Selling Quality Wines in India: Andrea Secci's Business Bet
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Selling Quality Wines in India: Andrea Secci's Business Bet

A BOCCONI GRADUATE, WITH HIS BROTHER AND INDIAN ASSOCIATES, ANDREA STARTED A WINE COMPANY WHICH IN FEW YEARS HAS CONQUERED A THIRD OF THE COUNTRY'S MARKET. AND GROWTH DOESN'T SHOW SIGNS OF STOPPING

India is a country where, because of its colonial heritage, the dominant beverages are tea and whisky. So the first hurdle that winemakers have to face is cultural: how to spread the passion and taste for wine in an immense state still anchored to old British traditions?

Andrea Secci, a thirty-five year old Bocconian from Florence, together with this brother Alessio and two Indian couples that are close friends, decided to pursue the quality strategy to wine-making and gave birth to Fratelli Wines, a business venture which sold its first vintage of 13,000 bottles in 2009, and in the current year has reached the mark of one million bottles sold. A truly staggering increase: “My father has been manufacturing shoes in India for 40 years, and so we have connections in the country. The idea came in 2006 as I was talking to Indian friends. After making a preliminary market study, we dived straight into the business of starting a winery”.

Today, the company employees 158 permanent workers, to which about a hundred more people must be added during harvest time. It is based in Akluj, in the Maharashtra state, and covers 100 hectares of vineyards for a total of 350,000 vines, with Chardonnay, Sauvignon, and Sangiovese grapes being the most widely planted.

“Producing wine in India is a great opportunity, because the market is huge and younger generations are developing a taste for it, especially if the come from well-off families which have learned to appreciate expensive imported quality wines. They are proud that high-end wines are now made in India and have rewarded our products”. Fratelli Wines currently has 33% of the Indian market, where it sells in 16 states out of 28. The two vintners also export to Germany, England, Japan, and even Italy: “India’s domestic market is quite complex,” Andreas Secci explains, “each state has its own set of regulations, import tariffs, and bureaucracy so stifling it makes Italian bureaucrats look efficient by comparison. And there is a lot of corruption”. In such a market having locals as business partners is crucial, otherwise you are forced to close.

In addition, you must take into account that India lacked everything that is needed to make good wine. We had to import everything from Italy, which cost us a fortune. But we are doubling sales each year. India currently produces 150 million liters of wine, as compared to the 5,6 billion liters of wine bottled by Italy each year. So the room for expansion is humongous. This is the reason why we are here. And also because being Italian is still a winning asset in this industry.”



by Davide Ripamonti
Translated by Alex Foti


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