Spirits importer Rad Elan plans expansion in tier-3 cities

Rad Elan Distributors was founded in 2007. It is engaged in the distribution of imported liquor throughout India. Rad Elan has an unrivalled selection of world class wines and premium spirits with more than fifteen years’ experience in cultivating unmatched relationships, utilising innovative strategies and working with the industry’s best. In an interview with Bizz Buzz, Amit Goel, Managing Director, Rad Elan Distributors Pvt Ltd dwells on how his varied and vast portfolio brands cater to their target audience

Which are all the brands in your portfolio?

Our versatile portfolio consists of imported alcoholic beverages. Beers, wines (all types), whiskey, scotch, rum, sochu, gin, champagne, tequila, sake and many more to explore from our liquor online. Rad Elan is an ideal place to check our offering from a vast selection of iconic brands to enthusiasts of India. Such as-châteauneuf du pape la fiole, ultimate rose, duckhorn decoy, grimaldi barbaresco, senorita, camas, champagne devaux -sake- hakushika yamadanishiki honjozo sake, hakutsuru daiginjo, hakutsuru awayuki sparkling sake, born gold, akazaru sochu, casco viejo tequila, tamerlane blended scotch whisky, xenta absenta, gin cobalto-17, Japanese whisky akashi, and many more brands presenting in India.

How do you manage your vast portfolio?

The wine and spirit repertoire in India is astonishingly limited given our population and the prospective market size, some blame it on regressive liquor policies, some on advertising restrictions so on and so forth. One such factor that impedes growth is lack of ‘awareness’ about the drinks category both amongst consumers and professionals and this is one hurdle that not many brands cross. We as an importer of wines and spirits in India do market segmentation as per the requirement of the consumer their need and wants, We have segregated particular marketing and sales team to manage our vast portfolio in this industry, as per the Indian market brand awareness is very important so we are working on brand management like- marketing, promotions, activations, events exhibitions, online promotions, offline promotions, print media, influencer marketing, show runs, lastly competitions initiated by the brand help the brand or category get broad visibility via bartenders or sommeliers so these activities are helping to get maximum visibility for the brand also creating new area in this industry.

What made you get into imported spirits distribution?

We at Rad Elan motivated ourselves as spirits importers for Indian consumers as we import our own goods or on selection of the portfolio to sale the cost and considering to the cost of the distribution with our distributors out there in the market. We thought this way would be better to showcase our portfolio when we distribute ourselves in the Indian market rather than putting someone else on the job because it’s our own baby, our own products and we know better how to showcase them, market them among the Indian consumers.

What are your growth predictions for the company?

In the last two years we have approached to increase our range to the maximum States and outlets all over the country and the process is still going on as we are aiming to cover all the States in the coming years and in accordance to this we add three to four States every year in our distribution.

How has Rad Elan evolved?

We live in a highly competitive world. If you don’t plan to stand out in advance, you lose. Whatever you do, you have to be the best in it or at least you can try. I have believed in this theory since the very beginning. You see, every country has something special about it, especially when you talk about their eating and drinking behaviour, which totally depends upon the climatic and geographical influence, which is why I have given maximum of my effort in picking out the best of best products from wherever possible to give a taste and feel of a specific culture through their preferred Alco-Bev. Like Sake, this alcoholic drink is from Japan, but not a lot of people know about it. We as Rad Elan are trying to spread awareness about sake here in India. We are doing tasting and training sessions and a lot of marketing activities, all because we want to develop a separate room for Japanese eating and drinking culture in India. Like French and Italian culture, Japanese culture deserves to be popularized too. I think all these activities have helped us evolve as a company and as a brand, it’s the little steps you take every day and it really does work wonders.

What is the rationale for including brands in your portfolio?

Basically, whenever you’re trying to sell something, your main focus should be the consumers and their preferences. For that a lot of market study has to be done, to understand the nature of the consumers, their requirements, pre-existence and availability of products in the market, competitor brands and a lot more factors. We try to bring such products in the market which are unique, affordable and likeable. I believe such distinct products not only give you a wide range to choose from, but they also fill little gaps in the market, making the market look richer and more colourful. We have a product for every occasion, for people who prefer variety. Now, if we only talk about wines, we have a wide range, from French, Italian, American wines to Japanese sake wines. From full bodied to zesty, you name it, we have it. Indian market didn’t have a variety to offer if we talk about Absinthe, that’s where Xenta came in.

What is the company's presence in India?

Rad Elan Distributors Pvt Ltd offers a vast collection of iconic alco-bev brands from all over the world to India. The Rad Elan portfolio proudly includes selections from France, Italy, Portugal, USA, Japan, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Curacao and South Africa that are carefully handpicked to ensure their distinctiveness, quality and value. Rad Elan Distributors currently operates in 18 States in India, covering all the tier-1 & 2 States and cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Agra, Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Noida. In next few years we also plan to expand in tier-3 cities as well.

How big do you reckon is the imported spirits industry?

According to my point of view, India is one of the world’s fastest-growing alco-bev market and has higher population of whisky drinkers making it the largest spirits market in the world. A distant number two would be beer, followed by vodka, beer and gin and also beverage such as gin are getting a fair share of consumer attention too. When it comes to imported spirits, Indians want to try more on variety and their taste buds are also developing too. The reasons are - increasing urban population and rising disposable income, which are anticipated to fuel the development of India’s alcohol market and most important the imported spirits are available easily because of modern retailing, liberalised imports.

How are your various brands faring in the market place?

We are an experienced and ambitious company based in New Delhi, India and has branched ourselves in the import and distribution of fine quality liquors and spirits from different parts of the world. We are distributing our portfolio in every province in India where imported liquor has a market. The performance of our various brands in the marker has been increased as per the time. For example, if I talk about the performance of our Akashi Japanese whiskey, which has increased by 30 per cent, for wines it has increased by 30-35 per cent, for tequila it’s percentage has increased by 50-60 per cent, for Japanese rice wine sake it has increased by 40 per cent, for gin and absinthe it has increased by 25-30 per cent in the recent period of time.

Do you plan to create a private label for the Indian market?

Alco-bev market in India is deeply regulated and fragmented, with State government licensees, large distributors, platform chains and numerous new players in different States all eyeing for a piece of the pie. Despite the difficulty in holding these discussions, India’s annual consumption per person increased by 140 per cent. And by looking after the market scenario the idea to create our own private label came to us and in 2015. We started our first private label name Senorita wine from Chile. Currently, we are more focused to expend our private label portfolio, product as well as country wise. And to do so we have got a dedicated team who only looks after private label for Indian market.