News: Four Seasons Wines gearing for brand launch

(BL 31/03/2007) Bangalore - Four Seasons Wines, in which United Spirits holds a majority stake, is in talks with wine companies in Australia for an acquisition even as it is set to launch its first brand next month. The other partners in Four Seasons Wines include Sadanand Sule, Pratap Rao Pawar and Ranjit Pawar and a few farmers from Baramati who collectively hold 49 per cent stake. The United Spirits' Senior Vice-President and Chief Wine Maker, Abhay Kewadkar, told Business Line that the company is also in the process of signing contracts with farmers for nearly 1,000 acres in Baramati in Maharashtra for contract farming. "We have already signed 15-year contracts for 400 acres," he said. He said the joint venture would also look at Bangalore and Nashik for setting up vineyards. Kewadkar, who is also a Director on the board of the company, said Four Seasons is in talks with a few players in Australia and the US for acquisitions. "We are in talks with a few medium-sized players there. The acquisition could happen soon. We are looking at those who have a good brand value as we are keen on a global footprint," he said. The total investment for the next five years is around Rs 75 crore. For the first year of operations, apart from United Sprits' investment, the other partners have invested Rs 20 crore. Four Seasons already owns a 330-acre vineyard in Baramati. There are also plans to take the company public in another couple of years. The first of the wine brands from Four Seasons, Zinzi will be launched next month, Kewadkar said. Zinzi, which is part of the Varital range, will cost about Rs 240 for a 750 ml bottle. Over the next three years, the company will launch seven brands from the Varital range, five in the premium range and a sparkling wine using technology from Bouvet Ladubay, a French wine company, which United Spirits acquired recently. Four Seasons expects to sell between 5 million and 7 million bottles in the next five years, which will give it a market share of about 35 per cent. Kewadkar said the entry of a big player like United Spirits will help the industry grow rapidly. He said with the acquisition of Bouvet Ladubay, United Spirits would be able to offer a complete range of wine brands to Indian customers. Currently, the domestic market size is around 1 million cases per year and is growing at about 35 per cent. Chateau Indage leads the market with over 35 per cent share followed by Sula with 15 per cent and Grover Vineyards with 8 per cent share. India's per capita consumption of wine is about a teaspoon while that of China is about 5 litres and in a developed market like Italy it is about 50 litres.