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Informist, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026

 

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--United Breweries: Plan greenfield brewery in Uttar Pradesh 
--CONTEXT: United Breweries mgmt's comments in post-earnings call 
--United Breweries: Increased prices by 2.5-3% in previous months in 22 states 
--United Breweries: See double-digit growth in coming quarters 
--United Breweries: Look to expand margins QoQ going forward 
--United Breweries: See premium pdts account for 20% of revenue going forward 
--United Breweries: Launching Heineken Silver beer in Kerala 
--United Breweries: Looking to launch draught beer in many states 
 

 

By Avishek Rakshit and Ruchira Kagita

 

KOLKATA – United Breweries Ltd., the Indian subsidiary of Dutch brewer Heineken N.V., is aiming to double the share of revenue from its premium products to 20% of annual sales over the coming years, a senior company official said Wednesday. The company's decision comes after it reported 9% on-year growth in overall volumes and 7% on-year growth in premium product volumes in the June quarter, supported by stronger sales in Karnataka and Maharashtra. 

 

"The premium (portfolio) is almost 10-11% of our revenue, and we only expect this to increase... We have the aspiration that premium will become almost 20% of the revenue and we are on track on that," the senior company official told sector analysts at a post-earnings conference call.

 

The increase in sales volume is despite the company increasing prices by 2.5-3.0% in the previous quarter. Usually, sales fall, or growth slows down, after price hikes. However, even after price hikes, 75% of its markets continued category growth in the June quarter and the company's beer portfolio registered 13% revenue growth in the quarter. Amid such top-line growth, the Heineken Silver brand of premium beer grew 28% on year. 

 

United Breweries is now planning to further accelerate the top-line growth momentum of Heineken Silver and Kingfisher Smooth, both of which are premium products. 

 

"We are launching Heineken Silver in states like Kerala. We launched Heineken Silver in Haryana. We are also looking at draught beer in many states, because that also improves consumption... And we also have a strong innovation pipeline, which I don't want to talk much about," the official said.

 

The company is looking to maintain a pricing balance of premium beers so as not to disturb demand conditions which might upset its plans. "Beer is a very low margin business. I think we need to just have the right pricing and right revenue structure by SKU (stock keeping unit) and by brand to make it happen," another official said. "And if you make it too expensive, the consumer is only willing to pay a certain price on premium as well. So, affordability across the tiers is important for consumers to do that."

 

Despite cost pressures from the war in West Asia and broader macroeconomic headwinds, which could weigh on demand in the short term, the company is targeting double-digit revenue growth in the current financial year and aims to improve its margins. 

 

"On FY27 ambition... it is critical that the (beer) category continues to grow at a high single-digit and our goal is to grow ahead of the category in a profitable and balanced manner. And we do expect our ambition is still to have double-digit revenue growth," the company official said. 

 

United Breweries is also planning to set up its own brewery in Uttar Pradesh, where it currently operates through contract manufacturing. Wednesday, its shares closed 1.5% lower at INR 1,412.60 on the National Stock Exchange. End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

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