Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, Aug 07, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, Aug 07, 2002 |
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Marketing
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New Products & Services Bacardi set to uncork Breezer in India Boby Kurian
BANGALORE, Aug. 6 AFTER a prolonged wait, Bacardi Martini India Ltd (BMIL) is poised to foray into the ready-to-drink (RTD) alcoholic beverage segment with the launch of Bacardi Breezer. The company, which is a 74:26 joint venture between Bacardi and Gemini Distilleries, is scheduled to launch Breezer later this month or in early September, according to sources. Breezer will be bottled at Gemini Distilleries unit in Goa and will hit markets such as Delhi, Maharashtra (including Mumbai) and Goa before going national in a phased manner. Breezer is a fruit-flavoured drink with 4.8 per cent alcohol content. Globally, Breezer is available in many flavours which include watermelon, cranberry, orange, lime, pineapple, peach, lemon and ruby grape fruit. Sources say that the three likely flavours for the Indian market are orange, lime and cranberry. However, when contacted, BMIL refused to divulge details regarding the launch. Business Line's queries on pack size and pricing remained unanswered. Breezer's popular international pack sizes are glass bottles of 200 ml and 275 ml and plastic bottles of 330 ml. It must be mentioned that BMIL had plans to launch Breezer in India at least three years ago and had even worked out a pricing of Rs 47 on a 330 ml pack size. It was postponed following the feedback that the pricing was too high to make any sizable impact in the domestic alcoholic beverage market. Breezer is currently available across 30 countries in the world. The UK remains one of the biggest markets for Breezer. The brand stormed the UK in 1993 after tasting success in the US and induced widespread consumer shift from pints of lager and white wine. It was positioned as "a credible alternative to beer". The early advertising campaigns invoked images of sunny beaches, hot summer days, relaxing in hammocks and deserted islands with the consumer benefit being "to cool off". Guinness UDV's Smirnoff Ice is Breezer's toughest competitor worldwide. Interestingly, UDV is also mulling the introduction of Smirnoff in India.
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