Roneli, a joint-stock company of European type Roneli SE and leader in building of turnkey breweries, and Bohemia Beer Pvt. Ltd, joined together to launch the first Czech beer, ‘Bohemian King’ in India. The company aims to become the sixth largest player in the next one year of the Indian beer industry which is approximately pegged at 270 to 280 Million cases.
Under the joint venture, Roneli will provide the traditional Czech beer recipes, technical know-how, securing of premium hops and design of bottles. Bohemia Beer, on the other hand, will be responsible for sales and marketing of the brand. In the first phase, Bohemian King will be available in Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Assam, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.
Bohemia Beer has plans to invest Rs.500 cr in India over the next five years and is also looking at setting up a manufacturing unit in the next 2-3 years. Confident of the growth of the premium segment, the company also announced its desire to go for an IPO in the next couple of years.
Following a recipe secured directly from the Brevnov Monastery in Prague – the oldest brewery in the Czech Republic (established in 993) and located in the heart of Bohemia – Bohemian KING contains more than 1,000 years of Czech brewing experience and tradition.
Rakesh Dhawan, Managing Director, Bohemia Beer, said, “It is an exciting moment for us to launch the first Czech beer in India. We have formed this company with a vision of being a serious player in the growing Indian beer industry. The Indian beer market is currently growing approx. at ten percent per annum and we aim to be the sixth largest player in the Indian beer market in our first year of operations.”
“The premium segment where our brand will be focused on is currently growing at much faster rate of approximately 200 % and we are confident that will be a player to reckon with is a short span of time. Recent government polices promoting beer consumption and various state governments allowing new sales channels like departmental stores, micro-brewery etc., will further provide the right impetus in sales,” commented Gaurav Sharma, Director, Bohemia Beer .
Antonin Kovarik, Export Director, Roneli, said, “Our partners comprises of some of the most experienced people from the industry and we are extremely happy to partner with them. India is a young country and we are excited to bring to them a unique Czech beer specifically formulated for them. We foresee a huge potential in India as we expect the current consumption of beer to double in the country.”
Roneli has experience in constructing and operating breweries in Czech Republic. The company has designed breweries in different regions like in Vietnam and also in Africa namely Congo, and Angola.