Sula resets after wine boom slows, shifts focus to homegrown brands

Mint

08-05-2025

NEW DELHI
:
After riding a post-pandemic wine boom, Sula Vineyards Ltd and the wine industry in the country are navigating a period of slower urban consumption and changing market dynamics. The company, which dominates the wine business in the country with over 60% market share in certain categories like premium and elite wines, is looking at different ways to reset its focus following a phase of overstocking and cooling demand.
The company's CEO Rajeev Samant speaking exclusively to Mint said while red wine has traditionally led the market, rising temperatures and shifting preferences are pushing Sula to expand its own portfolio, promote cooler varietals, like Rose and tap into new cities with urban wine festivals—all while scaling back on imports in an increasingly crowded space.
Samant pointed to a broader urban consumption slowdown. From 2020, and coming out of that, till 2023, the company said there was a big boom in wine consumption and sales across the country, but by 2024, there was a slowdown in consumption that the company witnessed. Part of it was because the general urban consumption slowed down.
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"A majority or 95% of the segment, is consumed in urban centres. Just under 1% of all alcoholic beverages is wine. We also witnessed there was a lot of overstocking in FY24, both from a retail and a consumers' homes standpoint, which led to slower growth," he said.
FY25, he said, was a reset year for the business, but it has grown its market share over the last year or so. "We won't return to a very strong double-digit CAGR growth, but will look at a strong single-digit growth. This is because alcobev is a very competitive space, and wine doesn't just compete with other wines but also other spirit categories," he added.
Cold drinks
"We've had a hot summer as well, and there is a tendency to move towards cooler drinks. India has been on a very red wine consumption trend in any case, which doesn't lend itself very well to summer consumption," he added. To expand its wine consumer base, the company plans to launch more urban wine festivals in three to four major cities while doubling down on its own wine portfolio instead of imports.
Although imported wines have grown at a pace equal to or slightly faster than domestic wines, the market has become overcrowded, squeezing margins for importers like them. Over the past 2-3 years, the company has shifted its focus to building its own brands, supported by a strong national distribution network. From 16% in 2019, the company's wine exports are now down to 2% in FY25.
He said the number of wine importers may rise further with the UK free trade agreement, potentially intensifying competition in an already crowded market, which will also cut down duties on some wines. "Our superstar range is our Source range, which is priced upwards of ₹1,200," he said.
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Sula Source is a premium wine line with varieties like Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Rose, which is currently available in a few markets. This year, the company will expand to other states as well. "But we need to also be very strong in the ₹700-800 category, which is where there won't be a lot of domestic or international competition," Samant said.
Premium white wine
Sula will also focus on a premium white wine launch in FY26. "We took cognisance of the fact that we need to create excitement in the category, even at the lower price point range, to be able to grow across the board," he added. Today, about 30% of its sales come from white wine, while 60% comes from red wine, and the remaining from Rose wines.
It sells in categories like popular, economy, premium and elite. A good 76% of its sales in the year came from its premium and elite segments, with the latter growing in double digits, and is also growing in value, overtaking the economy range, he said. The company achieved sales of around a million cases volume in FY25, which showed a slight decline compared to that of FY24, with value de-growth mainly focused on the lower end of the wine consumption business.
Their elite wine portfolio, which is priced upwards of ₹1,050 in markets like Maharashtra, grew by double digits. Overall, its fastest growing market has become Hyderabad, and it saw flat growth in Karnataka as well as Maharashtra, which saw some degrowth due to external factors like general and state elections in the first half of the year and some localised state-prompted disruptions in the Pune market. "The ₹2,000 wine category is less than 2-3% of the total market," he said.
Hospitality expansion
On Thursday evening, the company reported a consolidated revenue from operations of ₹619.3 crore at the close of FY25, growing marginally over ₹608.6 crore in FY24 in its filing to BSE. It also reported a de-growth in net profit for the fiscal closing at ₹70.2 crore, from ₹93.3 crore the year prior in FY24. This was largely on the back of an increase in the purchase of stock, which nearly doubled to ₹30 crore in FY25.
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The company is increasing its hospitality footprint. Its luxury properties—The Source and Beyond—which it manages, offer a combined 104 rooms. New projects include a 3,500 sq. ft. tasting room at Dindori, near the Gujarat border, and a 30-room resort in Nashik, expected to launch in the second half of FY26.
In October, Mint reported that its competitor, Grover Zampa Vineyards Ltd, was also betting on premiumization, introducing a range of high-end wines to cater to changing consumer preferences.
India's wine market has largely been dominated by home consumption. In 2024, the market generated a combined revenue of $9.3 billion, with $7 billion from at-home purchases (e.g., supermarkets and convenience stores) and around $2.2 billion from out-of-home venues (e.g., restaurants and bars).
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