How Covid-19 will redefine the alco-bev industry

To know how Covid-19 pandemic has impacted different sectors and industries in India, www.lifeandmore.in invited experienced professionals from different fields to talk us through the challenges ahead as also offer solutions and suggestions to emerge victorious from the present state of affairs. Beginning today, read all this and more in
our new weekly column – THE PERFECT VIEW

AVNEET SINGH

We are home quarantined with a hope that one day lockdown will end and things will restart. The trending Work From Home culture might be a good solution to carry out operations for the time but cannot actually fix manufactural issues. A manufacturer needs to visit the manufacturing units in order to restore the produced and failing to do so results in causing inventory losses to the tune of millions.

Our alco-bev industry has always been into limelight due to its vast consumption. It was once considered as recession resilient industry but now due to changed consumer’s purchasing trends, it is facing fluctuating sales and sometimes no sales at all. Considering our country’s demographics, liquor home delivery process is a complex one because every state has its own policies and taxation structure. The overall idea is a good step to boost our economy but difficult to impose in all the states at a time.

India’s $2.8 trillion economy is functional under lockdown and it is also expected to lose over Rs 32,000 crore per day. Considering the strenuous condition of our economy, the Government is constantly making efforts to upgrade it but till the moment our manufacturing plants are not going to function, problems like these will keep on compiling. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, alco-bev sales in Delhi has been very limited. The main month of sales is passing by which means the beer industry will see the decline of 40% less sales this year.

The only way out to the issue is to promote low alcoholic beverages and limit the corona cess on them. The consumption pattern has already changed due to corona cess. Figuring out other European countries, the duty are less imposed on beers and other low alcoholic beverages to promote the consumption and change people’s preference of high spirits.

On the contrary, the manufacturers also need to maintain their empty hours in building up new working models and new strategies in order to function in the post-lockdown era. Things will definitely take better shape once the lockdown and the restrictions come to a complete end. We will be the ones to recreate opportunities for our respective businesses. So it’s better to conscientiously address the ongoing situation and start analysing it. But one thing is for sure that the losses for the beer industry will not be possible to recover this year.

But with positive hopes and innovative approach we can efficiently make good profits in the coming days. Let us stay positive and hope for a better tomorrow.

The author is the founder of Medusa Beverages