Sula Vineyards Ltd. is aiming to ramp up its wine tourism business even as the revenue from the segment dipped in the first quarter of the current financial year due to external factors, including the general election and heatwaves, Chief Executive Office Rajeev Samant has said.
"Today, you have a lot more choices for the Indian travellers. You have visa-free travel access for so many countries in Asia," he told NDTV Profit's Niraj Shah in an interview. "We are going to work that much harder and that's what we are doing."
Sula Vineyards is working on several new tourism projects, including tasting rooms and gift shops that are expected to commence operation in the current quarter. Samant is confident that the projects would be completed within the stipulated timeline.
"We have a brand new tasting room opening close to Gujarat's border with Maharashtra, and we have very high hopes for it. We are going to add one more resort that is going to take FY26 to deliver," the CEO said.
CEO Rajeev Samant (Source: Sula Vineyards website)
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The country's biggest wine maker's consolidated net profit increased 7% to Rs 14.6 crore in the June quarter. Revenue was up 8.8% to Rs 129.7 crore. The rise in profit was backed by growth in demand for the company’s cheaper wines, even as the demand flattened for its premium offering.
Samant, however, claimed that this trend was temporary, and the company's premium products would be back on track soon. "This one quarter, which is typically our slowest sales quarter, in which we have seen a different outcome that the cheaper wines have grown. But that doesn't necessarily mean that's going to be the trend going forward," he said.
Sula recorded a historic high in revenue coming from premium wines at the start of the June quarter at 75% compared to 68% a couple of years ago, according to Samant. The company’s revenue from the premium segment stood at Rs 81 crore in the quarter.
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