Officer's Choice Beats Mallya's Bagpiper

One industry executive commented on the brand rankings, said, United Spirits (USL) pushed competing brands like Old Tavern in its regular priced portfolio (in some regional markets), which impacted Bagpiper. Market lines in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh saw the biggest decline in Bagpiper, whereas Officer’s Choice made significant profits which put Mallya’s brand under pressure. USL's strategy to push Old Tavern whisky in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh - the two biggest markets for that brand - was curious since it had an average selling price slightly below Bagpiper.

The world's largest spirits marketer by volume, United Spirits had a discussion upon premiumization strategy lately. The reason why the growth of Indian distillers is tempered is due to the rising cost of bottles and unsteady molasses price. But this trend didn’t affect USL as it shares 50 percent shares of the market.

Pernod Ricard, French drinks giant sustained to outpace USL in its fight to capture the top end of the Indian made foreign liquor ( IMFL) market. USL's efforts to check the advance of Pernod Ricard with new brand variants of McDowell's No.1 and Antiquity whiskies showed promise. McDowell's Platinum reported 36 percent volume growth to touch one million cases, while Antiquity Blue logged a 35.1 percent jump to 435,000 cases.