Sula Vineyards, India’s leading wine producer, recently announced its expansion into the Australian market. Sula is present in over 30 countries globally and in 2019, it had added China to the export list. Rajeev Samant, Founder and CEO of Sula Vineyards says, “Australia is one of the highest wine consuming countries in the world and we are happy that the Australian consumer now has the choice of experiencing robust flavours of our wines.”
The company has partnered with Kismet Trading as their distribution partners in Adelaide to begin with and then plan to progress to Melbourne and Sydney. Sula will export popular wines like Sauvignon Blanc, Dindori Reserve Shiraz and Riesling to the Australian market, the company said. “In order to sell Sula Wines and create brand awareness with retail shops, Kismet Trading will target the Australian market at approximately 800 venues where Sula Vineyards’ wines will be proudly listed in menus as an international wine,” the company added in a statement.
Wines from Nashikbased Sula Vineyards currently capture over 60 per cent of the market share in India and have a presence in countries including USA, Belgium, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Holland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Poland, Norway, Japan, South Korea, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, UAE, and China. In the domestic market, the winemaker had recently launched India’s first canned wine: Dia Sparkler.
The company is selling both of Dia’s red and white wines in a 330 ml can priced at `180. The canned wine market is now worth $70 million in the US, up from 70 per cent in 2018, according to Nielsen data for the year ending March 2019 and it has increased by 125 per cent in the UK, which is now worth over £3.6 million. Sula Vineyards is now the only first player in India in this segment. According to reports, Indian wine market is growing at a CAGR of 20-25 per cent over the last five years and the overall market can be bifurcated into domestic and imported markets which account for 70 per cent and 30 per cent , respectively.