Keeping spirits high on festival of colours

Nagpur: With the festival of colours Holi just two days away, tipplers are milling around liquor shops to stock up. With March 2 being a dry day, shops expect high sales a day or two in advance.
“Holi is the single largest selling day for liquor stores across the country,” says Girish Dewani, a distributor. “Sales swell as it is the only day when drinking with family and friends is preferred even by those who would otherwise visit bars,” he says.

Dewani caters to more than 1,000 outlets that sell liquor in the city. Of these, 120 are wine stores and rest are bars and clubs. “But on Holi, the sales at bars and clubs dip as people celebrate with family and friends,” he says. Though liquor sales have been rising at 8% annually as per sales records of distributors, but that of beer has hit a plateau. “That’s because the prices of beer have risen from Rs100 to Rs120 at which it was selling a couple of years back to Rs160 to Rs220 which is the current price,” Dewani informs.

But its beer which is the highest seller during the festival, says distributor Amar Jeswani of Godawari Traders. “With youth and women indulging too, breezers and beer sell the most and we often see a shortage during Holi as even manufacturers are unable to cope with the spike in demand,” says Jeswani, who is also the distributor for popular Beera brand. “Many stores stock up and sell at a premium under the guise of cooling charges,” he says.

Holi marks the beginning of beer season in the city and so stores stock up, says Tushar Jaiswal of Zero Degree Beer Shoppe. “We have to keep additional staff to manage the rush. Though hard liquor is the highest seller followed by vodka and then beer, yet the demand is three times of what we otherwise sell,” he says.

People begin to buy for Holi at least three days in advance as they fear harassment from the cops on a day before Holi, says Utkarsh Chaurasia of PVK Wine Mart. “Holi is ahead of New Year eve in terms of sales for retailers as on New Year liquor sales are more in clubs and hotels,” he says. It is the medium-range brands like Royal Stag, McDowell No 1, Blenders Pride which sell the most while Kingfisher, Budweiser and Tuborg are the top grossers in the beer segment.

Chaurasia says the companies are fully prepared to handle the demand but prefer to supply first to those who pay upfront. “Even those who are not habitual drinkers consume on Holi and this includes women too now that the stigma attached to drinking is nearly wiped off,” says Chaurasia. “But people drink responsibly and the credit for this goes to the cops,” adds Dewani.

Revellers’ Choice

Estimated sales of liquor and beer for two days around Holi: Rs15 to Rs17 crore

Average sale of liquor and beer on normal days: Rs3 to Rs5 crore

Top sellers:

Medium range brands:

Whiskey: Royal Stag, McDowell No 1, Blenders Pride, Officer’s Choice

Beer: Kingfisher, Budweiser and Tuborg

(Figures provided by liquor distributors)