Effervescent in India

Adding froth to the Indian beer market is the made-in-India Cobra Beer launched in May this year. "Cobra Super Premium beer brewed in India has been very well received. Our product is one notch above the normal ‘premium lagers’ available here. The ingredients are special, the packaging is special. Though it’s early days yet, we see this as an extremely encouraging market,” states Perses Bilimoria, regional director, Cobra Indian Beer Private Limited.

Brewed in technical collaboration with the Mount Shivalik group, one of the largest independent brewing companies at their upgraded facility at Behror in Rajasthan, Bilimoria says the Indian product is identical to the Cobra Beer available in the UK. "It is completely the same recipe. It took us nine months to get the taste exactly right. The flavor, the body are identical,” he elaborates.

Effervescent in the UK with a current turnover of $ 120 million, Cobra now has two subsidiaries (South Africa and the US), as well as the company in India and the beer is exported to 35 countries. Double filtered for an extra smooth taste, Cobra’s USP (unique selling point) is that it is less gassy and goes well with spicy Indian cuisine. At the Monde Selection Awards 2005 in Brussels, Cobra Beer picked up a total of 11 medals, the most for any beer company at Monde Selection – nine gold medals and two grand gold medals. The Indian brew was among the winning brands.

"It has been my dream to brew Cobra Beer in India again,” said Karan Bilimoria, founder and chief executive of Cobra Beer whose entrepreneurial spirit had first launched Cobra Beer in Bangalore in 1989. In 1990, Karan started selling his beer (imported into the UK) from the boot of his Citroen car in England! "Cobra Beer did not have an advertising budget, nor did it have even a small distribution network. All Karan had was a great, premium product and, although it was a beer that was brewed in a country little known for its brewing credentials, he knew that his brew was of the very highest quality and that that would be the key to its success. His mission from day one has been ‘to brew the finest ever Indian beer and to make it a global beer brand’ and he has never stopped working to achieve this,” states Perses Bilimoria, commending his cousin’s cheery spirit.

In 1997, manufacture moved from Bangalore to Bedford under a leading British brew master. "Today Cobra is available in over 6,000 UK Indian restaurants, nearly 6,000 bars, pubs and clubs and in most major supermarkets and off license chains in the country and is the first Indian beer to ever be sold in Harrods,” adds Perses. In 2002, the made-in-England Cobra was imported and sold in India, though costs remained high. With the manufacture in Rajasthan, the Cobra wheel has turned full circle, with a return to its roots.

Perses Bilimoria with Indian-made Cobra Beer;

With a premium (alcohol) strength of just under five percent, a 330 ml bottle is priced at Rs 30, the 650 ml at Rs 50. "We are looking at launching a strong beer in the next three months with an eight percent alcohol content,” declares the regional director, adding that strong beers are favored by 70-80 percent of beer drinkers in India. "The beer segment is a grossly over-regulated industry. Selling beer in different states in India is like servicing different countries!” Currently beer consumption is in the region of half a liter per capita per year, compared to 16-17 liters per person in a country like China and a much higher consumption in the West. Heavy taxes and a ban on advertising have hampered growth. The fizz of competitors with a head start like United Breweries or Fosters do not faze the makers of Cobra. "We encourage healthy competition. Your product will stand out if it is good,” believes Perses.

In Bombay, over 300 shops and restaurants stock the product, tickling the tastebuds at upper crust establishments like Indigo, Tendulkar’s, Jazz by the Bay or holding sway, club class, at the CCI (Cricket Club of India), Bombay Gymkhana, Otters Club…

Sharing table space is Cobra’s other product, General Bilimoria wines which are currently fully imported, with two Spanish wines, four French and three South African estate-bottled wines being marketed, albeit on a low key, in India.

Cobra also has a non-alcoholic malt beverage (which can be advertised as it contains no alcohol). The product was launched in the US market in April this year. "We are very excited to be branching out into new markets,” said Hoshang Chenoy, vice president, marketing (US), as reports Tandoori magazine published from the UK, in its summer 2005 issue. Also available in UK is the Cobra ‘Lower Cal, Lower Carb’ beer, wherein a 330 ml bottle contains only 95 calories, zero fat and less than half the carbohydrate content of normal lager, adds Tandoori.