Craft beer brand White Rhino sets sights on UK market
NEW DELHI: About 18 months after Ishaan Puri founded White Rhino Brewing Co. , the New Delhi-based firm is set to take its craft beer White Rhino to the UK — one of world’s most mature beer markets.
“UK is a mature market for good quality craft beers. We have undergone a massive market study, testing before deciding to enter the UK market. We will have limited presence across selected pubs in London, Manchester and Leeds,” said Puri, founder and director, White Rhino Brewing Co.
Although promotion and advertising of alcoholic beverages is permitted in the UK, Puri said he would primarily bank on word-of-mouth—a strategy that worked in favour for the brand in India — to crack the UK market.
The UK market offers around 11,000 beer choices including one-off specials and seasonal beers, and houses more than 53,000 pubs of which more than 37,000 sells ale variant of beer.
The company will initially export Lager and India Pale Ale to the UK. For distribution, White Rhino has partnered with West Yorkshirebased James Clay, an independent importer and distributor of specialist beers, that has been in the business for more than 30 years and has a strong network of restaurants, pubs and bars in the UK market.
For the UK market, White Rhino will be produced in India and exported, said Puri. “We don’t have any plans to produce there. We’ll stick to exports. It may increase the cost a bit. But we’ll have complete control over quality,” he added. The company produces beer at its own brewery at Malanpur, a city in Madhya Pradesh’s Chambal region.
However, White Rhino has got a different packaging for the UK market. “We changed it based on market response. The branding and packaging is more vibrant and colourful compared to what we have in India. We may look at launching limited editions with the UK packaging in India as well,” Puri said.