Opinion
Khaitan: Scaling a liquor brand realistically requires at least ₹50 crores
“With a six crore fund, you, it's like, if you click it, you're a god. But you should have that capital of at least 50 crores, et cetera.”
Insight
Khaitan: New Alcohol Startups Need 70-80% Gross Margins to Survive
“For any newcomer you have to, your gross profit has to be high. It has to be 70 to 80%, else you'll fail. If you try to compete with the masses, big boys will take you.”
Insight
Khaitan: Alcohol brands cannot force sales through heavy capital and advertising
“Because what I believe in alcohol, you cannot push sales. You have to win sales. Like, as I said, first 10,000 is important. So even sometimes I brew with that idea whether is it the right strategy, but in my last 20 to two decades of my experience, I feel It'…”
Insight
Khaitan: Luxury spirits above ₹8,000 must rely on PR, not direct marketing
“If the higher you go, suppose you go eight, 10,000, you don't need any marketing. If you market, you won't be able to sell. The only thing should be Word of mouth and PR press and the competitions.”
Assertion Supported
Khaitan: Magic Moments accounts for 60% of India's vodka sales
“Today we are proud that magic is the seventh largest vodka in the world. And in India, out of all the vodkas, starting from a regular to a Grey Goose or a Kaufman, 60% of any vodka sold is magic.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Khaitan: Pan-India Liquor Distribution Requires 35 Bottling Units
“In our industry, if you want to go all India, you have to have 35 bottling units.”
Insight
Khaitan: Liquor Brands Die When Ignoring Secondary and Tertiary Offtake
“The minute you push your primaries and you don't look at your secondaries and tertiaries, the brand is finished.”
Assertion Contradicted
Khaitan: Flavored Vodka Accounts for 80% of India's Vodka Market
“In vodka, 80% of the market now has become flavored vodka.”
Insight
Khaitan: Winning the top 10 trendiest bars drives automatic on-premise adoption
“In a state, suppose if you are there, you address the 10 trendiest bar. So the minute you are there, other bars will copy you. They'll say that if you give, like, if you have an entry to one on-premise, like say a sidecar in Delhi. If anyone knows that, okay, …”
Insight
Khaitan: Mumbai is the most expensive Indian market to launch alcohol brands
“Mumbai is the costliest. Any city, like if you want to launch his beer from Mumbai, as a startup, it's very tough. The kind of money it burns, like, you know, it like I addressed Mumbai the last. It's the most expensive market.”
Assertion Supported
Khaitan: Claims that tequila causes fewer hangovers are purely marketing
“It is all all marketing.”
Assertion Supported
Khaitan: Diageo's market share dropped to 20-25% after offloading cheaper brands
“Now like Diageo has given off the less expensive brands to Inbrew. Earlier their market share would have been about close to about 35. So now they'll be same about 20, 25.”
Assertion Supported
Khaitan: India drinks 400M cases of hard liquor annually
“Four hundred million is the hard liquor. So four hundred million cases. Country liquor would be again a three hundred million cases market.”
Assertion Supported
Khaitan: 98% of Brandy in India Sells in the South
“See, I think brandy, 98% of the brandy sells in South.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Khaitan: Modern large-format retail makes liquor shopping safe for women
“That earlier, if you would have gone into any shop, you know, Aryana, Mumbai, women can't go and shop. They'll be looked down, like, you know, they'll not feel safe. But today, if you see the shopping experience, whether it's Bangalore, whether it is Gurgaon, …”
Assertion Contradicted
Khaitan: Sponsoring the IPL requires a ₹100 crore budget
“IPL, if you sponsor, you have to have a budget of a hundred crore.”
Assertion Contradicted
Khaitan: Radico Khaitan contributes 26% of Uttar Pradesh's alcohol excise revenue
“And we contribute 26% of the state's revenue.”
Disclosure
Khaitan: Radico operates 41 units to navigate interstate alcohol duties
“I have to manufacture every, that's why I have 41 units. That's the biggest entry to barrier.”
Opinion
Khaitan: Building a proudly Indian brand is now the best commercial strategy
“A hundred percent. I think Indian, Being a proud, like always I've advocated, being a proud company, Indian company is the way forward. People are looking for Indianness. People are proud to be Indian. Like even if you see all my products, it's all Indian.”
Assertion Partly supported
Khaitan: Radico sells a ₹5 lakh Rampur single malt bottle
“Like Rampur, that five lakh rupee bottle has written in Sanskrit on this. That happiness lies within.”
Assertion Supported
Khaitan: Radico Khaitan's Indian single malt is priced higher than imported malts
“So today also, if you see Indian products are priced higher, like say our malt is priced higher than any of the well-known malts also.”
Disclosure
Khaitan: Radico Khaitan's liquor recipes are known by only two people
“Like only the chief master blender, it's called as a black book. So like we don't share with anyone. Like only I have it and my blender would have it.”
Assertion Partly supported
Khaitan: Vodka was India's fastest-growing spirit category over the last five years
“Vodka has been the largest growing category in the last five years.”
Assertion Supported
Khaitan: Rampur whisky is ₹8,500 at Mumbai duty-free versus ₹12,000 retail
“So let's give an example, say Rampur in the Mumbai duty free would be 8500 and in the retail 12 another thousand.”
