Scotch maker Chivas Brother reports 27% growth in India in FY23

Chivas Brothers, a leading manufacturer of Scotch whiskey, clocked a 27 per cent growth in sales in FY23 in the Indian market led by new Scotch audiences and premiumization of the market.

India in FY23 emerged as one of the "top growing markets" value-wise for the company, said its Chairman and CEO Jean Etienne Gourgues. Chivas Brothers follows the July-June financial year.

Chivas Brothers is an entity owned by the French liquor major Pernod Ricard. It operates with single malt and blended Scotch whisky brands, including Chivas Regal, Ballantine's, Royal Salute and The Glenlivet.

"It is a big growth. It is directly driven by the value and the organisation. Overall group's performance in India is still high. It plus 13 per cent. Scotch whisky, the higher part of that is growing faster. Brands such as Glenlivet are enjoying very strong growth. The higher the brand, the stronger the growth," Gourgues told PTI in an interview after the results. He further also said there is a bit of an inflationary element in India but "it is not a major one" now.

India comes under the Asia zone, which reported a robust growth of 21 per cent for FY 23 for Chivas Brother, which follows the July to June period as a financial year.

"The Asia region has been particularly robust, with 21 per cent growth in FY23, and the number one contributor to growth overall. India (+27%), South Korea (+19%), Japan (+28%) and Greater China (+7%) have also seen exceptionally strong performances and are driving demand with new Scotch audiences," said an earning statement from Chivas Brothers.

When asked about the brand-wise performance in the Indian market, Gourgues said: "All the brands have enjoyed double-digit growth In India." "Most of our brands in between Chivas and Ballantine's performed both at the same level in India. It's again very much value-driven, more than volume-driven," he added.

Its Luxury Blended Scotch Whisky has triple-digit growth in India, which is showcasing the aspiration for high-quality whiskey in India. According to Gourgues premiumisation is the trend is continuing in the whiskey market. Besides, there are innovations also.

"I think the growth driver was the overall trend of premiumisation, which means that consumers are purchasing a bit, sometimes a bit less but the higher quality and that has been the strong underlying factor for the growth." Chivas Brothers plans to bring more innovations for its products in India in the next 12 months, though he did not share any details about that.

"It is a strategic market for us. So it's definitely a market where when we do have innovation on Ballantine's on Chivas on Royal salute, we will bring it to India," he said When asked about the short-term and mid-term outlook for the Indian market, Gourgues said: "It is very positive for the future. India is the largest market in the world in terms of whiskey consumption. So there is a huge consumer base of consumers of the IMFL." Now consumers want to trade up for the special occasion and even for the daily occasion as well, he said.

"And I think with this premiumisation trend, which has been very clearly demonstrated through the results, the appetite is very strong to go for a more premium product and definitely Scotch whiskey and our brands are very well positioned to capture.

Over all Chivas Brothers reported the "strongest financial performance" in a decade with 17 per cent growth in global sales. "Chivas Regal celebrated global growth of +25%, with impressive performance in markets such as India and Japan," it added.

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