Nao Spirits & Beverages, makers of ‘Greater Than Gin’, has announced plans to expand into Himachal Pradesh and Punjab by the end of next month. Co-founder and CEO Anand Virmani stated͏͏ that͏͏ the͏͏ company͏͏ aims͏͏ to͏͏ sell͏͏ 120,000͏͏ cases͏͏ of͏͏ gin͏͏ this͏͏ financial͏͏ year,͏͏ up͏͏ from͏͏ 97,000͏͏ in͏͏ the͏͏ previous͏͏ one.
Significant͏͏ Market͏͏ Growth͏͏ Over͏͏ Six͏͏ Years:
“When͏͏ we͏͏ started͏͏ in͏͏ 2017,͏͏ only͏͏ about͏͏ 12,000͏͏ cases͏͏ of͏͏ premium͏͏ gin͏͏ were͏͏ sold,͏͏ including͏͏ imported͏͏ brands.͏͏ By͏͏ 2022,͏͏ this͏͏ number͏͏ had͏͏ risen͏͏ to͏͏ over͏͏ 300,000͏͏ cases,͏͏ and͏͏ reached͏͏ 420,000͏͏ in͏͏ 2023,͏͏ with͏͏ each͏͏ case͏͏ containing͏͏ 12͏͏ bottles.͏͏ These͏͏ figures͏͏ represent͏͏ gins͏͏ in͏͏ the͏͏ premium͏͏ category,͏͏ priced͏͏ at͏͏ INR͏͏ 1,000͏͏ and͏͏ above,”͏͏ said͏͏ Virmani,͏͏ adding͏͏ that͏͏ the͏͏ company͏͏ currently͏͏ holds͏͏ a͏͏ 25%͏͏ market͏͏ share͏͏ in͏͏ the͏͏ Indian͏͏ and͏͏ imported͏͏ gin͏͏ segment,͏͏ amounting͏͏ to͏͏ around͏͏ 100,000͏͏ cases.
Distillery͏͏ Operations͏͏ and͏͏ Product͏͏ Portfolio:
The͏͏ company͏͏ operates͏͏ a͏͏ distillery͏͏ in͏͏ Goa͏͏ with͏͏ a͏͏ production͏͏ capacity͏͏ of͏͏ 200,000͏͏ cases͏͏ and͏͏ offers͏͏ a͏͏ portfolio͏͏ that͏͏ includes͏͏ Greater͏͏ Than,͏͏ a͏͏ London͏͏ Dry͏͏ Gin,͏͏ and͏͏ Hapusa,͏͏ a͏͏ Himalayan͏͏ Dry͏͏ Gin.͏͏ In͏͏ the͏͏ 2023-24͏͏ fiscal͏͏ year,͏͏ Nao͏͏ Spirits͏͏ sold͏͏ one͏͏ million͏͏ bottles͏͏ of͏͏ Greater͏͏ Than͏͏ Gin.͏͏ Additionally,͏͏ it͏͏ introduced͏͏ Pipa͏͏ Rum͏͏ de͏͏ Goa,͏͏ a͏͏ premium͏͏ spiced͏͏ rum͏͏ with͏͏ limited͏͏ availability,͏͏ exclusively͏͏ in͏͏ Goa.
Continue͏͏ Exploring:͏͏ Broken͏͏ Bat͏͏ Gin͏͏ by͏͏ Nao Spirits hits͏͏ a͏͏ home͏͏ run,͏͏ named͏͏ ‘Best͏͏ Gin͏͏ in͏͏ Asia’͏͏ at͏͏ The͏͏ Gin͏͏ Guide͏͏ Awards͏͏ 2023
The͏͏ company͏͏ has͏͏ recently͏͏ entered͏͏ nine͏͏ new͏͏ international͏͏ markets,͏͏ such͏͏ as͏͏ Canada,͏͏ Malaysia,͏͏ Nepal,͏͏ Ukraine,͏͏ the͏͏ Philippines,͏͏ Japan,͏͏ Sri͏͏ Lanka,͏͏ China,͏͏ and͏͏ the͏͏ UAE.͏͏ With͏͏ exports͏͏ now͏͏ reaching͏͏ 23͏͏ countries,͏͏ key͏͏ markets͏͏ include͏͏ the͏͏ UK,͏͏ Italy,͏͏ Singapore,͏͏ Thailand,͏͏ Taiwan,͏͏ and͏͏ Norway.͏͏ The͏͏ company͏͏ is͏͏ also͏͏ aiming͏͏ to͏͏ expand͏͏ its͏͏ presence͏͏ in͏͏ duty-free͏͏ markets͏͏ across͏͏ the͏͏ UAE,͏͏ Singapore,͏͏ and͏͏ Nepal.
“On͏͏ the͏͏ export͏͏ front,͏͏ Hapusa͏͏ has͏͏ performed͏͏ exceptionally͏͏ well,͏͏ while͏͏ in͏͏ India,͏͏ Greater͏͏ Than͏͏ has͏͏ achieved͏͏ tremendous͏͏ success,͏͏ especially͏͏ given͏͏ that͏͏ the͏͏ category͏͏ was͏͏ virtually͏͏ non-existent͏͏ before.͏͏ There’s͏͏ been͏͏ significant͏͏ enthusiasm͏͏ surrounding͏͏ the͏͏ Indian͏͏ market,͏͏ which͏͏ makes͏͏ sense͏͏ since͏͏ gin,͏͏ being͏͏ a͏͏ spirit͏͏ crafted͏͏ with͏͏ herbs,͏͏ spices,͏͏ and͏͏ botanicals,͏͏ aligns͏͏ perfectly͏͏ with͏͏ India’s͏͏ status͏͏ as͏͏ the͏͏ world’s͏͏ spice͏͏ capital,”͏͏ the͏͏ CEO͏͏ explained.
While͏͏ exports͏͏ contribute͏͏ 15%͏͏ of͏͏ its͏͏ revenue,͏͏ domestic͏͏ sales͏͏ make͏͏ up͏͏ the͏͏ remaining͏͏ 85%.͏͏ Nao͏͏ Spirits’͏͏ brands͏͏ are͏͏ available͏͏ in͏͏ around͏͏ 12͏͏ states͏͏ through͏͏ civil͏͏ markets͏͏ and͏͏ 19͏͏ states͏͏ via͏͏ the͏͏ Canteen͏͏ Stores͏͏ Department͏͏ (CSD),͏͏ establishing͏͏ a͏͏ foothold͏͏ in͏͏ regions͏͏ like͏͏ Gujarat,͏͏ Kerala,͏͏ and͏͏ Tamil͏͏ Nadu,͏͏ where͏͏ they͏͏ are͏͏ not͏͏ otherwise͏͏ registered͏͏ in͏͏ civil͏͏ markets.
Growth͏͏ Trajectory:͏͏ 40%͏͏ YoY͏͏ Increase͏͏ and͏͏ EBITDA͏͏ Goals
Seventy͏͏ percent͏͏ of͏͏ the͏͏ company’s͏͏ sales͏͏ occur͏͏ off-trade,͏͏ through͏͏ retail͏͏ channels,͏͏ while͏͏ the͏͏ remaining͏͏ 30%͏͏ come͏͏ from͏͏ on-trade͏͏ sales.͏͏ In͏͏ 2022,͏͏ United͏͏ Spirits͏͏ Limited,͏͏ a͏͏ subsidiary͏͏ of͏͏ Diageo͏͏ India,͏͏ invested͏͏ INR͏͏ 31.5͏͏ crores͏͏ to͏͏ acquire͏͏ a͏͏ minority͏͏ stake͏͏ in͏͏ Nao͏͏ Spirits͏͏ &͏͏ Beverages.͏͏ With͏͏ a͏͏ year-on-year͏͏ growth͏͏ rate͏͏ of͏͏ 40%͏͏ over͏͏ the͏͏ past͏͏ two͏͏ years,͏͏ the͏͏ company͏͏ aims͏͏ to͏͏ achieve͏͏ EBITDA͏͏ positivity͏͏ in͏͏ this͏͏ financial͏͏ year.
