[Mar. 29, 2007]A crystal cup of champagne or a large drinking cup filled with aged red wine are considered essential beverages for Europeans not only for their timeless charm, but for they're part of the Old Continent culture.
Wine history is old as societies are. In Egypt, in Rome as well as in ancient Greek, wine played on important roles in ceremonial life.
Even "in medieval Europe, the Christian Church was a staunch supporter of wine which was necessary for the celebration of the Catholic Mass." (Wikipedia)
In these years, due to a globalized economical system and to an easier easier flow of intercontinental travelers, wine-culture is spreading all over the world. Even India and China have discovered the pleasure of drinking a good cup of wine. A boon for producers and exporters.
Wine is probably considered the best ambassador of Made in Italy and emerging countries for Italian wine producers are lands of opportunities. In particular, India is becoming an interesting target.
Alessandro Griccioli in his work New Market Development for a Unique Italian Wine Brand into the Evolving Indian Market analyzes the Indian wine market, describing accurately the local wine production and offering the reader a deep survey on present Italian wine exportation in the Asian country.
During British colonization, wine became more and more familiar throughout India. The first vineyard was planted in Surat in 1612 by Britons, while "a number of Indian wines were exhibited and favourably received by visitors to the Great Calcutta Exhibition of 1884."
In the 19th century, with the invention of Indian pale ale, beer began to overtake wine consumption, at the same time brandy, whisky and soda, once widely accessible, were recognized as drinks of choice.
Additionally, around the 1860s, "when the Schweppes company began marketing its anti-malaria tonic, gin began to gain currency as the best means for making tonic palatable."
At the beginning of twentieth century, cocktails became a fad worldwide, and even today "in India, cocktails, whisky soda, rum and brandy are far, far more widely consumed than wine."
According to the data reported by the author, the Indian consumption of wines "recorded 14% growth in 2003-04 to reach 490.000 9-litre cases, against 430.000 cases the previous year and 22% growth in 2005-2006 to reach 650.000 cases."
Moreover, the production of local labels actually indicates the potential of Indian wine industry. "At present in India grape is grown over an area of 60.000 ha [hectares – editorial note] with an annual production of 1.6 million tonnes (FAO, 2005)"
The Sula winery, for instance, was started in 1998 and its "sales have increased from 20.000 cases in 2002-03 to 70.000 cases in 2004-05 […] The company plans to sale over 1 million bottles abroad, during 2005-06, for which they have doubled their annual capacity from 0,75 million litres to 1,5 million litres."
But wine sales represent less than 2% of Indian alcoholic market, since the country's primarily consumption are spirits, with 120 million cases per year. Even if the legal drinking age is 25.
Besides "a majority of Indians not only shun alcohol, but also consider it taboo". This is what Subhash Arora, President of the Indian Wine Academy calls the "Indian Paradox". (Wine Business International - October 2006 issue)
Differently from what happens in the Old Continent (especially in Mediterranean countries), Indians don't perceive yet significant differences between alcohols and wine, and have no idea of the possible health benefits of the latter.
But "it is a generational thing" Rajeev Samanf, founder of Sula, said in an interview to the International Herald Tribune, "people are more exposed now to Western styles, they travel to London and New York and don't see so much whiskey being drunk there" (International Herald Tribune - March 15, 2007)
As evidence of change, the University of Adelaide (Australia) announced to set up by 2008 the first Indian Institute of Vine and Wine in association with Champagne Indage, India's largest wine making company, giving Indian students the opportunity to study in depth the field of wine making. (Rediff.com – March 19, 2007)
Wine demand is also a social issue, for "eighty percent of wine consumption in the country is confined in major cities such as Mumbai (39%), Delhi (23%), Bangalore (9%) and Goa (9%)" (data reported by Alessandro Griccioli). But most of all, it's an economical thing: a realistic target audience could be made up of 20-30 million, among middle, upper-middle and rich classes.
A bottle of imported wine in India is quite expensive, for duties applied on wine and spirits imports are extremely high, increasing their price fivefold. For this reason, few weeks ago the European Union and the US filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization about the Indian tariffs that shut off foreign companies.
Extra duties on alcohol imports can be added independently by single Indian states. Some "slap additional duties on imported alcohol that can increase the total duty to between 177 percent and 540 percent [...] Tamil Nadu state goes further still, shutting out foreign alcohol and allowing shops to sell only Indian-made spirits and wines." (International Herald Tribune - March 26, 2007)
But in spite of Indian old habits and high prices on imported alcohols, "Italian wine exports to India have increased by 70%", according to elaborations by Coldiretti (Italy's largest farmer's lobby) on data gathered by Istat (the Italian national statistical institute). (Winenews.it – Feb. 28, 2007)
It's clear that the increasing demand of Italian wines and other typical foods is destined to expand, moving with the same pace of economic growth of the Asian country. After 4-years of stagnant economic trends, when Italian wine sector has experienced a general crisis, in 2006 the demand for Italian wine is up to 5.4%.
Two months ago, Vinitaly - the international wine expo organized in the Italian city of Verona - had in India a successful 4-days traveling exhibition of top Italian Wines, promoting them as the flagship of excellence in the quality agro-foods system.
Today Vinitaly will open the doors of its 2007 edition with "4,200 exhibitors over a net area of almost 80 thousand square metres" and Indian wine market will be one of the most debated issues during the collateral conferences scheduled for the 5-days show. (data reported from Vinitaly website)
References:
Wikipedia - Wine
Vinitaly
Related articles:
The Indian Paradox on Wine Business International website
Days of wine and roses, sobered by high tariffs in India on International Herald Tribune website
First wine institute in India soon on www.rediff.com
EU calls for WTO panel in row with India over wine duties on International Herald Tribune website
ITALY - INDIA TRADE: UP 70% FOR ITALIAN WINE on www.winenews.it