants of beer. This is where someone like a BrewDog wins because we have a portfolio of more than 450 beers. Out of which at any given point of time we will have at least 24 beers on tap in our bars,” says Jain.
While 70 per cent of the beers across all the outlets will be the same, 30 per cent will vary from outlet to outlet.
“Currently India is going through a wheat beer phase. Those are the ones which are doing well in our bars as well. Nearly 65 per cent of our volumes come from wheat beer. IPAs are also becoming popular. At BrewDog of the 24 variants that we keep at our bars, 50 per cent are different variants of IPAs. It’s a homecoming of the Indian Pale Ale,” says Jain.
With so many breweries in so many states, the customer is getting used to craft beer. The quality is better and in a lot of cases craft beer is cheaper than commercial beer, says Jain. “The market is maturing. People now know their beer, they know the quality. It’s no longer only about 1+1,” he says.
The craft beer market in India is expected to grow at a rate of 108.59 per cent in terms of volume between 2020-2025, as per a report by Research & Markets.
BrewDog, with revenues of 286 million pounds, exports to 60 countries and has over 100 bars across the globe. It has its own breweries in Ohio (USA), Berlin (Germany) and Brisbane (Australia). Ace Aloha, is only one of two companies in the world to have got the brewing licence from BrewDog. The other is Asahi in Japan.
“As of now we are brewing 15 variants in India in Pune. We will soon increase this to 30. Currently, we are importing around 10 variants,” says Jain. The Pune brewery has a capacity of 40,000 litres. Jain plans to set up one more brewery in Pune as they grow.
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One of the biggest names in the business, Scottish craft brew brand BrewDog launched its first brewpub in Delhi-NCR at Gurugram yesterday. It is their third outlet in the country, the other two being in Mumbai.
“By the end of the year we will have three more – Amritsar, Chandigarh and Hyderabad. Next year we hope to open 6-9 more outlets across the country in places like Goa, Bangalore, Indore, etc. We are looking at 25 plus outlets in the next three years,” says Karan Jain, CEO at Aloha International Brewpub, which has brought BrewDog to India.
The company has invested about Rs 30 crore till now and plans to invest another Rs 100 crore over the next year. Investment will go up to Rs 500 crore over the next five years, says Jain. He hopes to have opened 75 outlets by then.
While the first outlet opened in Mumbai’s Kamala Mills in mid-2021, it only became fully operational in February this year post the third wave of the pandemic. The second outlet opened in Mumbai’s Bandra four months ago.
“India is a nascent beer market by virtue of the fact that craft beer has been around for only 12-13 years. Today there are around 400 or so craft breweries in India. But nearly 50 per cent is wheat beer. The remaining players are making only 4-5 different variants of beer. This is where someone like a BrewDog wins because we have a portfolio of more than 450 beers. Out of which at any given point of time we will have at least 24 beers on tap in our bars,” says Jain.
While 70 per cent of the beers across all the outlets will be the same, 30 per cent will vary from outlet to outlet.
“Currently India is going through a wheat beer phase. Those are the ones which are doing well in our bars as well. Nearly 65 per cent of our volumes come from wheat beer. IPAs are also becoming popular. At BrewDog of the 24 variants that we keep at our bars, 50 per cent are different variants of IPAs. It’s a homecoming of the Indian Pale Ale,” says Jain.
With so many breweries in so many states, the customer is getting used to craft beer. The quality is better and in a lot of cases craft beer is cheaper than commercial beer, says Jain. “The market is maturing. People now know their beer, they know the quality. It’s no longer only about 1+1,” he says.
The craft beer market in India is expected to grow at a rate of 108.59 per cent in terms of volume between 2020-2025, as per a report by Research & Markets.
BrewDog, with revenues of 286 million pounds, exports to 60 countries and has over 100 bars across the globe. It has its own breweries in Ohio (USA), Berlin (Germany) and Brisbane (Australia). Ace Aloha, is only one of two companies in the world to have got the brewing licence from BrewDog. The other is Asahi in Japan.
“As of now we are brewing 15 variants in India in Pune. We will soon increase this to 30. Currently, we are importing around 10 variants,” says Jain. The Pune brewery has a capacity of 40,000 litres. Jain plans to set up one more brewery in Pune as they grow.
Also read: Wipro holds back variable pay of mid, senior employees in June quarter
Also read: Sona BLW Precision shares fall 6% after Blackstone sells stake