Wine demand was hit by urban consumption slowdown, multiple temporary regulatory and other market disruptions
As the growth of wine market in India took a temporary pause due to demand being impacted by the urban consumption slowdown, Rajeev Samant, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sula Vineyards stated that they are optimistic of seeing better traction and growth in the current fiscal year (FY26) with positive triggers and the normalisation of the macro environment expected soon.
In the company’s annual report, Samant noted that adding to the urban consumption slowdown, the wine demand was also impacted by the multiple temporary regulatory and other market disruptions including the national elections, state elections in key markets including Maharashtra, its largest state, among others.
“Despite FY25 being a tough year for the Indian wine market on account of multiple challenges, our own brands clocked its highest ever sales. Own brands revenue in FY25 was Rs 546.2 crore, up 2.2 per cent year-on-year (YoY) vis-à-vis Rs 534.2 crore in FY24,” he highlighted.
The CEO emphasised that going forward, they have a few exciting additions to their wine tourism portfolio in FY26. “First, we have the Dindori tasting room and bottle shop coming up soon in Q1 FY26 (at ND Wines), its located close to the Gujarat border and we see a strong potential for footfalls here,” he mentioned.
“In the more longer term, we are excited with immense potential for wine in India. So far, we have just scratched the surface; wine still accounts for less than 1 per cent of the Indian AlcoBev market,” he added.
Samant highlighted that their wine tourism business continued to grow from strength to strength in FY25 recording another year of solid double-digit growth. Over last four years (FY21 to FY25), our wine tourism business has grown rapidly at 35 per cent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR), he added.
